Carpenter Smurf vs New Carpenter Smurf

Carpenter verses New Carpenter, which one do you prefer? Carpenter that was first made by Bully in 1979 or New Carpenter that was made by Schleich in 2001. Whichever one you prefer may tell you a lot about the kind of smurfs you like to collect.

Carpenter can be found holding a plank of timber on his right hand side and a silver saw with a red handle in his left hand. Depending on the mould the angle of the saw blade can vary anywhere from horizontal to upwards. The other noticeable difference is to do with the yellow paint used for the timber. Some from light yellow to an orange yellow colour.

Carpenter was one of the last smurfs produced by Bully in 1979. In 1980 Schleich made Carpenter with Bully markings until around 1984. During this time, smurfs would have a paint dot added to their markings to indicate which country it was painted in. So its possible to find Carpenter with mustard, green or red paint dots. After this time Schleich were allowed to use their own markings on smurfs.

Carpenter was also sold in Australia by BP Australia around the Summer of 1981/82 as seen in the BP Summer Guide 82. This can be found with Made in Hong Kong Schleich © 1979 Peyo markings. They must have sold a lot of these as it can be easily found today.

The Hong Kong made Carpenter was also sold by Wallace Berrie in the USA between 1981 to 1984.

In 2001 Schleich released New Carpenter. New Carpenter carries a piece of timber over the right shoulder and a hammer in his left hand. Dressed in a navy blue wide brim hat, blue overalls, white shirt and brown working boots. New Carpenter was sold by Schleich between 2001 to 2005 with very little changes made to the figurine.

During this time, New Carpenter was sold with the same markings Made in China Schleich S Germany © 2000 Peyo CE but can be found with or without a blue paint dot. The blue paint dot was used between 2001 to 2003.

If you like to know when New Carpenter was produced you just have to check whether it has a blue paint dot added to the markings under the smurf’s foot. In 2001 the smurfs with a blue paint dot were painted with a high gloss shiny blue colour. In 2002 and 2003 they painted the smurfs in more of a matte paint colour. The smurfs were also made out of China at this time. By 2004 the smurfs were no longer being produced with a blue paint dots and were now being made out of Germany.

I like both Carpenter and New Carpenter as I like to think that they both have their own personalities as they are quite different from each other. So what does tell you about the smurfs I like to collect? Basically I like to collect all types of smurfs.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

20076 Courting Smurf

If you’re on the hunt for Courting smurf also known as Rendez Vous you may want to have a look at this list first of things you should keep in mind and not all are obvious!

Courting was first made by Bully in 1973. This first version has no markings and is made out of a very soft pvc material. The leaf is not connected to the flower, making it extremely fragile.
Because of this Bully made a change to the mould so the leaf is connected to the flower. It also added © Peyo marking behind the flower. The flower on this variation is noticeably thicker.
Around 1976 Bully made a new mould that included a steam behind the flower. I have one where the steam is painted green and another that is painted white. The © Peyo marking has been removed from the back of the flower and the Bully markings have been added to the feet.
Courting was also made out of Hong Kong and has Hong Kong Bully © Peyo markings. Typically it can be found with dark blue skin and is made out of hard pvc material. This variation also has a quite a thin flower compared to the others.

Bully changed the markings again around 1978 to WEST BULLY GERMANY in a circle.
There are thought to be at least two different Schleich versions. The first one has just blocked out the Bully marking in the circle and added Schleich S to the feet.
The other Schleich version was made out of Sri Lanka. It can be found with the Schleich S on the back of the flower steam, © 1973 and Peyo are on the petals. Made in Sri Lanka on the back of the left arm and a red paint dot can be found under the feet.
Courting was used as a promotional smurf. The word ‘Cederan’ is vertically stamped in black text on the side of the smurf’s head.
Courting can also be found in different colours such as red and yellow. This has always created debate amongst die hard collectors whether they are genuine or not. Buyer beware, some sellers just want to make money and will do anything to pass something off as genuine. Check the condition of the paint to make sure it is not just a repaint job.

