Majorette has a long history in Canada but has had its ups and downs in recent times. Things got exciting a couple of years ago when Walmart Canada began to stock the Simba Dickie brand, but it was sadly no surprise to see the experiment end quickly, judging by the way the models warmed the pegs for months in my local stores.
Since then, I’ve sporadically found Majorettes in London Drugs, a chain that stocks a limited range of toys alongside health and beauty products, home electronics and more. Stock tends to vary from store to store, including of Majorette, which most recently appeared in a 5-pack shipper in my local branch. It was therefore great to find a ton of new singles hanging in another London Drugs close to me this past weekend.
The models I found from the Racing Cars, Vintage, Premium, S.O.S. and Porsche Edition collections are imported by K.I.D. Toy of Quebec, which has been bringing Majorette to Canada since before the Walmart interlude.
I don’t have the deep Majorette knowledge of some of my Lamley writing colleagues, but I do have a small collection of about 100, mostly vintage, models from the historic French brand. I had eyed up three recent race and rally releases without ever expecting to see them in Calgary. But here they are!
First up is the Corvette C7.R, the last of the front-engined Corvette racers, which competed in WEC and IMSA until the end of 2019.
The Majorette version comes with the brand’s racing wheels with Majorette on the sidewall, which are reminiscent of Siku rims back in the 80s.
The suspension means it rides a bit high but hey, this is a toy with great play value: all three models here have suspension and opening doors. As such, the passably accurate deco is a bonus.
Majorette’s current cars are mostly bigger than 1:64 scale. This C7.R is 1:60; here it is with a Kyosho C6.R for comparison.
(find the Majorette Corvette C7.R on eBay)
Next is another giant of GT racing, the Porsche 911. Strictly speaking this is a GT3 RS road car masquerading as a racer, but we’ll go with it given that Majorette saw fit to dress this one up in the famous Pink Pig colours. These were originally worn by a 917 in 1971 but more recently revived on the winning GTE Pro 911 RSR at Le Mans in 2018, and on a GT3 R in China (see the Tarmac Works model).
The Majorette bridges the two eras, transposing the 917’s racing number 23 onto a modern 911. A quick search on Google shows that at least one owner has done just that, not to mention the RWB car of course.
This 1:59-scale model is from the premium Porsche Edition series so comes in fancier packaging. It’s nicely detailed but on mine the base doesn’t fit as tightly to the body as I’d like. Unlike the Corvette, it has no rivet at the rear of the car.
The size comparison this time is with a Sparky Falken 911 GT3 R.
(find the Majorette Pink Pig on eBay)
Finally, we have one of my favourite models of the year. The Toyota Celica GT Coupe is a brilliant casting choice and very well executed, whether as the lemon-yellow or black road cars, or in this version as a Toyota Team Europe (TTE) rally car.
TTE was the outfit that put Toyota on the world rallying map from the mid-70s onwards and the Mk.1 Celica emerged ahead of the Corolla as the team’s most competitive car. The livery dates from 1976-77. The #29 on the Majorette model may derive from Klaus Fritzinger’s 1977 Monte Carlo car, but I can’t prove it!
It’s a great looking model and as a rally car, the ride height and suspension work in its favour. Great wheels, too.
To finish, here’s the Majorette Celica alongside some CM’s rally Toyotas. As you can see, it’s quite a big model – the scale is 1:56.
That’s it for this brief foray into Majorette world. Don’t miss Alex Winson’s regular updates on the brand. Thanks for reading!
(find the Majorette Toyota Celica on eBay)
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I was in Vancouver last year and couldn’t find any toys at all the London Drugs that I’ve visited. Glad to know they still do carry them.
Bonus fact: this Racing Cars Celica has a different base compared to the Vintage version. The Racing Cars version come with a front splitter.
Thanks for the info, I didn’t look too closely at the Vintage one! That’s pretty impressive on Majorette’s part. And yes, LD’s toy stock is a bit hit and miss