June 2017

There were 4 posts published in June 2017 (this is page 1 of 1).

School Patrol Smurf or Lollipop Smurf

We first see the School Patrol Smurf in the 1983 Schleich catalogue. Wearing his customary white pants & hat, with a white plastic stop sign inserted into the hands. 

This figurine is the same one used on #20101 Fisherman. So sometimes School Patrol can be found with West Germany Bully © Peyo markings. It is also mentioned as a version in the Der Schlumpf Katalog IV, though I feel this is not technically correct. 

School Patrol was never made out of Hong Kong or ever sold in Australia or the USA.  I have often wondered why this was the case, because Fisherman was. This may have had something to do with the fishing rod being part of the mould and not as a seperate piece.  

In the early 1990’s new child safety laws were introduced, which stopped a number of smurfs being made. These were mainly smurfs that were made with seperate, removable parts such as Traffic Smurf, Smurfette with Ice cream, Surprise Cone Smurfs and many others. Sadly School Patrol Smurf was also a casualty of these new laws.

However  a credit to Schleich as in 1999, they redesigned School Patrol so the white plastic school sign included a thickened end so it could not be easily removed from his hands. It was sold like this for two years, 1999 & 2000. I also noticed in the 1999 Schleich catalogue they refer to this smurf as Lollipop Smurf and then in the 2000 catalogue they call him Patrol Crossing. It is only since the publication of the Gian & Davi Collezioni – The Smurfs Official Collector’s Guide that I have started calling this one School Patrol. 

In my time that I have been collecting smurfs, I have also came across School Patrol Smurf being confused with Traffic Smurf (#20155). This may have something to do with Traffic Smurf holding a plastic triangle crosswalk sign with both hands. The sign is white with a red border and shows the symbol of two people walking in the middle of the sign. The smurf is also wearing his white pants & hat.

So as a tip, it is always best to check with a picture of the smurf than just going by one’s name, as you will never be sure what you may get. 

Keep on Smurfin 

Kath B

 

 

 

 

Hockey Smurf

My team won their hockey game last night, after trailing for most of the time they ended up winning 5 goals to 4. The excitement of the game inspired me to explore the origins of Hockey Smurf. Just so it is clear I am talking about field hockey here, not ice hockey!

Hockey Smurf was first seen in 1981 Schleich catalogue, wearing a green shirt & socks, brown shorts, a light cream coloured stick with a white ball attached to the end.  

In the same year in the US, Wallace Berrie displayed their version of Hockey Smurf wearing a yellow shirt, red shorts and white shoes with blue trim. I have never seen this version of Hockey Smurf anywhere so this makes me believe this was just a prototype and never actually released. In 1982 the familiar green shirt & socks, brown shorts was shown in the Wallace Berrie catalogue.

The major difference between the German and Hong Kong ones, are the different paint shades used for the shirt & shorts, along with the colour of the stick. The Hong Kong ones  tend to have a dark brown stick compared to cream coloured stick. 

There is also a Hockey Smurf with a red & white striped shirt, red socks, navy shorts with a light creamed stick with a white ball. I have often wondered what the origins of this one was as I could not locate it in any Schleich catalogues. Perhaps originally it was made as some kind of promotional smurf. So if anyone knows the origins I would love if they could share it with us!

In the Gian & Davi Collezioni – The Smurfs Official Collector’s Guide that was published in 2013 they also list a couple of others that are considered extremely rare. One of these includes a keyring where the Hockey Smurf is wearing the German colours of a white shirt & socks with black shorts. Another one that is mentioned is considered extremely rare is the one wearing Jo, Cule team colours of red, white and blue striped shirt with blue shorts. I have only ever seen pictures of this one.

Probably the one that carries the most interest and talked about Hockey Smurf is the Karamalz version. This is because it has never been confirmed if they are genuine promotional smurfs or not. Each smurf has brown cap with Karamalz written in white letters on it.  A total of five different smurf figurines have been used by Karamalz. A version was made using Hockey Smurf with the green shirt and brown shorts.

I will always have a soft spot for Hockey Smurf as long as my team keeps winning!

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

 

Nurse Smurfette

I like to collect smurfs with different markings and paint dots as I believe every smurf is unique and no two smurfs are the same. This one, Nurse Smurfette in particular has caught my attention.

