Variations to be found with Tennis Smurfette

Collecting variations is a lot of fun and can also be quite addictive. Always on the never ending quest to look for those slight differences. Whether the differences be in colour, size or production markings, collecting smurfs can be a lot of fun. Its kind of hard to describe the feeling one gets when one discovers a variation. So if you are new to collecting smurfs, you may want to begin by looking at Tennis Smurfette as an example. (Schleich Ref# 20135)

One of the particular attractions of Tennis Smurfette to me is I remember owning one as a child, which I still have. It was released by BP Australia in 1981 in time for Christmas along with Santa Smurf (Schleich Ref# 20124) for just 99 cents. The good thing is that Tennis Smurfette is still easy to find today.

Now back to the tennis with Smurfette playing the back-shot. Standing on an oval white base, wearing white shoes, dress and underwear. The dress will normally have dots on it. Her red tennis racquet is removable and is made out of plastic. It was sold between 1981 right through to 1996.

There are a few things to keep an eye open for when looking for variations with Tennis Smurfette.

The dots on her skirt are either pink or red. Generally pink dots can be found on the ones from W.Germany, Portugal and China. The red dots can be found on the ones from Hong Kong.

The shoelaces will be painted if it was from W.Germany, Portugal and China. Generally if from Hong Kong the laces will be unpainted.

If Tennis Smurfette is from either Portugal or China the base will generally have a slight pink colour to it. It looks a little strange as it looks like a little kid has drawn on the base with a crayon. I am not really sure why they did this.

Like on many of the Smurfette’s that can be found, the colour of her golden blonde hair and blue skin can also vary depending which country it was painted in. Darker colours tend to indicate it was painted in Hong Kong and softer colours indicate it was painted in Portugal.

So as you can see there are many different variations to be found with Tennis Smurfette.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

2017 Smurfs Review

This week I had a pleasant surprise when I received the 2017 smurfs in the post. I was not expecting them until February so to receive them in January was absolute bonus. I am always a tad cautious about making my mind up solely on a picture I had seen on the web and the 2017 smurfs were no exception. So as always I opened up the box and slowly started examining each one.

These smurfs are definitely different to others Schleich has released before. The pvc material used to make the smurfs feels very different. Yes they are still made of a hard material but in the past you could squeeze a smurf and it would give a little but not the new ones.

The look of the 2017 smurfs have also changed quite a bit from previous years. It is almost like the smurfs have been on a diet and lost some weight. Things like their tails and hands appear to be half the size of what they used to be. But the most obvious change is with their eyes and eyebrows. The 2017 smurfs all appear to have the same pair of eyes and thin eyebrows. Previously the pupils and eyebrows used to be hand painted onto the smurf and by doing this it allowed each figurine to display their own personality. Sadly this is no longer the case.

But for me the biggest disappointment is with Valentine Smurfette and Bride. In my opinion they look very bland and it feels that Smurfette has lost some of her feminine touch. Yes she still has her long golden blonde hair but she no longer looks flirtatious. This I found very surprising considering the release of the new smurf movie – The Lost Village where it appears Smurfette appears to play a pivotal role in the film.

I have also found the Smurf with Flowers is top heavy and is constantly falling over unless supported. I refuse to prop my smurfs with things like blue tack or adhesive tape. Otherwise I really like this smurf.

The Groom was originally shown in early pictures with a black suit but my version has the Groom in a grey suit.

The Smurf with key and 4 Leaf Clover are very simple but still very cute. Wearing their famous white trousers and holding out their chosen prop. This should be pleasing for some collectors who felt the Jungle themed smurfs from 2016 were not very smurf like.

Lastly these smurfs were all made in China and include the standard address markings along with a time stamp. Time will tell if they decide to make these in Germany or Tunisia in the future.

Now I just need to be patient and wait for the Movie Set Smurfs!

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

Tennis Smurfs

Someone asked me about the Tennis Smurf and what colour should the racquet be. Before I could answer their question, I had to first find out which Tennis Smurf were they talking about as both Schleich and Bully produced their own Tennis Smurfs. So here goes:

20093 One piece mould by Bully. This is considered extremely rare!

Bully first produced their Tennis Smurf in 1977 as a one piece mould. This was only made like this for a very short time and is one of many smurfs on my ‘most wanted list’. Dressed in a white shirt and shorts with their tennis racquet in their right hand and a tennis ball in the left hand. They then changed the mould so it had a yellow plastic removable racquet. These can be found in may different shades of yellow.

I should also mention that it is also possible to find this Tennis Smurf with Schleich markings. This is because in 1984 blocked the original Bully marking and added it with their Schleich marking on the arm. If you are lucky enough you may also come across one made in Sri Lanka by Schleich. This Tennis Smurf has the reference number 20093 and is a little harder to in Australia than the other Tennis Smurf.

