US collectors, do you have a friend in Europe? Or Asia? Maybe Canada? Or South America?
If not, get crackin’. You might want a trade partner for the new Majorette coming out. Because dang, there is some good stuff.
Majorette has unveiled a good portion of the 2017 line, as well as new castings coming. Not surprisingly it is heavily focused on current European cars – with some Japanese and American cars sprinkled in – and from the early pics the stuff looks good.
You want the full kit and caboodle? Follow this link. But I’ve included some highlights below. The new castings are definitely the highlights, but there are other details to note. Like the Gran Turismo and Lamborghini sets. And especially the classic car set. It is good to see Majorette going a tad retro.
Check them out, then go find a trading partner. Be sure to tell the person you are not using them for their Majorette…
I think this edition of Majorette is shit. $5 each with less detail and quality than the last time they were made.
I'm from Uruguay, and I have some Majorettes in my collection. Maybe the tampos lack of details, but with almost every model having functional doors and suspensions, they are great pieces. My favourite? The MK VII VW GTI
Is the green 997 GT3 new? I have one in that color but can't tell from my picture of it if the doors open.
Why is zone-tan there?
I like those gran turismo vision cars. Time to get on eBay and get ripped off.
Wow those wheels are horrendous. But that Subaru may just be cool enough to make up for them.
Will Japanbooster be carrying them?
Majorette makes some good choices on what models to feature, but really any excitement I may have for this is more than canceled out by the following:
– exorbitantly high cost when you factor in having them shipped stateside
– the already high cost even when not considering shipping
– the awful wheels
Yeah, suspension is cool, but when the wheel selections are this heinously chintzy-looking, it kind of ruins it. I realize Majorette has its own niche in the marketplace, and that they do quite well in Europe, but they just don't make sense here in the U.S. At least not until they decide to send them here again, and I don't see that happening.
The wheels on that Wrangler are particularly bad, no?
…worse, if you're a collector and an orange track fan like I am, you will be very disappointed with the runnability of the wheels – at best average (way behind HW) at worst, pathetic!!.
Well we know Hotwheels is better than something
As expected, plenty of Americans complaining how expensive it is, how bad the design of casting and wheels are 😀
Suure, plastic crap from Mattel for $1 is much better!
As for me, I love Majorette and will spend most of my money on them instead of Mattel crap. And in Europe Majorette cost the same as HW and MBX, so all the talks about $1 price cap is bullshit.
I don't think they are worse than some of the hot wheels, but I definately feel your pain.
I'm the same way with some of the premium Hot Wheels sets. $30 bucks for delivery of 10 cars is crazy.
However in Europe, Majorette are the same price as Hot Wheels $1.75 – $2 so here they make total sense
I love the Majorette, when i was child. There's are lots of good stuff for decades, and good to see, the new casting are good too. I live in Hungary, but it dose not mean, its easy to find new stuff. The shop are full the earlier 2012 castings, with the same 2 dollar price as the HW or MB. But now, the new casting are just available only supermarket, and the price is ridiculous. More than twice as a basic Hot Wheels. And its not a special edition. They call it “premium, but it contain the same cars, like the black 911 GT3 with black. I saw some new stuff, AMG GT, Jaguar F-type, F-150 and its look good really, but not good enough for a twice higher price. The sls amg is at least a 4 or 5 years old casting, but first saw it the last year in this casting. So I hope I can find new stuff, but normal price.
(sorry for the bad english)
Some neat additions this year. The Vision GT set is doing that franchise way more justice than either of the HW ones did.
I'll be up for snagging the Impreza, Boxster and that VW T5. It looks better resolved than the Siku. I don't know what happened to their cars, but they're nowhere near as nicely resolved as their 90s output.
I'm having Loeb's DS3 rally car, the yellow AMG-GT, Alpine VGT and Infiniti VGT… and that's it. Their rendtion of the '17 FORDGT is abominable, and the rest I feel a bit “meh” still.
I want to see estate cars from them, though.
Sorry but those that are whinging about postage have nothing to complain about, postage is one of those things that should not be taken into consideration, the range of cars that Majorette produce are brilliant, I dont consider £2.00 for a diecast that has working suspension and opening parts compared to HW's that have none of those and a lot of them come with awful tampo's and crappy wheels and they ask upto £1.50 do for only 50p your getting suspension and doors or boot or engine, or a combination of those that open…..
However, after a great start with Majorette and TESCO, they have pulled the range from some of the stores and thats a real shame, because they were always selling out.
