This well known French company is considered to be one of the most popular die-cast toy
makers around. Inspite of their very stormy history they have managed to survive for
forty years now. Majorette started producing die-cast toy cars and trucks in 1961. During
the early and mid eighties most European toy manufacturers encountered many hardships in
part due to the competition and proliferation of toys that came from the far eastern
countries. Many went bankrupt and mergers or sellouts occured. Majorette however
managed to survive and even buy Solido of France, and on the 1st of July 1981
Solido
became a subsidiary of Majorette. For a while things looked good but that didn't last,
they eventually started to struggle financially themselves and finally went bankrupt. They
sold out in 1990 to a French toy conglomerate called Ideal Loisirs. In turn, Playmates toy
company of Hong Kong, famous for their action figures and Star Trek playsets, purchased
a big part of Ideal Loisirs in 1992. That didn't end here, a bit later Novacars of Portugal
was also bought out and they became a new line of Majorettes. It all culminated when
Triumph-Adler of Germany, took control by buying a majority in shares in the Ideal Loisirs
Group. The result of all these mergers and buyouts makes that Majorette now belongs to
one of the largest toy conglomerates in Europe, and one of the leading toy manufacturers
in the world. Majorettes are and have always been more like toys than serious collector
replicas.The finish and detailing on their models is low which also keeps their prices down.
NOVACAR
"novacar*Originally produced by the Portuguese company Minia Portos Juguetes E Brinquedos Lda.,
Novacar became a division of Majorette of France in 1993. Novacar is a series of
small-scale toy vehicles with plastic bodies and metal chassis, except for number 112 F1
Racer, which has a diecast metal body and plastic chassis. Through 1997, all models were
available as the new Majorette 100 Series
