[Cassiebsg]

This is somewhat bugging me.

I've seen the first issue date for this smurf listed as 85 (Blue IMPS) and 84 (in other sites), however... I don't agree!

Now, please notice that I have no idea where you guys find the info of when they were first issued, maybe in catalogs? But I'm pretty sure I bought it before 84! Most likely in 83.

And how can I be so sure, you might be wondering?
Well, I remember "when" I bougt it, where I bought it, where I was and what I did afterwards.

I was in elementary school, most likely in 4th grade. I remember very well, how I sneaked from the play yard (there was only a little 30 to 50 cms high wall separating from the outside, as the wire fence was complety dead and gone!) I remember very well crossing the street right in front the store (this was a big deal, since there was a lot of trafic with 2 lanes to each side, and no trafic lights in that particular spot). I remember picking that particular one (can't remember what others were in the store), then returning to class, and drawing that smurf on my notepad... (and no, I've tryed to find it, but have had no success finding that drawing - I wanted to check if my recolection of a great smurf drawing was real, or juts the illusion of a 10 year old )

Anyway, by 84 I was in the 5th grade, in a diferent school and about 6 km away - making all that impossible to happen - at least the way I remember it.

[Rachel]

Hi Cassiebsg, again I must apologise as I did get your email about this but I have been extremely busy in work.

First I'll explain where I get my dates from. Unfortunately there are very poor official records so it is down to the German smurf katalogs Der Schlumpf Katalog (DSK) and KMS Preiskatalog and finding any other info such as old leaflets, posters and newsletters.

Looking at the Thanksgiving smurf, I got this date from the DSK but looking again, the KMS katalog is showing it as released in 1984 so there is already a
difference. Looking at the markings of the smurf, it has 1982 as it's date although this is normally the date which the smurf was first produced, not necassarily the date it was released. This is generally a year or two after this. Soooooooo, there is a very good possibilty that this smurf was released in 1984 and a smaller possibility that you did manage to buy it in 1983 as it was also made in Portugal so maybe it was released there first.

Because of the lack of good info from Schleich and the various companies that made and licensed smurfs we are always finding errors or new discoveries so Thank You for mentioning this.

[eggie smurf]

I love your story on how you know when you bought it - that was great! I usually get my dates from the DSK as well (or online sites that use the catalog) and if you read about it in some threads, you will find that is not always the most reliable source either.