Information & Tips on Collecting Smurfs

When I first started collecting The Smurfs I didn't know anything about them, except that they were cute, but over the years I learned a great deal.

Smurfs are little blue characters that are 3 apples high, which is the Belgian term for child sized. They live in King Gerarld's forest, or simply known as the forest. It was safe there because no poachers or hunters were allowed by order of King Gerald. Their biggest enemy is Gargamel. Over the years there have been several songs about Smurfs, and I remember watching a Smurf Show in Budapest, Hungary in the late 90's. They were very popular, and are becoming popular again with a whole new generation because of the movie due out in August of 2011.

Collecting Smurfs is very different than just buying them, as there are different manufacture dates, different manufacturers, and different countries they were made in. Some of the oldest Smurf PVC figures are quite valuable, and hard to find. I am still, years later, regretting a trade I made thus loosing a hard to find black Smurf for a common Smurf Child's dish set.

I remember someone telling me one time that they had a yellow Smurf...and I thought "yea right, there aren't any yellow Smurfs", and she told me she got it when she was a kid in some promotion or something. She said she didn't collect Smurfs and I could have it. Turned out that this is what is called a Raw Smurf, an unpainted one. The one she gave me was the Crying Smurf, which is valued at around $40 today.

Fake Smurfs can usually be spotted by the poor paint job, and sometimes by the material and manufacture's stamp. I have a couple fakes that I bought knowing they were fake, and some of them are made of plastic, and most of them are made in China. They are also usually missing the M on the McDonalds Promo Smurfs, and they are a little bit smaller than the real ones.

When you are buying Smurfs from anyone online, like ebay, use some normal caution. You don't want to pay top dollar for a Vintage Smurf in excellent condition only to find out that it isn't really in that condition. Be wary of people selling Vintage Smurfs that don't give good pictures. You want to see the paint job especially for raw smurfs (ones that aren't painted) and ones where the seller is selling them in lots.

China makes a lot of counterfeit items including Smurfs. There was one shipment of more than 33,000 Counterfeit Smurfs that was confiscated in 1997 in Belgium. It included several popular Smurfs, and the sad part for collectors is how many of the counterfeit ones weren't discovered and ended up being sold to unsuspecting buyers.

There are collectors that collect counterfeit Smurfs, and I know I have a few that I bought, not the PVC (rubber) ones, but other smurf items like the keychains. When I was living in one of the Eastern European countries it was full of counterfeit items from China.

Note: The 2008 Kinder Surprise (German Kids Candy Eggs with toys inside) had a lot of fakes made in Hong Kong-the originals were made in Germany.

Collecting Smurfs means if we don't barter for them, we buy them. I have only done a couple of barters, but mostly I buy them. I have bought mine in retail stores, e-bay, overseas, and on Amazon. Here are a couple links for both the little PVC Smurfs and More Smurf Items including Plush Smurfs and other Collectibles, as well as the new Smurf Movie Set.

I have sold parts of my collections before, and know that other collectors have as well. I always got excited when I found the little ones I didn't have. That's part of collecting, the thrill of the hunt!

Happy Smurfing!