Schleich first produced their Tennis Smurf in 1978/79 also as a one piece mould. This was only made a for a short period like this and was later changed to a red plastic removable racquet. Dressed in a white shirt and shorts with a yellow sweatband on his right wrist. This Tennis Smurf was very popular in Australia and can still be easy to find with or without the racquet. This Tennis Smurf has the reference number 20049.

Regarding the tennis racquets the ones with the small holes are Schleich made and the ones with the larger holes are Bully made. It is also quite possible to find both of the Tennis Smurfs with different coloured racquets. So the Bully Tennis Smurf should come with a yellow racquet and the Schleich Tennis Smurf with a red racquet. But hey, it allows you to add colour and variety to your collection without detracting from the smurfs.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

Regular Smurf or Super Smurf

Do you sometimes have a hard time trying to figure out some of the variations. I know I do constantly especially when I am trying to figure out if it is a regular smurf or a super smurf. A couple of good examples of this are the Gardener smurf and the Ice Hockey smurf.

Let’s start with the Gardener smurf.
Regular Gardener: 20028
Super Smurf Gardener: 40206

If you are like me and grew up in Australia, you would have been quite surprised to find that Schleich made two moulds of the Gardener smurf. The version commonly found in Australia is the large mould with the wider face and has both flat feet on the ground. This was made in Hong Kong around 1978/79. This was sold only as a regular smurf and was given the reference number 20028. It was never sold as Super Smurf.

The smaller mould has a narrower face was sold as a regular smurf and as a Super Smurf . It was first sold as a regular smurf around 1977/78 through to 1984. The Gardener Super Smurf was sold around the same time in Europe. It was also briefly sold by Wallace Berrie as a Super Smurf around 1982 to 1983.

Later on the large mould Gardener smurf was sold with the Garden playset, Schleich Ref# 40620 released between 1998 to 2004.

The Ice Hockey smurf is another one that I always find confusing.
Regular Ice Hockey: 20032
Super Smurf Ice Hockey: 40505

The regular version of Ice Hockey was only sold in Europe for a very short of time around 1977/78. It was then sold as a Super Smurf between 1979 to 1981. In the US it was first sold as a regular smurf in 1979 and then the following years up until 1984 it was sold as both, regular and Super smurf.

There are thought to be only three marking versions of the Ice Hockey smurfs. The most common one has © Peyo on the blade of the ice skate and is generally found in a darker yellow colour.

The next two versions were made out of Hong Kong for the US market. The first version can be found with the Made in Hong Kong Schleich emblem © Peyo on the side of the head. The second version made after 1978 removed all the markings from the head and added the new markings Hong Kong Schleich S © Peyo 1978 to the ice skate blades. I believe both versions were sold as regular and super smurfs.

Just to add confusion to the Ice Hockey smurfs you can also find these with different coloured sticks. Though the smurf is genuine, the sticks are not as you will notice that the pucks sit behind the stick. It is thought these sticks were made for different figurines.

I hope I have not confused you anymore but in someway assisted you in identifying your smurfs. Just when you think you understand the markings found on your smurfs, another one will turn up with a marking you have not seen before.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

Bring on the Smurfs 2017

The hunt for the new release Smurfs 2017 is now on now that we have hit January. When it comes to the smurfs, Schleich has decided to wait until after Christmas to release their new smurfs. This works for me most of the time but this time it’s driving me a little crazy. Let me explain why.

I have also seen a picture of the Groom Smurf wearing a light grey suit, so time will tell whether or not we have a Groom Smurf wearing a black or light grey suit. For someone who loves collecting variations let’s hope we get both!

Also announced are three three movie smurf sets being released to coincide of the release of the new smurf movie – Smurfs The Lost Village. The funny the thing with this, is that we have very little information on these sets.

Smurfs 2017 Movie Set 1 – Schleich Ref# 20800

Includes 3 smurfs

Smurfs 2017 Movie Set 2 – Schleich Ref# 20801

Includes 3 smurfs. Good chance one is Smurfette

Smurfs 2017 Movie Set 3 – Schleich Ref# 20802

Includes six smurfs

These are taken from 2017 Schleich catalogue. It’s almost comical how they have displayed these or perhaps the smurfs are still in the early planning stages.

There is also going to be a Smurf House with two smurfs going to be released at some stage. Once again the details are a little sketchy.

Smurf House with 2 figurines – Schleich Ref 20803.

So you can now understand why I am little bit excited about the smurf prospects for 2017. 2016 was a year full of surprises by Schleich. At the beginning of the year we thought we were going to get eight soccer smurfs but only got four. Then out of no where the Halloween Smurfs were reproduced.

Happy smurf hunting to you all in 2017 and thank you once again for taking the time to read this. Smurf collecting is my passion and hopefully yours as well.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B