[Rachel]

Was it Schleich that came up with the different color variations? and only released a few 100 or less of them making them that rare?
I have often wondered how these different and rare color variations came into existence...

Hi Maureen, that is a very interesting question.

I think there are probably a few reasons why different colour variations have occured. Having very little concrete written infomation, these are just my speculations and I am sure there are other reasons too.

1. Colours being changed after initial release due to requests by Peyo.

2. Different colours to suit different occassions. eg. rugby international colours.

3. Paint variations due to painters errors (drunkeness)

4. Just general colour changes for a change eg. gymnast, sunbather

Here are just a few I can think of off the top of my head, I am sure there are other members who can think of others.

Thinking about the colour variations because of the different countries ie. W. Germany / Hong Kong, I wish I could give a definite answer why they are different. I suppose there are some that would be more suitable, eg. fireman super, policeman smurf but there are others that seem to be quite random eg. mermaid smurfette, jogger.

...I would love to have a few of them myself and probably wouldn't even mind if they are fake if I don't have to spend a lot of money on them (I hope I didnt' shock anybody)...

You don't shock me Mo but personally, I would prefer that none of these fakes existed. I know there are many very honourable and honest smurfers out there but if there were NO fakes, then it would make owning a very rare colour variations even more special and make it so much easier to be able to verify a genuine variation. I have in the past painted up a couple of these myself just to be able to show how easy some of them are but I certainly wouldn't pay any money if I honest thought it was a repaint.

I just wondered why Schleich released them (if they did) and if they knew how much they would be worth when they did, as I imagine they released them back in the 70s or 80s when smurfs probably weren't that much worth

From what I understand of Schleich, even now but certainly back then, they have never really thought of smurfs as a collectable, merely as a toy and didn't purposely make "rarer" figurines for possible future worth. Hope that makes sense.

[Little lucie @ Simon]

Hi well i guess im to blame for this discussion. I have no proof of this smurf being real. But i am only an amatuer collector. I know i am no expert and i don't claim to be . I apologise for getting over excited at seing two other people have got the exact same verison/ markings etc as mine. When you see these smurfs in the flesh you will understand why we are so excited. The blue of the tube is the same colour as the smurf itself. There is no overpainted marks , the white stripe is raw white unpainted. The markings of all three are the same. I didnt get mine from england. It came from a collector who sold us our first British Lions smurf ( which not long ago this was virtually unkown also). I don't care wether this is real/ or fake) I love it no matter what. So i apologise profusely for ruffling feathers in future i will keep my opinions to myself.

[Smurfysmurf]

Hi Lucie,
You didn't ruffle my feathers at all and I am glad for this discussion...I think it is great that we can discuss things like this in the open and maybe caution new collectors that not everything they see advertised as genuine is really genuine.
On the other hand...who really knows which ones are real and which ones aren't, unless we know somebody who actually worked at Schleich at the time they were painted and released.

Without bringing up the markings of this smurf and comparing them with each other and others questioning the authenticity of the smurf, I think most of us would not have come to the conclusion that this probably is really one of the rare smurf variations most of us would do just about anything to own one day,..so by bringing up the markings, you really did us a favor, Lucie I also love that you described the color and paint of the smurf...We all live so far away from each other that we can't just hop over and compare them...so close up pictures and a detailed description really helps to find out more about these smurfs..

Personally, I believe that fakers will always find a way to make fakes and prey on unknowing collectors, no matter if we post markings or close up pictures...and I for one won't let the fakers take my joy in smurf collecting or from posting pictures or asking questions...I really think we can do each other a great service by continuing to warn each other openly of new fakes and also what to look for and by comparing our variations..but that is just my opinion

Rachel, thank you so much for your detail response..You made perfect sense to me and I couldn't agree more with you

I love this forum and I know we have a lot of honest and true experts on it for the different areas of smurf collecting....and if I am in doubt I will post my question or go to them directly....and never forget
...it's smurfs we are talking about

Well, this was my three cents worth and you got it for free

[Guest]

I agree with Rachel, the smurf world would be a better place if no fake smurfs existed at all ! Because not much is known about this smurf, a simple question has been asked by Mr Stick in the mud, so blame him, he always gets the blame for everything else, or me for that matter

No-one is saying this is a fake, we would just like to know more about this smurf and other smurfs backgrounds, after all, it aint your common smurf

[eggie smurf]

No-one is saying this is a fake, we would just like to know more about this smurf and other smurfs backgrounds, after all, it aint your common smurf

Exactly...and I want to hear all opinions on these subjects as this is what is interesting about smurf colleccting. Without the internet and people all over the world with different markings, colors, etc., then we would really have no clue what is out there. So no need to hush up, Lucie, keep on posting your opinion

[Tojo]

I couldn't agree more. When I first started collecting I didn't even know there were variations out there & then I got a Bully ballerina which I thought I already had & saw that the other was Schleich. I only noticed the difference after wondering why the base was a different shade of colour Since then I've learnt heaps & really enjoy reading posts such as this.

[Rachel]

Hi well i guess im to blame for this discussion. I have no proof of this smurf being real. But i am only an amatuer collector. I know i am no expert and i don't claim to be . I apologise for getting over excited at seing two other people have got the exact same verison/ markings etc as mine. When you see these smurfs in the flesh you will understand why we are so excited. The blue of the tube is the same colour as the smurf itself. There is no overpainted marks , the white stripe is raw white unpainted. The markings of all three are the same. I didnt get mine from england. It came from a collector who sold us our first British Lions smurf ( which not long ago this was virtually unkown also). I don't care wether this is real/ or fake) I love it no matter what. So i apologise profusely for ruffling feathers in future i will keep my opinions to myself.

Hi Lucie, I think we are all very happy that we have these discussions and I certainly wouldn't say anyone needs to be blamed, more like Thanked.

Like Graham says, I don't think anyone is saying these are fakes, merely pointing out that we all need to question everything these days, especially very rare discoveries. When I first started collecting I remember someone "accusing" my green rugby smurf of being fake because his skin was so blue. I knew myself that it definitely wasn't fake but this didn't make me feel any better about it and of course now we know that there are rugby variations with blue raw material which explains the skin colour but at the time I was definitely losing my arguement.

One of the really fun and interesting aspects of our hobby is these new discoveries. Yes, it would be lovely to have everything very well documented and be able to give a definite answer but unfortunately, we know this isn't always the case. I can think of many cases where we have no documented proof eg. catalogues, leaflets, posters of particular variations yet we accept them as genuine. I can also think of a few cases where we have seen the figure on paper but have never seen one "in the flesh" so to speak.

Just the fact we can now have these discussions on forums in real time is a huge improvement on the past where a few telephone calls or writing letters to each other were the main ways of communicating with other collectors.

[Guest]

I just dont want to see friends wasting their hard earned money !

But there are plenty of genuine rare smurfs including this one and these are the ones we have to protect !

Fortunately, we know where alot of fakes do come from