Majorette (toy)
Majorette is a brand name of a toy manufacturer who mainly produces model vehicles from metal and plastic in various scales (e.g. about 1:64).
history
The company was founded in 1961 by Emile Véron. Railway models were initially produced under the name Rail-Route . From 1964 motor vehicle models are produced under the name Majorette. In 1967 Majorette became the company name. Production was still in France, later also in Portugal. Majorette was considered the top-selling French manufacturer of toy car models. Numerous different vehicles were shown as models.
In the 1980s, the previous attention to detail was reduced in favor of an imaginative toy character compared to the competitor Norev . In 1980, the French car model manufacturer Solido was taken over without its military vehicle division.
In 1986 Majorette acquired a factory in the Nava Nakorn Industrial Promotion Zone in Pathum Thani Province , Thailand. In 1992 the company became insolvent. Véron left the company, which now operated as La Nouvelle Société Majorette and was taken over in 1993 by Idéal Loisirs , which bought Novacar de Minia Porto in 1993 .
In 1996, the controlled Triumph-Adler AG , the Idéal Loisirs SA 2003 Majorette went into the Smoby group. In March 2008 Majorette was sold for 3.9 million US dollars to the Société Anonyme Compagnie MI 29 , which is owned by the French investment fund Bigben Interactive ; 23 of the 78 employees lost their jobs.
Majorette has been part of the German Simba Dickie Group since 2010 .
In autumn 2011 production came to a standstill as the entire factory was flooded as part of the autumn flood disaster in Thailand in 2011. Most of the old injection molds fell victim to the floods. Simba-Dickie-Toys invested 6.5 million euros and a further 10 million euros in the reconstruction of the factory alone. Since the end of 2012, a new range with new models in a new quality has been offered.
The models have been produced in Thailand since the mid-1990s. In addition to the vehicles, a road system called the Majo-Kit was sold in the 1980s . Later, in the new millennium, a similar system was offered again as Majo City .
Majorette USA
In 1982 Toys of Majorette was moved from Cleveland, Ohio to Miami, Florida . This branch was bought by Smoby in 2003 and operated under the name Smoby-Majorette until 2008 , which became insolvent in 2007.
Web links
- Majorette's website
- Numerous models in pictures at diecastlovers.com
- Majorette Diecast Database at wikia.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ About Majorette on the Majorette website, accessed May 13, 2017
- ↑ Solido 40 years of history (English)
- ↑ http://www.simba-dickie-group.de/de/aktuelles/nachrichten/bonjour_saint-claude_simba_dickie_und_die_smoby_group/seite_1.shtml ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Bienvenue Majorette! Samba Dickie Group, June 21, 2010, accessed May 13, 2017
- ^ Simba Dickie: Toy manufacturer with a balanced annual balance . Press release of the Simba Dickie Group of January 29, 2013, accessed on May 13, 2017
