[bundleofkent]

Does anyone own this guy (2.0201) In HONG KONG markings??

[Rachel]

Nope, but you knew that already!

[Guest]

Nope, sorry mate, my markings are..........

Peyo Schleich Portugal Applause 1984 DIV W BERRIE CO

In no particular order of course ! Alot of markings for a little smurf

[Syd Smurf]

Hi Martin

I have never seen this one and I am not sure it does exist.....then again not sure it doesn't either.

It seems weird to include it in the DSK without any evidence and markings are not something easily faked or something painted so I am guessing the author had evidence before including it.....I just have never seen any evidence of this variation personally.

You would think a HK variation would make sense being that the Christmas smurfs seem to flourish in the American market where the HK smurfs were mainly found.....however we also know that Wallace Berrie & Applause had the American licence/distribution and the most common variation of this smurf has been the one with Portugal Applause W B And Co Inc markings......so unless the Hong Kong variation was a very early (maybe only for one year) then possibly it does not exist at all.

Perhaps Schleich produced a HK variation at some stage but held it back and never released it and then later on when they wanted to release it were forced to make a new production with brand new markings.....but I tend to doubt that for some reason as they would more than likely cover over the old markings.....unless the markings were not on the feet and therefore on a section of the smurf that would destroy the quality or standard of the presentation.....(I think the Portugal variation has markings on the hat which couldn't be easily covered over without being obvious).

I have no real idea.....just speculating but if you find a HK one Martin then please let me know as it would be a first.

Dyar

PS - Never seen many other markings too including 20025 Swimmer with Macau markings.....once again....why put it in the DSK if it doesn't exist since it's not a rare colour variation or anything.....surely the author must of had some proof or a specimen of these markings before including them....or maybe they were simply typos or an error overlooked during the research.....I think it would be easy to make mistakes with a list of variations that big.

There are other markings too that I have never come across.....maybe one day I will and maybe one day no one ever will

[bundleofkent]

Hi Andrew

I have had my doubts too.

Others like head cook with rolling pin and gargamel mask are both listed as HK. However if you look closely at the pics the head cook is dark blue (as is typical for a lot of HK) and the gargamel mask is painted differently with a keychain so I think they both exist but are very rare.

Also there are at least 15 more Portugal variations out there. Christy traded a Maia and Borges catalogue with me and there are loads of regular and super smurfs with Portugal markings on them that I have never heard of before. Now I've asked a few times for Portugal markings and no-one has ANY of these until recently JT bought a few from Portugal. Therefore they are out there but are incredibly rare. The SCCI also confirmed a few of these as existing-why aren't they easy to get? Who knows but they do exist.

So I'm having a rethink on markings. Frank gets thousands of smurfs through so he must pick up a few of these markings...

I think getting the rare markings to me is as exciting as getting rare colour variations and promos, honestly. If you think of the thousands and thousands (?millions) of smurfs out there and only single figure people seem to have the marking it makes them almost as rare as promos if you see what I mean.

The kicker2 W Berrie is a prime example. How many of you guys own this one? Andrew has it and I know of 2 other collectors who have it. I have asked countless times on American ebay but it has always been Bully or Bully Portugal. He isn't even in the DSK. Another is papa pilot Macau. I had no idea it existed but Rachel has it.

That's what makes smurf collecting fascinating for me. It's never straight forward and there is variety upon variety to collect. People have collected for over 20 years and are still as passionate still finding out new things. I can't think of another collection quite like this.

Hey, I've not even had my coffee yet!!

Martin

[Guest]

Great subject !

With or without coffee, this hobby is never ending

[Rachel]

I think getting the rare markings to me is as exciting as getting rare colour variations and promos, honestly. If you think of the thousands and thousands (?millions) of smurfs out there and only single figure people seem to have the marking it makes them almost as rare as promos if you see what I mean.

Hi Martin, I couldn't agree more. I think from very early on, the markings facinated me and luckily I made the decision to keep anything different that I came across. The only really problem with buying the different markings of course is that often when a smurf is being sold, these are not mentioned and especially in bigger lots, you can have no idea if that "special" marking is in there.

[Pitufo]

. The only really problem with buying the different markings of course is that often when a smurf is being sold, these are not mentioned and especially in bigger lots,

That is the thing I hate the most of collecting smurfs: to ask a seller about all the markings the smurf has, and to receive the answer "Peyo"

[Guest]

Some of the markings are quite hard to see, maybe thats why sellers do not bother putting this information on their auctions sometimes ! But really, they could be doing themselves out of money if its a rare one

But the buyer who dares to ask, can end up with a bargain

[Syd Smurf]

Hi Martin

I also agree with you and what Rach highlighted that finding some markings mean just as much to me as finding a rare colour variation.

The kicker2 W Berrie is a prime example. How many of you guys own this one? Andrew has it and I know of 2 other collectors who have it. I have asked countless times on American ebay but it has always been Bully or Bully Portugal. He isn't even in the DSK.

have

This variation was actually given to me in Germany last October. I was given a box of free smurfs and it ended up having 3 Kicker 2 variations that i didn't including the W Berrie one.

Christy was going to get me one of those catalogues too with the Portugal smurfs so it will be interesting to see which smurfs are included and which ones we still need to search for

Dyar