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| Jouets Rationnels Logo 1 |
Jouets Rationnels appear to have obtained their MMM supplies wherever they could find them. The JR sticker on these boxes is from the French importer/wholesaler. It's printed in dark blue, consisting of a rectangle with white 'jr' logo in white, lower-case letters.
Below this is the name 'jouets rationnels' - above it is marked 'le monde des jouets / les jouets du monde'. All of this translates as: 'rational toys - the world of toys / toys of the world'.
There's at least one slight variation of the logo used in MMM advertising - this one is from the French insert folder below. It's a simplified minor branding logo - assuming it's used in print when space is at a premium.
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| Jouets Rationnels Logo 2 |
- #6304 Véhicule Lunaire (Space Crawler)
- #6308 Station Spatiale (Space Station)
- #6330 Capt Laser (Captain Lazer)
Presumably MMM and Storm will also have had that JR sticker on their packs, as would Doug Davis, Jeff Long, Callisto and the Space Power Suit which JR also advertised.
Jouets Rationnels had their offices at 6, Rue Cauchois in the 18th Arondissement of Paris – they will have had a warehouse elsewhere. (It says nr 4 in this Streetview, but that’s the Supermarché at the right.)
The company was active as an importer and distributor of toys from 1953 until 1985, having merged with toymaker Joustra (Jouets de Strasbourg) in 1969. They had an exclusive agreement with Mattel for the French market from 1963 to 1970 (when Mattel France was started and Mattel returned its shares in JR) but handled a great many other toys as well. More on Wikipedia in French or via Google Translate (which is clear enough with the exception of various different mistranslations of ‘Télécran’ - the original French brand name of the Etch-a-Sketch.)
So in 1970 Mattel took over distribution of MMM in France and started issuing figures with French text, replacing Jouets Rationnels and their French-language stickers.
#6304 Véhicule Lunaire (Space Crawler)
The French version of the Space Crawler with stickers applied over the English language areas. The packaging for the French Canadian market looks very similar to this.
#6308 Station Spatiale (Space Station)
This oddity (reported by Paul Vreede) has a US box, with an English color label and a french translation label and JR sticker.
Réf. No. 6330 Capt. Laser (Captain Lazer)
The French version of Capt Lazer, once again with stickers applied but on a German language box in this case.
6302-1110 Major Matt Mason Le Héros de Mattel dans l'espace - French Front
French-language version of the 6-panel insert folder - this one was included in some packaging distributed by Jouets Rationnels in France. Image provided by Stephen Salmon.
6302-1110 Major Matt Mason Le Héros de Mattel dans l'espace - French Back
1968 JR Xmas Tombola Advert
This half-page advert appeared in French comic magazines in the Fall of, showing Major Matt Mason as a prize that could be won in JR’s Xmas Tombola (raffle) that year.
Au Printemps Toy Catalogue - October 1969
Au Printemps (In Springtime) is a chain of "grands magasins" department stores in France.
1969 MMM "Soyes Les Premiers Sur Lat Lune..." campaign in comic magazines
Adverts in two sizes for MMM appeared in French-language comic magazines in the late Spring of 1969.
1969 Jouets Rationnels “2e Tombola De Noël" French Ad Circular
This small catalog probably came in local French newspapers in 1969, featuring Jouets Rationnels/Mattel S.A. “2e Tombola De Noël.”
1969 MMM "COMPTE À REBOURS" (COUNTDOWN) Competition
JR sponsored a great competition in Spirou comoc magazine (and possibly other titles as well) to coincide with the Apollo 11 mission to land a man on the Moon.
All Mattel images and captions are copyright Mattel and used without permission. All other content, including images and editorial, is Copyright © 1997-2024 John Eaton and/or contributors unless otherwise stated. If there are any comments or objections, please contact John Eaton or Paul Vreede.
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