The Gian & Davi – The Smurfs Official Collectors Guide & Der Schlumpf Katalog IV tells us Nurse Smurfette was produced between 1982 to 2000.

Firstly is this correct?

The Nurse was made in West Germany, Hong Kong, Germany and China. So far I have found no references to them being made in Portugal, Sri Lanka or Macau.

Is this correct?

Though we can find that it was painted in Portugal, Sri Lanka, Tunisia and Hong Kong. We can tell this by the different paint dots that can be found. Portugal – Mustard/Sri Lanka – Red/Tunisia – Green & Black

Is this correct?

The WG variations all have a blue dress, white apron. The other details people have noted is that she has a silver syringe & watch, small blue lines on the syringe. I also made a reference to her straight eyelashes.

This variation can also be found with different paint dots. These have included green, mustard and red. The version with the mustard paint dot as matte blue skin and the version with the red paint dot has more of satin shiny blue skin and eyelashes appear to be more curved. The green paint version is similar to the others though has fainter blue lines on the syringe and a lighter blue skin than the others.

The Hong Kong variation is quite different to the W.Germany ones.  The Hong Kong one has a white dress, blue apron, red lines on the syringe and a black syringe plunger & watch. Her skin is also quite often described as shiny. With the Hong Kong variation this can be found with and without W.Berrie markings.

It is also possible to find one without any country marking and instead just has the markings Schleich S © Peyo under it’s feet. I have seen this both with a red and paint dot. Not really sure why this was done or when. This nurse has a blue dress & white apron.

What is interesting is that Nurse Smurfette was sold in 1982 in Germany, UK and the USA. This must have been extremely busy and exciting time for Schleich.

In the 1990’s two different versions were produced out of China, with the markings Made in China Schleich S Germany © Peyo 1981 Ce. Once again the difference is with the size of the Ce marking. These look like the German made one as they have a blue dress and white apron.

Sometimes a version can be found with a small and medium sized Ce markings under the feet. This was the case for the promotional one Nurse Malteser that was produced around 2004.

It always amazes me that from one smurf mould how many different variations were made. The attention to detail added in by the painter is one of the most beautiful aspects of the smurfs and this is what makes them so unique. 

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

 

 

 

 

 

CB Radio Smurf

Yet again I have found myself wanting to know more about particular smurfs that make up my collection and today I found it was CB Radio Smurf that caught my eye.

From what I have been able to find with CB Radio Smurf is that appears the figurine has been the same mould but the variations are to be found with the radio or the antenna. So far I have been able to find about five different ones.

CB Radio Smurf was first sold in 1982 and in the beginning it was sold with a long silver antenna that was inserted into the radio between his fingers. I am not sure how long this version was sold but it was likely it was only for a short period due to the antenna being a safety concern. 

After this CB Radio Smurf was sold with a smaller silver antenna which appeared to be part of the mould. The smaller antenna can be found with or without a thickened end. 

When CB Radio Smurf was made in Hong Kong the antenna was painted black and was clearly part of the mould as it ran upside along the arm to the elbow and then extended up past the bent arm. The Hong Kong version also had a brown speaker radio. 

Around 1991 Schleich started marking all their smurfs with a small Ce marking. The Ce marking on the CB Radio Smurf is a little odd as it is not underneath the feet with the other markings but on it’s right leg. 

The last version of CB Radio Smurf was sold with the French magazine Je Collectionne les Schtroumpfs and was sold between 2004 to 2006. This version of the CB Radio Smurf has a very thick silver antenna and is parted lovely matte paint colours. 

The CB Radio Smurf is one of the few smurfs that catches the attention of a collector not because the colour variations that can be found but because of the changes made to the accessories. Obviously it was a popular smurf  during these years as Schleich were happy to make the neceassary changes to the antenna to ensure its sale. 

CB Radio Smurf was sold from 1982 right through to 1996. Perhaps it has become a thing of its time as the next generation of smurf collectors may not know or appreciate what a CB radio is. 

The other thing that I like about this smurf is the position of it’s pupils in it’s eyes. The pupils have been hand painted and appear as if they are looking up at you. It’s this kind of attention to detail that I love about the smurfs.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B