I hope this list will become a valuable a reference tool when looking out for Courting smurf. If you feel something is not quite right or something needs to be added to the list just let me know.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

OMO smurfs

I have to admit, I have never actually brought OMO washing powder/laundry detergent. However if they were sell them again with the offer of a free smurf I surely would be tempted.

In one promotion by OMO 16 mini light blue smurfs were produced with the markings OMO © Peyo 1983. It is thought that these were given away with a box of washing powder. Each mini blue smurf measuring about 2.5 cm to 3 cm represents an actual smurf figurine. These included #20023 Guitarist, 20031 Postman, 20039 Mallet, 20041 Hiker, 20044 Lover, 20049 Tennis, 20050 Pointing, 20059 Teacher, 20062 Telephone, 20068 Football Player, 20095 Oboist, 20123 Policeman, 20126 Rollerskater, 20140 Secretary, 20141 Papa Captain and 20142 Mermaid.

OMO also sold smurfs that displayed the word OMO in black text on the smurf’s shirt. These were typically sold in a plastic sealed bag. These included #20065 Rugby, #20068 Football Player, #20093 Tennis Player. There was also one released holding a box of OMO washing powder and one holding an OMO box with the words ‘Have a Heart’ on it. It appears that the figurine used for these two are the same one as #20160 Apple smurf. The ‘Have a Heart’ one is also an interesting one as it appears to be the same heart used for #20125 Heart.

It is a little unclear exactly when this promotion occurred and in which countries. As the mini smurfs have the year 1983 on them it is thought that the promotion was around 1984 and possibly only in France. Though as yet I have not been able to confirm this for sure.

It has not only been OMO that has sold mini smurfs. Others include may Kinder Surprise, JouJoux, Chupa Chumps to just name a few.

In 1998 the JouJoux/Zwiefel promotion sold 10 mini Christmas smurfs representing Christmas smurf figurines. These were originally sold in Switzerland, upon where a mini smurf was included with a packet of potato chips. This sounds like my kind of promotion, that would have costed me dearly.

In 2008 the Dutch supermarket Albert Heijn sold 15 minismurfs to coincide with the smurfs 50th anniversary. There was also a nice simple display cardboard box that cames with these smurfs.

Like any promotional smurfs, it always help to have some idea of what to look out for. Whether this be any markings, colour variations or just the actual company using a smurf as a promotion. For example OMO smurfs should be found with their whites keeping white and colours vibrant.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath

P.S I would love to your thoughts on today's post by leaving us with a comment.

20118 Umbrella Smurf

Never before has it been easier to collect smurfs. If you like to collect different variations of a particular smurf, it is worth looking at Umbrella smurf, #20118. The Umbrella smurf has always created talk amongst the die hard collectors especially the yellow umbrella variation one whether it is genuine or not.

Umbrella smurf was one of the last smurfs produced by Bully in 1979 and then from 1980 to 2002 and 2004 by Schleich. Wallace Berrie also sold Umbrella from 1981 to 1983 and then in 1990 under the name of Applause (formerly known as Wallace Berrie).

There appears to be no real variance on the figurine other than the colour of the blue skin. The main variance is to be found with the white polka dot spots and the colour of the mushroom.

All Bully marked ones can be found with the white polka dot spots as part of the umbrella, best probably described as raised white polka dot spots. The mushroom was orange red shade. I have also found ones made out of Hong Kong that have the some kind of umbrellas.

The Schleich mades have the white polka dot spots sprayed onto a red coloured mushroom. With the early releases these were a lighter red colour compared to the ones released after 1990 that have a stronger red colour.

In 1990 Applause decided to relaunch the smurfs in the USA and in Canada with a range of different smurf merchandise. As part of the relaunch 11 smurf figurines were released (old releases, no new designs) and has the markings China, Applause. Umbrella smurf was one of the eleven smurfs released.

I do believe the yellow umbrella variation does actually exist, but I also feel because some of these can fade these are easily passed off by sellers as genuine. One only needs to look underneath the umbrella to see what was the original colour of the umbrella. Sadly when buying smurfs online, you don’t always get this opportunity. This is when buying smurfs from an experienced seller can make all the difference.

So next time it rains, don’t forget your Umbrella smurf to protect you from the elements.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B