Smurfs that play cricket – Howzat!

Cricket Smurf is found wearing his cricket whites with his bat raised up like he has just played a cover drive.

Today in Melbourne, Sunday 29 March 2015 Australia will be playing New Zealand in the world cup cricket final. Throughout the tournament Australia only lost once and that was against New Zealand. New Zealand has remained undefeated throughout the tournament. Here’s hoping for a super match.

Though back in 1980 Cricket Smurf was released in Australia. Some can be found with a satin light brown bat that has either red or brown batting grip. This version was made in Hong Kong and was released by BP Australia.

There was also version made in W.Germany. It appears to be the same mould, though the bat colour can vary slightly. From a light brown to a dark olive brown colour. With these ones, you can find them with a mustard paint dot (meaning it was painted in Portugal) and a red paint dot (it was painted in Sri Lanka)

I still have my Cricket Smurf from when I was a child, though it’s missing it’s bat. But I have still kept for sentimental reasons. Sadly people try to sell these without the bat asking ridiculous prices but I would never sell mine.

Cricket Smurf was given reference 20066 by Schleich and was only made until 1986.

For those of you who love their cricket and smurfs, let’s hope for a really good game with Australia winning!

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

Act like a tourist

Every smurf collector hopes one day to find their dream smurf ignored and forgotten in the bottom of a box at a garage sale.

The funny thing is that a smurf does not necessary have to be from the 1960’s or 1970’s to be considered rare. Some of the smurfs released around the late 1990’s and early 2000’s are some of the hardest smurfs to find. The good thing is that not everyone is aware of this.

Let’s take Tourist Smurf (Schleich reference 20455) as an example. In 1999 Schleich only released six new smurfs. Five of the six were made in Germany but Tourist was the only one made in China.

For one year maybe two, smurfs made out of China were painted with very shiny blue paint. All the smurfs painted with shiny blue paint are highly collectible.

Tourist was only sold between 1999 to 2002 and is hard to find. This pushes up the price when sold by collectors who know their stuff. Though once in a while you will be presented with some smurfs where the seller has no idea of their true value.

A tourist likes to visit places that interests them. So when you are at that garage sale and find that dream smurf, enjoy the moment and act like a tourist!

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

What a naughty smurf!

What makes a smurf waves his fingers in his ears and sticks out his tongue?

I don’t know but whenever someone sees this smurf it always brings a smile on their face. A guess a bit of cheekiness goes a long way.

There are two different sized moulds for Naughty and both were made by Bully. The first version was made in 1973 and has a thinner face.

The second version was made around 1976 and has a wider face.

When Schleich started selling Naughty they gave it reference number 20077. The mould with the thinner face was the only one made in Hong Kong. The last time it was made was around 1984.

This smurf is not to be confused with Earache, reference 20015. Earache may have his fingers in his ears but his not waving at us like Naughty does ……. too be honest I don’t think he is not even listening to us.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

Good Luck on St Patricks Day

sm20176

Around the world St Patricks Day is celebrated. This also includes the smurf village with St Patricks Smurf.

St Patricks Smurf was first released in the USA around 1982/83. Wearing a light green outfit and holding a three leaf clover in his right hand. This version was made out of green pvc material.

Shortly after this release a version was made for the European market wearing a brown jacket, yellow vest, red pants and a black hat with a red hatband. This is made out of blue pvc material.

The last St Patricks Smurf was last released in 2000 wearing a brown jacket, yellow vest, red pants and a black hat. This is made out of blue pvc material. The three leaf clover it is holding is a darker green than the American version. The CE mark is on the back of the clover.

Schleich gave this reference number 20176. St Patricks was only ever made in Portugal and was never made in W.Germany/Germany, Hong Kong or China.

The St Patricks Smurfs can be hard to find. The version with red hatband is considered the rarest out of the three.

Good luck to you all

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

Wandering with Hiker Smurf

We were first introduced to Hiker Smurf around 1978 and for many this was one of the smurfs many collectors remember when they were a child. Schleich gave it number 20041.

The first version was released with a brown backpack and wearing an ocher brown shirt. Also the mustard yellow flower on his hat is unpainted on the back. This is can be quite hard to find as it was only available for a short period.

After this, Schleich released Hiker with a green backpack, wearing yellow shirt and has a red flower on his hat.

This version of Hiker was also released by BP Australia in 1980. This is the one I remember as a child. It is still fairly easy to find this one in Australia.

What makes Hiker interesting to collect, is the different shades of paint used for his green backpack, yellow shirt and brown used for his shoes and trekking stick. Also whether or not it has a thin or thick flower stem.

Hiker was made in a variety of countries, which helps explains why it can be found with so many different shades of paint.

In 2001 Schleich introduced a New Hiker (20473) to their range. Though the two smurfs share the same name, they are completely different from each other. The New Hiker is carrying a heavy pack on his back and his sweat on his cheeks.

I think I know which Hiker I would prefer to go on a hike with!

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

To find a Gold Smurf

Within every smurf collection, there is at least one that you know it is important to have as part of your collection but you do not really fully understand why. Gold Smurf is a good example of this.

Gold Smurf was one of three, that was officially produced by Schleich in 1965. It was given the number 20005. All three shared the same mould though were painted differently to create their own character. The other two were Normal and Prisoner. This alone is one reason why Gold Smurf is highly collectible.

Gold and Normal Smurf shared the same markings and production releases until 1985. The only differences between the two were that Gold Smurf had a gold hat and pants; where as Normal had a white hat and pants.

Normal Smurf was released again in 2011 as part of the Schleich decade box set 1960 – 1969 and is fairly easy to find. On the other hand, Gold Smurf has not been reproduced since 1985 and was only available in the USA for two years. Making Gold Smurf a little harder to find.

Gold Smurf can still be found though in most cases the quality of the paint is very poor. This is a combination of the paint quality and whether or not it has been played with. Some Gold Smurfs have a tarnished colour look making them appear more bronze than gold. To find a Gold Smurf that is in mint condition is extremely rare.

Then there is always the markings……but that’s for another day

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

A smurf once called Handy

sm20012 Many collectors buy smurfs that remind them of their childhood. This is perhaps why Mechanic (20012) is still highly collectible in Australia. Mechanic with dark green overalls and holding a grey spanner was sold by BP Australia back in 1979 until 1982.

Though back then it was called Handy and it was one of the first ten smurfs that BP Australia released. It was also one of the first smurfs made in Hong Kong. In the early days when smurfs were being made in Hong Kong, they would use spray paint for the blue skin.

So imagine my surprise when I found out that Handy was first made in 1970 and wasn’t wearing overalls. This Handy was wearing white pants and holding a black spanner. Adding to this surprise was that the last time they made Handy was in 1985.

Then once again I was surprised when I discovered that there was a version from Portugal with light green overalls and a grey spanner.

So depending where in the world you live, the smurfs that we remember as a child will be different. That’s got to be a good thing!

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B