With all the talk here at Lamley about Matchbox, Hot Wheels, Tomica, and Kyosho, one brand we haven’t covered is Majorette. And those familiar with Majorette know why. There hasn’t been any new Majorette for awhile.
The reason? They don’t have a factory to produce the models. I asked a Lamley friend, Mike Branderhorst over at MjrttNrv, when we might see them again.
His answer:
Yes, Majorette had/has big troubles with their factory.
In January this year next German press report was published (by Dickie, which is the holding company for Majorette):
“Wiederaufbau der durch die Flutkatastrophe im Herbst 2011 in Bangkok/Thailand nahezu vollständig zerstörten Majorette Fabrik.
Neben einer ganzen Reihe von baulichen Maßnahmen der durch die Flut zerstörten Fabrik, muss der komplette Maschinenpark,
d. h. alle Zinkspritzguss- und nahezu alle Kunststoffspritzmaschinen sowie sämtliche maschinelle Einrichtungen ersetzt werden.
Die Produktion dort kann voraussichtlich Mitte 2012 wieder aufgenommen werden.
Alle 470 dort eingesetzten Mitarbeiter behalten ihre Arbeitsplätze.
Die Gesamtinvestitionssumme wird mit ca. 10,0 Mio. Euro veranschlagt.”Which is in English:
“Reconstruction of the flood disaster in the fall of 2011, Bangkok / Thailand almost completely destroyed Majorette factory.
Besides a whole series of structural measures of the by the flood destroyed factory, the entire machinery,
i.e., all zinc-injection-molding- and almost all plastics-injection-molding- machines and all mechanical equipment must be replaced.
Production is expected to run again mid-2012.
All 470 employees will keep their jobs.
The total investment is estimated at about 10.0 million euros.”At this moment no ‘real’ Majorette models can be found.
Everywhere the pegs are filled with temporary Majorette-labeled Dickie and LoyalBright models ..
My expectations are pegs to be refilled with new ‘real’ Majorette models at end-2012, beginning-2013 ..Regards,
Mike
I had a chance to visit Dickie's office in Hong Kong and met their staff at the Majorette showroom. They also shared the same story with the Thailand flooding which was quite tragic. However they are confident that new models will start to be produced by end of this year or early next year. Another model that I was really looking forward to is the Red Bull F1 which was shown in the last Nurnberg Toy Fair.
Majo seemed to have their act together, finally, after bankruptcy and being handed around like a fluffer at a bukkake. That said, I am more than a little surprised that it's taking the company an entire YEAR to get their act together after the flooding. It took six or more months to get the LoyalBright stuff in the pipeline. A whole year? Really? What's the problem? Is it getting capital together to replace wrecked equipment? Something else? Were they not insured, or was this one of those acts-of-God deals that insurance companies wriggle out of like lubricated eels? I know Majorette isn't Mattel, but I couldn't see HW or MB down for more than a month if something like this happened to them.
I've always liked the interactivity of majorette models. Plus, their majokit building system is most excellent.
Alway had issues with the paint quality though. It did NOT stand up well to any kind of toy box abuse.
Wow they look like awesome!
This brad was a common sight in my “car box” when I was a kid in the early '90's, strangely probably the most common. Had all sorts of them as CVS constantly carried them, and I was there a lot. Even had some of the long limos (2 Lincolns, 1 Mercedes) and a bunch of the monster trucks. Loved the 4x4s, especially the Toyota pick up, Toyota Land Cruiser, Jeep Cherokee and Depenheuse (custom Chevy truck).
Wish some were still in nice condition from when I was a kid, they're impossible to find now.
-doomus
As a collector I've always been a fan of Majorette and would love to see some new and upto date vehicles from them soon.