Honestly, these are awesome! Sure the wheels may not be to most Americans liking but when you look at the castings as a whole, they're pretty darn accurate. Love the simple but specific detailing with stock paint schemes, plastic inserts for the headlights and taillights, opening doors and hatches, and just the sheer variety. They have what I used to love about older Matchboxes; tons of realistic street cars! There's something about these simple cars that get me excited. They may be boring to the common eye but to me there great little diecasts! If only they were sold in the U.S.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Whatever you all say, Majorette is great. Hot wheels tampos and wheels aren't better. For those who want can change them. Also, MB and HW keep getting smaller. Compare them with older models and you see. In the future they can be used on a train track when they are 1:87. Majorettes have a decent 1/64 scale. The lrice of a Hot Wheel in Europe is 1,99. The special series aren't available here. Buying them from the USA is simply to expensive. I have only one problem with Majorette and that's the availability. It sucks and it has to be improved. Check my Instagram at Kees Kees a you'll see how wonderful Majorettes are.
Maybe the pictures don't do them justice, but most of them look “meh”. I will keep an eye out for them (not always easy to find in the UK) as ones I've seen in person appeared nicely made and detailed. Nice wheels would be a bonus but as they are similar prices to HW and MB here I don't mind doing some swapping. I'll be looking out for the split window bus and the Beetle especially.
In Europe costs a Majorette of the Street Cars series between 1,49-1,99€ and a simple Mainline Hot Wheels 1,00 – 2,49€. Many Street Cars series models have a better quality than Hot Wheels for the same price in Europe! The other series in single packs costs here between 1,99 -2,99€ from Majorette and other non rubber tired Hot Wheels from other series costs in Europe 2,99-3,99€. The Majorettes are allthough better in this price class. Every Hot Wheel with metal base and with or without rubber tires are only available from shippers on Ebay for extrem expensive prices on the european continent ( except U.K.). I live in Germany and I collect the new Simba Dickie Majorettes over one year, now. For european collectors in Majorette the better choice in price conditions than Mattels Hot Wheels and Matchbox. And there is another brand Schuco ( since 1912 ) from Simba Dickie Toys with the highest quality of diecast cars can have! Mattel lost the competence and experience with their cheap stuff from mass production for high expensive prices in Germany. Greetings from Germany!
I completely agree! By the way, Majorettes look like real cars.
It's sounds like a complaint and I don't want to cause any insult but I'm glad they aren't available in the US. People their would want them for no more than a dollar and they would end up as bad as Matchbox and Hot Wheels mainlines. Plastic bodies, generics, four piece rule, no fearures, only two hits of tampo, occasionally no interior. I would hate to see that happen to Majorette. In the UK a Matchbox/Hotwheel car costs nearly as much as these so Majorette are much better value.
Yes, it would be great if Majorette would return to the US. I used to collect them religiously up until Triumph Adler bought them in 1996 and gradually pulled them away from us by 1999.
I used to receive dealer catalogs from Majorette's US offices back in the 80s and 90s. Their staff (as well as Matchbox and Corgi's US and British staffs) were always friendly and never hesitated to answer your questions. Hot Wheels, however, were a bunch of jerks. You couldn't get any information from them unless you were willing to pay them $10 for a catalog or $5.00 for a listing, and then you had to wait up to 4-5 months for a response. Everybody else would respond within a week or tow after writing, and the UK offices would even airmail express, because they wanted to make sure that the collector was served and treated right. Mattel corporate didn't care back then, and they still don't care today.
I just hope Simba-Dickie will find a way to make Majorette available-and affordable-in the US again. Here's hoping Big Lots or Dollar Tree will buy up cases in foreign liquidation sales (read: Canada and Mexico) and sell them in their stores here, because that may be the only way we will ever buy them here.
https://www.facebook.com/majorette.australia/
Matt, I don't see that as a complaint or an insult 🙂
You do illustrate some possible reasons that Majorette's absence from the U.S. market is a benefit to that brand, though. While I may regret that they are not available here, perhaps it's to the benefit of collectors such as yourself (I assume you are overseas). All the better in that case. I'll admire from a distance, and perhaps plunk down the cash when I notice a particularly nice one 🙂
dunno why, but with that price point, majorete still giving much value than hotwheels nowadays (suspension, stock model,opening part with same price with hothweels and matchbox outside u.s.a),
yes for america market, majorette have issue in price point , availability in store, and tire ( for some model yes, but the rest still can be acceptable. but look at mattel brand now, MBX have same issue on price point and distrbution OUTSIDE U.S.A with more PLASTIC AND GENERIC.
imho, mattel should do generic on their hotwheels brand because their main market is children who love to race on track and imagination enhance while us , are giving option from matchbox for detailed and proper casting to collect : )
These are similar to complaints that people not in the U.S. have about Matchbox and Hot Wheels, which usually retail for the equivalent of $2 or $3 USD, and are very difficult to locate.
I buy just the ones I like (here in Canada), and the rest of my money goes towards collecting vintage stuff, like Schuco 1:66.
i can't wait to get as much as possible from all the new goodies.i already have around 50 majorette cars,and still counting, as long as possible 🙂
i agree
Because I'm using that picture for 5 years
They all look nice. I'm an avid Majorette fan from the UK, but they haven't had many new ones in the last few months.