#1100 MAJORETTE – BUSSES (SEVERAL MODELS) (1977 to 2001)

A bus is a vehicle like any other, and it is a must in every set of toys for children. As soon as they have a few cars and a couple of trucks, the first bus arrives. So every toymaker usually includes a bus in every collection they have. Majorette is a bit of an exception because it took a while for them to produce their first bus, but afterwards, they did some of the nicest models I recall throughout its history. I am talking about miniature toys, not collector´s items or superdetailed die-cast for adults.

The first one was made for the 300 series, that is the series with car+trailer, trucks with long trailers or bigger vehicles. It was the Autocar (Nr. 373) in 1977. This model quickly got a companion in the Autobus (Nr. 310, in the same series) in 1979, but also made its way to the 200 series, the more affordable 3 inches vehicles with the Minibus (Nr. 262), also in 1979. There are still four other busses we will comment, but which are much rarer that these three.

All models presented here include big parts of plastic, so I assume they were cheaper to produce and reached higher margins for the company. The different models were reused many times, giving each cast a set of colours and decorations (tampographies, decals or stickers) in order to have something different every year or couple of years. Because these models also have a big surface on the sides, they were even used as promotional models. It would be impossible to list all variants ever made of these references, but I will give it a try with the models that appear in the official catalogues, which are not so many. In reality, the colours may vary, as the parts from the previous year were generally not discarded, and thus, we find those transition models, which variants collectors love.

I have to say that I own some other busses not pictured here, so this is the classic entry that will be updated regularly, as I find the time to take more pictures and new models to buy.

Note: when in the following listings more than one colour is indicated, the first one shows the colour of the base, then the colour of the upper part.

AUTOCAR / COUNTRY BUS 373 / NEOPLAN

1977 Red/white "Londres > Paris > Rome" (drawing/prototype)

1978 Red/White "London > Paris > Madrid" (there seems to be several "country-specific" models of this one, such as "Frankfurt > Bern > Roma" in light yellow/white or green/white.

1979 White/red with City Crests

1980 Blue/white "Air France"

1981-82 White "Air France" (Big Logo)

1982-83 White "Air France" (Smaller Logo)

1983 White "Iberia"

1986 White/Red (not readable) "xxx > xxx > xxx > Madrid"

1989 Red/white "Croisière"

1990-91 Blue/white "Miami Beach"

1994 Black/white with colourful grafitti on sides and roof

1995 Blue/yellow "Travel"

1995-97 Red Coca-Cola (Special edition)

1996-97 Yellow "School Bus"

1998-99 Yellow "School Bus" plus colour pencils

2000-01 Black/red "Racing team" with or without two plastic figures

2000 Dark blue "Pepsi" (Special edition)

2005-09 Red "Soccer"

AUTOBUS 310

This one is easy, it only came in one decoration from 1979 to 1987, when it was simply discontinued. Majorette already had the previous model which they will extensively reuse, redecorate and resell as much as they could.

1979-1987 Green/White "Salon de Paris"

MINIBUS 262

The "bestselling" model, as it had the basic price of any other model. I love the detail of the small people sitting inside. The most common decoration is the "TWA" one, which was availabla longer than the other ones, and it is the one I had as a kid.

1979 Orange/White "Alitalia" (drawing/prototype)

1980 White/red "Japan Airlines"

1980-85 White "TWA" 

1986 Green/White "Alitalia"

1990-91 White "Air France"

1992 White/red "Airport"

1994 Red/yellow with red symbols on side

1995-97 White "Airport"

1998 Green/White Football players on side

1999-2001 Orange/white "Airport"

2003 Dark Blue "Airport International"

BRITISH BUS 286

I understand the british bus is an interesting vehicle for a kid, specially for a non-british kid, but it cannot be rethemed easily. The cast was available intermitently over many years. For example, we can find it in the catalogues from 1983 to 1986, but then disappears until 1995. Then four years long without a trace of it, to reappear in the year 2000 in two variants: The classic red one, plus a yellow one decorated with the Circus Pinder tampographies. This second colour variant also appeared intermitently between 2000 and 2009. 

1983-86 Red "Visit London"

1995, 2000 Red "Visit London" (different sticker)

2000-01, 2007-09 Yellow "Pinder" (Circus)

CITY BUS 262A.00

This bus is the update of the at this time outdated 262. It looks like an urban bus, lightly built and with many windows. In the few catalogues I own from the early 2000s, it always appears in an orange colour. The many windows cannot hide the two bars that connect the roof to the body of the bus; this is a minor flaw in the design.

