Hi
Not so long ago, I was able to lay hands on a bunch of those Italian soccer Smurfs for a cheap price.
Now, I am not fully clear with these Smurfs. I know there are several Italian soccer Smurfs that go round, but I have no idea about them.
For example, what exactly are they ? Are they promotional items from years ago, based on the Italian soccer league ? Or are they some kind of limited editions that were meant to go in production ? Or are they all fakes whatsoever ?
If they are some kind of promo Smurfs, what is their actual price ?
I bought the whole lot for a mere 30 euro’s, but in my latest catalogue, I see some examples of them, stating that they are worth between 50 to 75 euro. I have it hard to believe that each one is that worth…
What is strange, is that there are merely 2 groups of them, painted and non-painted. I have uploaded two pictures to show the difference.
When I search on eBay, the coloured items sometimes show up, with a price that can go from a few to tens of euro ( I don’t watch what exact price the biddings stop). The non-painted items show up on eBay a lot more than the others. There price is always low, around 2 euro or something.
So, here are some specifications of what they resemble (from left to right, starting at the back row) :
Blue Smurf, black striped outfit, Forza Atalanta on front;
Blue Smurf, black striped outfit, Misura on front, Forza Inter on back;
Blue Smurf, national Italian outfit, Italia and logo on front (I have 2 of these);
Blue Smurf, white outfit, Fin-Eco on front, Forza Brescia on back;
Missing on the picture is : blue Smurf, white outfit, Forza Bari on back;
Light blue Smurf, white outfit, Forza Napoli on front;
Yellow Smurf, black outfit with red prints and eyes, Forza Messina on front;
Yellow Smurf, blue-black outfit with blue prints and eyes, Parmalat on front, Forza Parma on back;
Yellow Smurf, blue-black outfit with blue prints and eyes, Parma logo on front, Forza Parma on back;
Yellow Smurf, red striped and black outfit with red prints and eyes, Forza Lecce on front;
Yellow Smurf, red striped and black outfit with red prints, Alaska in black on front, Forza Lecce on back;
Green Smurf, white outfit, Forza Lupi on front;
White Smurf, black outfit and eyes, Surgelati Orogel in blue on front, Forza Cesena on back;
White Smurf, black striped outfit with black eyes, Forza Juve on front;
White Smurf, black striped outfit with black eyes, Ariston on front, Forza Juve on back;
Pink Smurf, black outfit, Forza Palermo on front;
Lila Smurf, white outfit, Forza Viola on front;
Red Smurf, white outfit Forza Toro on front;
Red Smurf, blue striped outfit with light blue shorts, blue dots on ball, Forza Catania on front;
Red Smurf, yellow outfit, yellow dots on ball, Forza Roma on front;
Red Smurf, black striped outfit, Forza Foggia on front;
Red Smurf, yellow outfit, yellow dots on ball, Barilla on front
Red Smurf blue-white outfit, Forza Cagliari on front;
Red Smurf, black striped outfit with white shorts, Fotorex U-Bix on front, Forza Milan on back;
Red Smurf, black striped outfit with white shorts, Forza Milan on back;
Red Smurf blue-white outfit, blue dots on ball, Forza Genoa on front;
http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc4 ... murfs1.jpg
As you can see, all those Smurfs are somewhat painted, which mainly means, they have painted shorts and shoes, and also the soccer balls are dotted with some colour.
A remark is that all these Smurfs seem to have gotten sloppy paintjobs, there are some marks of paint where they shouldn’t be… But, looking at others showing up on eBay, or even the pictures in my catalogue, this seems to be common for them.
This makes them suspicious to fake Smurfs, so-called paint-overs, but looking at the paint of their outfit, and more particular their shoes, it’s not the same kind of rough paint that home-made Smurfs often carry; it doesn’t stick, it doesn’t come off, and it’s all the same kind of colour…
So in my eyes, this is some kind of real Smurf, but I don’t know much of them. Where do they come from ? How many different versions of them exist ? How many do I miss ? What is there actual value ? When were they produced and for what purpose ?...
My guess is that these are promotional items, somewhere made years ago (80s ? 90s ?), based on the Italian soccer league back then. Some carry the sponsor on the outfit, some don’t. Maybe there are two versions of each, one with a sponsor on the front, another with the forza word…
It seems I have Smurfs for the following teams : Atalanta Bergamo, Bari, Brescia, Cagliari, Catania, Cesena, Foggia, Genoa, Juventus, Inter, Lecce, Messina, Napoli, Palermo, Parma, Torino (Toro).
What teams represent the lila (Viola) Smurf (Fiorentina ?), the Green (Lupi) Smurf and the red with Barilla on its shirt (AS Roma ?)
But any information on them is welcome, so I can give them a place in my collection and make out for myself whether it’s work to continue to look out for them…
…
Then there is the second part in this collection : http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc4 ... murfs2.jpg
Looking at the picture in the link above, these Smurfs are almost the same as the once firstly described, but, except for the markings on their shirt and their painted eyes, they have no paint. No painted shoes, shorts, ball…
There are some Smurfs in this collection that I don’t have in the first part. For example, there is white Smurf with “Diece / Forza Cesena”. Another one has “FOS/Forza Cagliari”. Then there are Smurfs with “Forza Bologna, Verona, Pisa, Ascoli”…
In other words, there seem to be more of them, but once again, these unpainted versions, what are they ? Are these the fakes then ? Are they cheap reproductions of the first series ? And why are they left unpainted ? Is it a continuation from a series before, but left without paint ? Once again, what is their value ? Why are they easier to find ? Is it because they are more recent ? And, if they exist unpainted, do they also exist in a full coloured version ? Is it worth the time and effort to collect them ?
As you can see, I have a lot of questions about these Smurfs, and I would like to get some more information on them, as much as I can.
Maybe some of the experienced people here can help.
I am sorry if this topic in some kind is already somewhere active on this forum, or if I am repeating things.
Thanks in advance.
Kevin
Maureen 
