Waiter Smurf’s blue latte

Have you wondered what drink Waiter Smurf carried on his tray? I think I have finally found the answer – a Smurf Latte! The cafe Matcha Mylkbar in St Kilda, Melbourne has started offering this strange looking latte which has caught the attention of coffee and smurf fanatics from all over.

It’s a latte made with lemon, ginger, agave, coffee, and coconut milk, with a bright blue hue created with the addition of E3 live blue algae powder.

Now for all your smurf fanatics, back to Waiter Smurf, Ref #20162. Waiter Smurf was first released in 1983. In Europe it was produced by Schleich with a red cup and silver tray and was available until 1986. In the USA it was produced by Wallace Berrie with a white cup and a brown tray and was available until 1984.

For those of you who are sticklers for details, the silver tray version was never made in Hong Kong and the brown tray version was never made in Germany.

Between 1991 to 1993 Schleich re-released the silver tray version. This version also has a small CE marking on it.

McDonalds also used the Waiter Smurf as part of a promotion in 1996 celebrating 25 years in Germany & The Netherlands. It was also included in their promotion in 1998 celebrating 40 years of McDonalds in UK, Ireland and Iceland.

As part of this promotion the waiter is carrying a thick orange tray with a white cup on it with the M symbol on the front with a thick yellow straw. The smurf has the M embossed into the back of his head.

I am a little surprised that Waiter Smurf has not been used more as a promotional smurf over the years. Perhaps the Waiter Smurf was just waiting for the right drink and now it has finally found it with the Smurf Latte.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

Hula Smurfette controversy

We first get a glimpse of Hula Smurfette as a sketch in the 1988 Schleich Catalogue along with #20229 Foreman, #20230 Wild as actual figurines and #20228 Fitness as a sketch. Hula Smurfette could be found dancing in a grass skirt, flowers on the edge of her hat and a lei around her neck.

It was not unusual for Schleich to show prototypes or sketches of figurines in their catalogues. This is because the catalogues were generally produced a year or so before the actual release of the smurfs. The sketch shown above is from the 1988 Schleich Catalogue.

So imagine the surprise for collectors when Hula was released and it was quite different to the one shown in the 1988 Schleich catalogue as a sketch and as actual figurine in the 1989 Schleich catalogue.

For whatever reasons the version shown in the 1989 Schleich catalogue was never actually released. Some say that it was never actually approved by Peyo or that it was just a little too sexy.

The other odd thing about Hula Smurfette was that in the first production her hair is the same colour as her grass skirt. Later productions this was corrected so Hula Smurfette’s hair was yellow.

The first production version can be a little harder to find and bares the markings: W.Germany Schleich S Peyo © 88 with a black paint dot.

The commonly found version where Hula Smurfette has yellow hair and is made of a harder pvc material bares the markings: Made in China Schleich S Germany Peyo © 88 CE

Hula Smurfette was produced between 1989 to 1995 and then again in 2000. Surprisedly Hula Smurfette can still be easily found today and it does not carry a high price tag. So for those of you who like their variations this is a good one to keep an eye out for.

Like a lot of prototypes Smurfs made by Schleich there are those out there who feel there must be at least one version Hula Smurfette that was made but never released. I guess we will never really know…..

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

Gargamel – 20232 or 40211

Today I have found inner peace by sorting through my smurf collection. There is no better way to spend a day by scanning each smurf, to see if there are any missed discoveries. This is when I stumbled across Gargamel upon where I was asking myself, is it the regular Gargamel with lab glasses (ref# 20232) or is it Super Smurf Gargamel (#40211) without Azrael.

The first one I came across was the unique Bully version of Gargamel with the raised finger in the air. Like some of the early Bully releases this version of Gargamel is made of a very soft almost rubbery like material. This has Bully Peyo hand etched into his feet and was never actually sold by Schleich. Bully also never made any Super Smurfs!

The next in the pile of Gargamel’s I came across had the markings Made in Hong Kong Schleich S Peyo (c) 1978 on his back. I was pretty sure this was a Super Smurf without Azrael. This is because the regular version of Gargamel was never made in Hong Kong.

Around 1987 Schleich stopped producing the Gargamel & Azrael Super Smurfs so it should only be found Hong Kong, Hong Kong W. Berrie and W.Germany markings.

By now I was starting to think to myself that I knew everything about Gargamel and was about to give myself a big slap on my back when I found another version of Gargamel that was made in China. I started to doubt myself, and lined up each of my Gargamel’s and placed them in some of sort of order. Where did this version of Gargamel come from?

It wasn’t until I started flicking through a copy of the Gian & Davi Collezioni – The Smurfs Official Collector’s Guide that it dawned on me that Gargamel Castle was released in 1993. To complement the castle, a version of Gargamel must have been produced that was made in China.

Sometimes understanding a little about the different markings that can be found on your smurfs can help tell a story of your collection. At least you could never call Smurf collecting boring.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

Sporty Smurfs at the Olympics

Every four years the Olympic Games take place. With this sport has been a constant inspiration for developing new Smurfs. The number of sports represented by the smurfs has included soccer, hockey, baseball, basketball along with Olympic themed sports just to name a few. One has just has to look back over the years to see the influence of sport reflected in the production of smurfs.

In 2012 Schleich released ten Olympic themed Smurfs. These were only in production for two years however the good thing is that they are still easy to find.

These included Swimmer (Ref# 20736), Weightlifter (Ref# 20737), Beach Volleyball (Ref# 20738), Relay Runner (Ref# 20739), Gymnast (Ref #20740), Sprinter (Ref# 20741), Shot-putter (Ref# 20742), Rider (Ref# 20743), Javelin Thrower (Ref# 20744) and Winner (Ref# 20745)

The following description was taken from the Schleich website written in 2012 about the Sprinter Smurf (Ref# 20741) – With his golden shoes our Sprinter Smurf will run as fast as a blue bolt of lightening. Does Sprinter Smurf remind you of any famous Jamician sprinter?

With 2012 Olympic Smurfs, Schleich also sold these with their own special box. Each box contained five Olympic Smurfs. No doubt over time the interest in these will increase.

The other point of interest the Olympic Smurfs was that out of the ten Smurfs released three of these were Smurfettes. In previous years Schleich tended to only produce one new Smurfette. It is also interesting to note that was around the same time Lego introduced their Lego Disney Princess Range.

For those of you who enjoy their Smurf Olympic history, did you know that when Torchbearer Smurf was first shown in the 1979 Schleich catalogue it was called Olympia Smurf. This version of Torchbearer has a narrow face and wears a white singlet with the Belgium Lion emblem on the chest and white shorts.

Some of you may also recall Sporty, a Smurf character who appears occasionally in the comic books. He is an athlete who enjoys playing any kind of sport.

The Smurfic Games was a series of one-page vignettes set around the theme of Smurfs participating in various sports.

Also in the cartoon show, Hefty Smurf is the character that mostly exhibits a love for sports.

You don’t have to understand all the intricies in the sports played at the Olympics but like collecting Smurfs it helps if know something.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B