2004-09 Orange "Aero Bus"

In the SERIES 3000 / 3040/70 or "Super Movers" there was also a bus, which, honestly, I do not recall having seen it. It is much bigger in size (1:55 scale), so if I ever came accross, I probably missed it.

Mercedes, Nr. 303

Red/white with blue/orange/yellow lines

Autocar, Nr. 3046 

1995-96 Blue "Holidays". Represents a Van Hool.

1997 White "Paris"

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: 1) AUTOCAR or COUNTRY BUS 373 or NEOPLAN, 2) AUTOBUS 310 and 3) MINIBUS
• Scale: 1:87
  
• Year: 1) 1981 and 1998, 2) 1979 and 3) 1978 and 1999
  
• Company: Majorette (France)
• Size: approx. 6 or 11 cm

#1096 TOP TRUMPS – ECO VEHICLES (PROMOTIONAL) (2007)

Before the electric cars really became a real option for everybody, the interest in this kind of vehicles was already very high.This promotional deck (Marches Energy Agency from the UK) is a proof of that.

Out of the 30 cards that this deck comprises, not all vehicles are electric. Some are just low-consumption petrol or diesel cars, there is also a Hydrogen-powere Honda, a Biodiesel Volkswagen and other vehicles powered by BioMethane. There is even a bicycle, that, of course, has the lowest CO2 emissions and the lowest fuel costs among all of them. Tesla was already a major player in this market and is represented with their Roadster model, but the rest of the brands are either Japanese (Honda, Toyota) or European (VW, Citroen, Vauxhall/Opel, Mercedes, Mini Cooper, Aixan, Reva...). No trace of Chinese makers. Of course, the deck is from 2007, in these 18 years, the panorama changed radically, and it is still changing. The EU Commision recently approved a plan to allow the combustion motor beyond 2035, after having arrived to that compromise to ban them more than 10 years ago. How this will result nobody knows.

Back to the card deck, it is made by Top Trumps, the current leader in this kind of toys. Top Trumps is currently a trademark of Winning Moves from the UK (part of the Hasbro group), and has all relevant licences of the time, which are continuously extended and updated. A complete history of the quartet decks and the Top Trump trademark in the UK can be read here: History of Top Trumps | Top Trumps Game History. 

The deck comprises 30 cards, but they are not sorted in families or in any other way. I present them in the pictures with no particular order.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name:  ECO VEHICLES (PROMOTIONAL)
• Year: 2007
• Company: Top Trumps/Winning Moves (United Kingdom)

#1066 TEDI/HAPTIME - UNNAMED NINJAS AND SAMURAIS (2024)

 
I never purchase modern toys. I resisted the temptation of buying the 25th anniversary G.I. Joes, any Masters of the Universe which were not the original line or any other reissue so far, but when I saw these ninjas and samurais in 3.75 inches size at TEDI, I had to get a complete set of them.

They were released in all TEDI stores in Europe in April 2024, and they were very scarce. I saw two boxes in the store in which I most usually visit. The next day, there were only a few figures left. One week later there was a third box for sale, and then, they were never seen again. I had to visit a second store to get a few figures that were not available in the first one.

 

It is maybe too early to say that, but there has been no reissues, and I am not sure if there will ever be another one. I guess these went undetected by most collectors, so, if somebody in the future finds them and would like to have them, they will be impossible to find. I wanted to get the box as well, but I didn´t dare to ask of "steal" the cardboard box that included all 12 figures. I now regret that, because they would have surely given me the cardboard box for free. Still, I have some pictures of the box, that I took to share the "find" with other collector friends.

 

The twelve ninjas are made out of 6 different casts. That is, there are 6 figures in two versions each. Some of them are divided in two groups: red and blue, but others figures are very similar to their variants or use other colours, so I am not sure what is the intention behind that or if somebody though a background story for them. I guess no, they are just a series of figures with randomly chosen colours (among the available ones).

 

The best of this collection is the selection of the characters plus the use of weapons. But let´s start with the figures. They have 6 articulation points: waist, shoulders, wrists and neck. The articulation on the wrists is specially important, as it allows to pose the figures with the weapons on many "combat positions" that would be impossible without them.

Among the characters we could count the classic masked ninja, a bald martial artist in kimono (very similar to the first one), a kabuki-masked samurai (I would say this should be the leader), a second samurai with the traditional dress (armour, skirt, helmet, shoulder pads...), another masked ninja with much broader shoulders (looks like the typical American action hero) and a third masked ninja with kneepads and chest that looks a bit like a soldier (especially in its green version).

