In the gloom of a British winter one needs all the colour one can get. The days are short, cold and more often than not, wet. Opportunities to get out and about to shoot pictures are few and far between but a break in the weather gave me a fabulous opportunity to look at two diecasts that are seriously bright and seriously good.
And quite fittingly for the colour of the Challenger these are from Jada’s new Pink Slips line that arrived at the tail end of last year. Don’t let the name fool you too much; these are simply repackaged Majorette castings. But where they differ from the French brand’s offerings is in the range of unique colours available. And they don’t get much more unique than the vibrant pink on the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat.
The Hellcat has proved to be a real hit with collectors and rightly so. It’s a great casting (if a little flat on front end detail) and a strong model in Majorette’s line up and looks set to continue that trend in Jada packaging. The combination of that colour offset with black bonnet and wheels goes hard. The wheels themselves could pass for OEM items and are wrapped in rubber, further cushioned by the trademark Majorette suspension.
The colour itself is a superb choice. Like the wheels, it could well pass for a factory option. It’s not the vibrant Panther Pink of the old Mopar colour charts but it is just as bold and unique, exactly how a muscle car should be. A very cool diecast indeed.
It’s not the only heavy hitter from the Pink Slips line however, far from it. The Mercedes-Benz AMG GT is one of my all time favourite Majorette castings. In GT R form it has graced Lamley before in Black Edition and Mercedes Shop exclusive guises, and this Jada version is another beauty.
It’s an incredibly handsome casting; the paint and wheels again combine wonderfully, and again both could be straight off the options list, plucked from the Mercedes “Manufaktur” range.
Both cars feature some great tampo work and as well as the aforementioned suspension and rubber tyres there’s opening doors and clear headlights as well as a display box. The range does feature other Majorette heavies such as the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen, Audi R8 and Nissan GT-R in exclusive colours, but of the early releases these two are the pick of the bunch. Come for the Challenger, stay for the AMG.
Majorette are taking big strides forward with every year passing year and 2024 looks set to be even bigger with the celebration of their 60th anniversary. Whether their cars sit in a Jada package or not the future is very bright indeed.
(Click here to find the Pink Slips Challenger on Ebay and Click here to find the AMG GT)
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Majorette has been flying under the radar of most collectors in some territories, but for those who have access and means, it’s arguably the best mid-range diecast car toy option you can find today. The brand has successfully undercut Tomica’s Red Box basic line in like-for-like licenses, and despite being sub-1/60 instead of true 1/64 they’re actually decently-detailed enough to be true collectors’ items.
Agreed on *all counts*