This week in Germany, there was an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest meeting of people in Smurf costume. Within the article it says that 2762 people dressed up like smurfs, all of them had to cover all traces of skin in blue paint, and don the signature curved hat. Which made me think was there a Devil smurf within the crowd? Continue reading
February 2019
Mermaid Smurfette
When is a smurf not a smurf? For example let’s have a look at Mermaid Smurfette first released back in 1982.
We first see Mermaid Smurfette is sitting on a light grey rock, with blue and silver scales, red starfish on hat and wearing a pearl necklace in the 1982 Schleich catalogue. This version was typically made out of blue pvc material.
A version of Mermaid Smurfette was also made out of Hong Kong, which has a dark green scales, orange starfish on hat and is wearing a pearl necklace. It was also made out of white pvc material. This was sold by BP in Australia and New Zealand possibly in 1982 and then in 1983 was sold by Wallace Berrie for two years.
The markings for Mermaid Smurfette can be found underneath the rock. It can also be found with different paint dots; mustard, green or red which was used as a method of quality control. It tells us which country the smurf was painted in by Schleich. Mustard indicates it was painted in Portugal. Green indicates it was painted in Tunisia. Red indicates it was painted in Sri Lanka.
Though it is a strange choice of a smurf figurine, it must have been fairly popular it was sold by Schleich between 1982 to 1988 and then again 1993 to 1996. During this time, it was also used on several triangle pedestals.
OMO back in around 1983 also created a miniature version of Mermaid Smurfette made out of blue material. These miniature smurfs came free inside a box of OMO washing powder. A total of 16 were produced as part of this promotion.
Plastoy
In 2009 Plastoy produced smurf bath toys which included Mermaid Smurfette with a silver tail. The smurf bath toys were produced as two sets of four different smurf characters. Mermaid Smurfette was part of set 1 which also included a smurf riding an orange fish, Diving Smurf and a smurf sitting in a rubber duck tube. These pieces make a beautiful to your smurf collection especially if you like to display the pieces.
So what inspired the creation Mermaid Smurfette? Who knows and who cares. Whoever it was, created a beautiful figurine to be admired when displayed with other smurfs.
Keep on Smurfin
Kath B
Biscuit Smurf
When was the last you craved for a biscuit? Sorry, I should rephrase this question, when was the last time you craved for a Biscuit smurf first produced by Bully around 1974?
When Biscuit Smurf was first released by Bully it was given the name of Kuchen Schlumpf which translated from German to English means Cake Smurf. I am not entirely sure when they started referring to it as Biscuit Smurf.
Like a lot of early smurfs produced by Bully, Biscuit smurf is made out of very soft pvc material and were also sometimes produced with unpainted eyes or without any eyebrows. It is also possible to find them with no markings at all or just © Peyo marking on the arm.
Biscuit smurf can be found wearing his customary white trousers and hat, holding a large yellow biscuit with a bite taken out of it in his left hand. The smurf can be seen licking his lips with his tongue.
Bully produced Biscuit Smurf from 1974 to around 1977. Schleich also produced Biscuit Smurf from 1980 to 1986 and was given article number 2.0080. Most of these Schleich ones were sold with Bully markings with the cavity number marked behind the biscuit. It is possible to find with Schleich markings but these are generally considered hard to find.
Biscuit Smurf was never sold in Australia or United States. There is however an extremely rare version made with Hong Kong markings but I have only ever seen a picture of this one. So perhaps there were plans to release it in the U.S.A but it never happened. This may have something to do with the popularity of Cookie Monster from Sesame Street.
Raw Brown Biscuit Smurf
Biscuit Smurf can also be found in brown pvc material with only his pupils and mouth painted. Some collectors refer to these as Waldbaur smurfs. Waldbaur Smurfs were a special promotion that included a single coloured smurf with some details painted such as pupils, mouth, tear etc within a box of 20 chocolates, released around 1974/75. There is thought to be at least six different smurfs used as part of the Waldbaur promotion. However some collectors believe there are more…..
Biscuit Smurf is a simple designed smurf with lots of character and well worth craving!
Keep on Smurfin
Kath B
American Footballer Smurf
This smurf is holding the football close to his chest in one hand, while his other arm is stretched out – ready to defend himself. American Footballer smurf or Football smurf as Wallace Berrie referred to it was a popular smurf back in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
First released by Schleich in 1981 to 1986, then 1992 to 1994 and then again 1998 to 2000. In the 1981 Schleich catalogue American Footballer was wearing a yellow helmet with a chin strap, red top with the number 3 not painted, white pants and black shoes. It wasn’t until 1986 that they changed the picture of American Footballer and showed one wearing a red top with the 3 painted.
Wallace Berrie sold American Footballer from 1981 until 1983. Not surprisely, it was referred to as Football. Like the Schleich one, it can be found wearing a yellow helmet with a chin strap, red top with the number 3 painted, white pants and black shoes.
What to look for:
It appears only W.Germany marked ones have the number 3 unpainted. The yellow on the helmet is quite often a light colour as is also the brown football. It can also be found with a mustard paint dot which tells me it was painted in Portugal.
The ones from Portugal can be found with the number 3 painted and not painted. The yellow paint on the helmet can vary as well. This is hard to capture in a photograph though is noticeable when they displayed together. It is also possible to find ones made in Portugal with a red paint dot, which indicates it was painted in Sri Lanka.
I have two from Hong Kong, one with W.Berrie markings and the other with just Hong Kong markings. With the Hong Kong made ones the number 3 is always painted yellow. The paint used for their blue skin is often described as extreme or really dark blue.
I also have American Footballer with Hong Kong markings that was produced as a keyring. I think it was the only Hong Kong made ones sold this way.
Markings
The markings for American Footballer can be found under his feet. In the 1990’s American Footballer was no longer being made out of Hong Kong or W.Germany, so it can only be found with Portugal markings and with a CE mark.
Fakes
There have been many different fake American Footballers made over the years, from all different parts of the world and the quality can vary greatly. The most sought after ones are referred to as CNT’s (Comic No Toxico) from Spain. Like other CNT’s the quality of these are of a high standard.
Lastly, can someone tell me why they used the number 3 on their shirt? They also used 3 on the Baseball Batter, so if anyone knows the answer please drop me a line.
Keep on Smurfin
Kath B