December 2016

There were 3 posts published in December 2016 (this is page 1 of 1).

Santa Smurf

Once again it’s Christmas, and I thought it would be interesting to share some interesting information about Santa, Schleich Ref# 20124, first released back in 1981. 

Back in 1981 both Schleich and Wallace Berrie released their own variations of Santa. It appears the same mould may have been used, but slight paint variations were made. The main differences were with the blue paint, the red paint, bag shades vary and doll face shades can also vary. The horn is the biggest difference; Schleich has a yellow horn and Wallace Berrie has a white horn.

In the same year, BP Australia started selling six different Greeting Smurfs (sockel/pedestal) which included Santa Smurf. Back in 1981, BP Australia were selling normal smurfs for 99 cents, Super Smurfs $1.75, Playsets $3.99 and Greeting Smurfs $1.99. 

Santa Smurf was produced  as a regular smurf by Schleich from 1981 to 1986 then again from 1990 to 1999. During this time many different sockels/pedestals were produced which included Santa Smurf.

Santa Smurf was also made in Hong Kong back in 1981 for both the Australian and USA markets. So its possible to find Santa with just Made in Hong Kong markings. Later on when Hong Kong was just making smurfs for Wallace Berrie around 1982/83 they included W.Berrie Co to the Hong Kong markings. 

When Wallace Berrie first released Santa Smurf, they sold it with Santa Smurfette (Schleich Ref# 20153) as a pair. 

After 1983 Wallace Berrie replaced Santa Smurf and Santa Smurfette with two new Christmas themed smurfs; Christmas Smurf (Schleich Ref# 20207) and Christmas Smurfette (Schleich Ref# 20208)

Schleich also sold Santa Smurf and Santa Smurfette as a pair in 1983. The pair was given the reference number 20833 by Schleich and was sold in its own special display box. By 1984 the pair had grown to four and now also included Christmas Smurf and Christmas Smurfette. By 1985 the four Christmas themed smurfs grew to six and now also included Christmas Smurfette (Schleich Ref# 20200) and Christmas with Lantern (Schleich Ref# 20201).

The Christmas Smurfs were also sold as a six in 1986 and then rested until 1990 when they re-released by Schleich. 

Seasons Greetings to you all!

Keep Smurfin

Kath B

 

 

 

Smurf Chess

Based on the classic cartoons and comics by Peyo, Plastoy created this beautiful chess set with a smurf difference back in 2009.

You don’t even have to know how to play chess to appreciate this chess set. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the game of chess, I have included some information on the pieces as a starting point. In a standard game of chess, each of the two players begins a game with the following 16 pieces:

  • 1 king
  • 1 queen
  • 2 bishops
  • 2 knights
  • 2 castles
  • 8 pawns

However this is not your standard chess set as each piece brings its own slant of smurf cheekiness to the game. 

  • The king is our beloved Papa Smurf. 
  • The queen is our beautiful Smurfette
  • The bishop is jester smurf
  • The knight is a smurf riding a snail holding a sword
  • The castle is a smurf piggy backing another smurf
  • The pawns are mushrooms

The chess board is made of 64 squares. As you can see the smurfs play a chess board that looks like a very manicured lawn, a bit like a soccer pitch. 

The goal with Chess is to checkmate the other king. The game of chess requires a lot of strategy and intelligence. So if you are wanting to encourage someone to take up playing chess, this smurf chess set would be hard to ignore. Or if you are someone like me who is just looking for something to add to their smurf display this is a great addition. 

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

 

 

Sassette

Sassette has always intrigued me. Perhaps it has something to do with the theory that Sassette was created after people complained that Smurfette was the only female character in the cartoon series. If this was true, then who came up with the idea of Sassette was it Peyo or someone else?

As most Smurf fans know Sassette is everything Smurfette is not. Sassette is a tomboy who likes to climb trees and is well known for wearing her pink overalls and her hair in pigtails. Where Smurfette is well known for her wearing white frilly dresses and having her long golden blonde hair perfectly styled. 

Sassette first appeared in the cartoon series, around Season 5 that aired in September 1985. The story goes that one day, the Smurflings; Snappy, Slouchy and Nat find Smurfette crying as she wants somebody she can share things with, a fellow female smurf. 

Around 1988 a comic book was published about The Smurflings. I am yet to find out if this story was published earlier by Peyo. If not it would be one of the few stories where it was written for the cartoon show than as a comic. 

In the same year Schleich announced the arrival of a new series of smurfs which included the Smurflings. If the story is true, Peyo was not happy with the colours on the some of the original production pieces and changes had to be made.

One of these pieces was to do with the colour Sassette’s hair. In the cartoon series her hair is shown as orange but the first Sassette made by Schleich had bright red hair. This was then later changed to brownish red hair.

In 1990 Applause produced their version of Sassette which shows her with light orange hair and no freckles. For some smurf fans this was more like the version seen in the cartoon series. 

Depending on what type of smurf fan you are, may determine if you are a fan of Sassette or not. As I am probably one of the few collectors out there who did not read the comics or the cartoon series as a child, I just think it is great to have so many different versions of Sassette to collect. 

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B