I got all twelve. On a first attempt, I bought only three, and opened the boxes to check its quality and to see if I really liked them or not, and then I bought the other nine. That is why only three of my boxes are open, and the rest are not. I didn´t want to open the rest of the boxes, even though they are only closed with several strips of sellotape. I assume the golden paint is very sensitive, so I didn´t manipulate the figure very much, just to take the pictures.

The figures are unmarked, but they came with a TEDI sticker on the back. This includes some manufacturer indications and the TEDI logo. The box included a small piece of paper with a sketch of a ninja (in a rather cartoonish style, which does not match the style of the figure) and safety instructions on the back part. These instructions are written in a very small font as it has to cover all languages in which the product was available. The box also carries a sticker with the price in every market. It costed 2 euros in most European countries, or some equivalent quantity of money in other countries whose currency is not the euro.

 

Back to the accessories, each figure included one, two or even three pieces each, all of them, classic and well known martial art´s weapons. Katanas, bo, nunchuks, claws, sais... the accessory that I like most is the Asian hut (I associate it most with Vietnam), that the unmasked warrior includes. These were always the same for each model, independently of the color, so there are six sets of weapons. The "strong" ninja comes with one claw. I was a bit disappointed that they didn´t include two, but maybe I am not aware of the usage of this particular weapon. Some characters also include a non-practicable scabbard, that can be attached to the ninja´s back.  Nice details for a budget line. It reminds me of the old bootleg toys we bought in street markets, but designed and made with more modern techniques.

UPDATE: After writing the article, but before publishing it, I discovered the same figures for sale in some Asian sites (like amazon.in) under the Haptime brand. Interestingly, they were sold in several other colour variants which are different from the European ones, and highlighting some specific features which were not clear to me. I collected the pictures and will comment them here as an addition to this article.

The figures can serve as cake toppers. I usually see cake toppers more like plastic figures (no action figures), but, of course, why not?

The figures are articulated, yes, but also detachable. This is great to play that one ninja cuts the arm or the throat or whatever to the other, but it is also a risk for children. 3 and up seems a bit too young for me.

The figures are realistic, but I wouldn't give them to a toddler. The weapons are small, and the figures can be separated into smaller parts. Maybe this is hte reason why they are not for sale anymore at TEDI or in the equivalent European sites of Amazon.in. 

Unlike at TEDI, in some sites, they are sold by half-dozens, in a plastic bag containing 6 different figures. If you buy two bags, you complete your collection of twelve. The ninjas were sold under the name Ninja Warring States

These two are nice computer illustrations of the figures, showing the three white members, which are unreleased in Europe (we got three blck ones instead)

Here, again, two of the white members, unreleased in Europe.

Ninja Warrior Team is another name by which these figures are for sale. These seems to came in the same box than the TEDI models, although the graphics in the inlay paper are much cooler.

UPDATE (May/2025)

 

I just found the same figures for sale at Woolworths in Austria. The packaging is more elaborated, and the price has doubled, but they are the same. The figures are equipped with one additional weapon with respect to the Tedi series.

 

  

The ninjas in their original release (as shown here) were seen again in Tedi for sale on November 2025.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: UNNAMED NINJAS AND SAMURAIS
• Toy Line: (no name) / NINJA WARRING STATES / NINJA WARRIOR TEAM
• Year: 2024
• Company: TEDI (Germany / China) / Haptime (Chna)
• Size of the figures: 10 cm approx.

#1057 PIATNIK - MOTORPOWER GIFT BOX (Around 2000)

I always try to put a limit to my collections, and in the case of card decks it is the presence of a barcode in the box. If it has a barcode, I consider it is "too new" to be collected. However, I keep making exceptions when I find cards that I like, especially if they are car/racing/Formula 1-themed.

I bought this box in a flea market in 2015. It was made by Piatnik in the early 2000s (I could date the set paying attention to the car models and especially to the formula one teams and sponsors). It contains three technical quartet decks, the same that were also available loose, but the box adds some value to the set. It was probably intended as a gift-pack or something similar. At this time, the individual sets were sold for very few euros, so I also assume that this box was also quite affordable back then. The deck included are:

Let´s check the cards one deck after the other.

Cars (Nr. 422829)

Formel 1 (Nr. 422928)

Motor Show (Nr. 423826)

Interestingly, none of the cars that appear in the outer box is also represented in a card of any of the three decks.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: MOTORPOWER GIFT BOX includes (CARS No. 422829, FORMEL 1 No. 422928 and MOTOR SHOW No. 423826)
• Year: Around 2000
• Company: Piatnik (Austria)