Some may say I continue to be a silly woman for breaking a collector’s principle this week, for not buying a Smurf’s Cottage in its original box. Over my time collecting smurfs, I have acquired six cottages but none in their original boxes. Don’t get me wrong I like the look of the cottages especially displayed in different parts of the house but if there was a choice between smurfs and a cottage I would most likely go for the smurfs!
To be honest the box had seen better days, as you could see where someone had ripped off the original price sticker on it. The pop up card that would have been used to hang up the item on display was now looking rather poorly as it flopped across the top of the box. Once again I probably did a big no-no by opening up the box to inspect the condition of the green roofed cottage and also to ensure it included its butterfly.
With the Green Cottage that I was considering, this had a light brown door with an oval shaped window with curtains covering the sides of the oval surrounded by a light grey door frame. The window frames were also painted light brown. The Cottage also included it’s yellow butterfly with painted blue wings.
The Cottages were first made by Schleich in 1978 in three different colours, red, green and blue. The green roofed cottage was given article number 4.0012. It appears that they used the same box for all three cottages and would just place a tick in a tick-box to indicate which coloured roof belonged in the box. Back in 1981 Bp Australia was selling the cottages for just $3.99.
The whole ‘mint condition in box’ thing just doesn’t matter to me. It is true that I like to keep the Super Smurfs and Playsets boxes as I find them fascinating to read. But in the end I also feel a cottage looks better out of its box.
Keep on Smurfin
Kath B
Hi Kath, in the last few weeks and more over my life i have always had a fascination with smurfs. im about to go and see the new smurf movie. I would love to start a collection of these beautiful creatures. your forum and information is invailable. how do i start and how do i keep up with the very old and new smurfs. thankyou for your time
Scott Matthew
Hi Scott
Thank you for taking the time to write to us and for your kind comments. I recall when I began collecting smurfs I felt so out of place as I had no idea what to look out for and only collected smurfs that appealed to me. But overtime my confidence grew as more and more people were fascinated with why I collected smurfs and my latest acquisitions. My only advice Scott, is collect smurfs that appeal to you regardless of their age. If it is any consolation Scott, I am still trying to keep up with the very old and new smurfs…..it’s a constant battle that I enjoy.
Keep on Smurfin
Kath B