There are not too many people who do not know who Brainy Smurf is. Brainy Smurf is one of the most recongnisable smurfs, famous for wearing his glasses and long boring lectures.
Brainy Smurf is one of the main characters of the comic books, the NBC cartoon series and more recently the two smurf movies released in 2011 and 2013. There are not many smurfs that can claim this kind of fame.
In the comics and cartoon series we continually see Brainy being seen as a bit of a know-it-all which the other smurfs find annoying. He also considers himself the second in command within the smurf village. Strangely though his best friend is Clumsy Smurf.
Due to the success of Brainy, Schleich have also made a number of different smurf figurines featuring Brainy over the past fifty years or so. This has also spilled over to other promotions involving the smurfs such as Kinder Surprise, Chupa Chumps and McDonalds.
Schleich made their first version of Brainy (ref# 20006) in 1969, the same year as Papa Smurf. Like a lot of early smurfs released by Schleich this was based on the character in the comics. Brainy stands with his hands out to the side wearing white pants & hat and black glasses. This can be found with only Peyo on the arm or without markings as it was used for promotions.
It is thought that Bully started painting the glasses red, when they were manufacturing the smurfs between 1974 to 1979. When looking out for this smurf, it can be found with W.Germany Peyo (emblem removed) markings under the feet. There is no version of Brainy made with Bully markings.
The version with the yellow glasses is considered extremely rare and was originally only sold in the UK by National Petrol. When looking out for this smurf look for the markings W.Germany Peyo (emblem removed) and mustard paint dot under the feet.
When sold in the USA, Brainy was sold under the name of Scholar. It was also sold with black or red glasses. For those of you who collect smurfs based on their markings you can find both of these with Made in Hong Kong and Made in Hong Kong W. Berrie markings.
For those of you who like their Brainy Smurfs, there are few different ones you can collect.
After Brainy was released, Bookworm (ref#20094) was released by Bully in around 1977. Bookworm Brainy Smurf wears his famous black rimmed glasses while carrying a red book in his left hand and points his right index finger to make a point about something.
Brainy Referee (ref# 20191) was released around 1985/86 and can be found wearing a black & white striped outfit while blowing his whistle. This figurine can be found on a variety of different grass bases.
In 2005 when Schleich released their Classic Series, there was no surprise to see Brainy Smurf (ref# 20536) included in the set. Brainy Smurf wears his famous black rimmed glasses while he points his left index finger to make a point about something.
When the Smurfs Movie was released in 2011, Brainy Smurf played a big part in the story. Because of this Brainy with book (ref# 20734) was also released as part of the movie.
I will let you judge whether you feel Accountant (ref# 20772) released in 2015 is Brainy in disguise.
For those of you who want to find extra information on Brainy please find a link to Smurfs Wiki – Wikia
Keep on Smurfin
Kath B