Smurf Greetings

“You’re Smurftastic”, “Happy Birthday”, “Get Well Soon”, “Congratulations”, “I Love You”, do these phrases sound kind of familiar to you. They should as these are the phrases that were added to the triangle pedestals first released back in 1981 in Australia by BP Australia. Back then these were sold for just $1.99

Like the majority of smurfs made for Australia, the Greeting Smurfs were made in Hong Kong and the markings can be found on the inside of the triangle pedestal: Schleich S © Peyo Made in Hong Kong Wallace Berrie Co Inc. I don’t think the Australia ones were ever sold in the USA after BP Australia stopped selling smurfs in late 1982 but I might be wrong.

By looking around at old catalogues, posters, reference books and personal smurf collection sites, I believe there were about 13  to 15 Greeting Smurfs produced. Here I have created a list, if you feel something is not correct please let me know.

1. #20005 Gold Smurf on orange pedestal
   Congratulations
2. #20020 Gymnast on pink pedestal
   Get Well Soon
3. #20036  Hang Glider on pink pedestal
   Get Well Soon
4. #20039 Mallet Smurf on yellow pedestal
   Happy Birthday
5. #20040 Gift Smurf  on orange pedestal
   I Love You
6. #20044 Lover Smurf  on orange pedestal
   I Love You
7. #20051 Bowler Smurf on orange pedestal
   Congratulations
8. #20054 First Aid on pink pedestal
   Get Well Soon
9. #20056 Card Player on red pedestal
   You’re Smurftastic
10. #20078 Beer Smurf on orange pedestal
    Congratulations
11. #20100 Cake Smurf on yellow pedestal
    Happy Birthday
12. #20102 Archer Smurf on red pedestal
    You’re Smurftastic
13. #20124 Santa on red pedestal
    Happy Christmas
14. #20127 Superman on red pedestal
    You’re Smurftastic

By looking at the list, it looks like 3 smurf figures were used on the same triangle pedestal except for the Santa Greeting Smurf. 

I should also point out that just because in Australia we called them Greeting Smurfs doesn’t mean these were called this in other places. In Europe they quite often referred to as  a Sockel which is the German word for base. In the USA they were called Smurf-A-Grams. More recently they have been referred to as stands or pedestals. 

One of the challenges when buying triangle pedestals is knowing if it is genuine or not. I know I have been caught out before buying one with the Policeman on the pedestal and the German phrase ‘Zur Geburt des Küken HERZLICHEN GLÜCKWUNSCH!’ Which I later found out the phrase translated into English meant ‘To the birth of the chick! Congratulations’. My guess is that this was not an official smurf  triangle pedestal but belonged to another smurf figure!

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B