“Yellow and Blue. It isn’t what you what you want, but what you choose” are the lyrics of a song called Yellow and Blue by Megan Washington. When I first heard this song I instantly thought of two smurfs – Umbrella #20118 and Skipping Rope #20168. Both of these smurfs have created much debate amongst collectors as both have a colour variation that has always been considered a fake. Both are also highly collectable.
The yellow Umbrella variation has always been suggested was never a genuine variation. The story goes that all yellow Umbrella variations were originally orange Hong Kong variations that had been faded by the sun over a period of time. It is also important to note that with the Umbrella Smurf it is just the mushroom part that has been apparently faded in the sun and not the smurf or the stalk of the mushroom itself.
The blue Skipping Rope variation is another smurf that has created a stir amongst collectors. Like yellow Umbrella Smurf, Smurfette is real but the blue skipping rope that has been added has been questioned whether or not it is genuine. 
Some believe that the blue skipping rope is actually electrical copper wire due to the faint mark “Calbelte” on the rope itself. This also seems to be an odd choice of material for a children’s toy.
In Der Schlumpf Katalog IV the blue skipping rope has been marked as a Spanish variation. As Schleich did not have a factory in Spain for producing smurfs, this is another reason why many have considered this a fake.
Whether they are fake or genuine they are still worth collecting in my opinion as long as you don’t spend a fortune on them. I happily display both of them with the rest of my collection.
Perhaps the old cliche “if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is” certainly applies to the world of collecting smurfs.
Keep on Smurfin
Kath B