[smurfieduck]

Smurfy hello,

I have just been reading about fake smurfs on the Blue Imps website and I am a little worried about the 'praying smurfette' that I have got.

Unfortunately, I purchased her on Ebay from 'sale-trade2007' (also known as 'smurfattackgermany'). I have since found out that he sells fake smurfs

When I was reading the article on fakes, I quickly had a look at my smurfette. Her colouring and markings seem to be ok but she is quite hard and I thought that perhaps she should be a lot softer. Also, the metal ring is missing from her head and there is no sign of there ever being one there. What do you think???

Secondly, I have the 'smurf riding on a candy stick'. He is a lot softer and in very good condition but he was made in Hong Kong. According to the article the smurfs that state 'made in Hong Kong' are mostly fakes. Help!!!

I am really worried now because you can't always tell by a picture and I can see how easy it is for these rotten sellers to sell fake smurfs to people at really high prices. For example, my praying smurfette cost me £70. She is lovely but if she is a fake, I would never have paid that much for her.

I would really like to know what other people think about this topic and if they have been stung by these dishonest sellers.

Smurfy good day to you all

[Smurfysmurf]

Hi, Can you post some pictures of your smurfette?

I understand about your worry and I think most of us can help you if we see some close up pictures.

Another good website that compares the genuine and fake praying smurfette is Dyar's Sgt.Papas..he compares them both and shows pictures.

And just to comfort you...I think the praying smurfette is made of the hard mold...mine is hard also ..you can pretty much tell by the seams of the smurfette...if it comes down her pinkie...she should be ok, if it comes down in front...that's not good

[Pitufo]

Hi, Sharon!!!!!!!!!!As you say, it is difficult to know with only a pic, and even more difficult with only your descrpition...I am not sure about prayer, but about smurf riding a candycane, I would say that the fact that has markings HK, doesn´t mean FAKE in this case...There are Portugal and HK original versions of this smurf...If possible I will send you a pic tomorrow

[Rachel]

Hi Sharon, I am afraid I may have some bad news. My Praying smurfs are not hard material, they feel very much like normal PVC.

There seems to have been a LOT more Praying and Christmas Wreath smurfs around the last couple of years and from what I can tell some of them are made of this harder material.

The molds on them are near perfect with very clear markings, no mold seams and appear to be very "new" if you understand what I mean but when you feel them, the harder material feels like the newly released smurfs from the last couple of years. If you pick up a smurf from last years Halloween theme or this years Native Indian theme and compare it to your praying smurfette, I am guessing they will feel very similar.

I have heard a few theories about these but generally the feeling is, these *may* have been made using the original molds but have certainly been made more recently, not 20 odd years ago. I have a raw version of the Christmas Wreath smurf that I am 99.9999999% convinced has been made recently. It looks perfect but feels very wrong.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news and there is a chance that I am wrong but I do think it is important to discuss these issues.

[Rachel]

Hi, I should also add, there are well known fakes of the praying smurfs around that do have blurry markings and visible seams but these are different again from what I was talking about in the previous thread. These ones can be spotted by a pic whereas the harder material ones can't.

[Smurfysmurf]

oh no, that certainly isn't good news, Rachel

I have to take a look at mine again, but I think it is a hard mold also although other than that it looks exactly like the genuine one

Thank you for pointing this out, Rachel...I guess it shows again that rare smurfs should really not been bought without looking at them first

[smurfieduck]

Hello

Thanks for all your input.

After reading Rachel's message, I am feeling extremely angry that seller's like 'SMURFATTACKGERMANY' are allowed to trade on Ebay. To think that he sold me the praying smurfette for £70 and knew full well that she is a fake. I now know why he is able to continually sell 'rare' (??) smurfs on Ebay.

I have since built up a list of all the sellers that I know that I can trust but I have certainly learnt the hard way. I will just try and put this down to experience and move on.

Besides, the fake smurfette will still be loved along with the rest. Hopefully, one day, she will have the 'real' praying smurfette to join her.

Best wishes to all and thanks again to those of you who replied to my original message.

[Rachel]

Hi Mo, I really am sorry if I have got this right because I know it is never good to hear this kind of news. Again, it does go to show just how there are always people trying to make money any way they can.

I wish I had more info about these or could at least prove one way or another where they have come from. It has just been from looking at the bigger picture, the fact that in the last couple of years there does seem to have been a huge increase in the amount of them being sold with and without hooks and raw, the same sellers seem to have a never ending supply of them, the harder material and the very "new" condition that they seem to be in.

[Rachel]

Hi Sharon, again I am very sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

I should just stress though that this is my own personal opinion. There could well be other collector's who don't agree with me and say that these are genuine but if I don't at least give my opinion I feel I am not being honest with myself.

[Smurfysmurf]

Rachel, your theory does make sense to me and would explain why so may of the praying smurfs feel so unlike other smurfs released around the same time.

Do we know how many praying smurfs were originally released?
And I guess there is no chance that Schleich re-released them a few years ago with new material as they do with some of the other older smurfs

[FlamingO]

And I guess there is no chance that Schleich re-released them a few years ago

I am guessing the answer is no - but I had exactly the same thought the other day . There are a particular 4 basic smurfs I need at the moment (4 out of 10 to go - ie slightly rarer ones) and recently my ebay watch list has been full of them. I know thats the way it goes sometimes, but it got me thinking

[Smurfysmurf]

Which smurfs do you still need, Sue?

Maybe somebody can help you out with them

[FlamingO]

Hi Maureen. I still need both the praying smurfs - but after reading this topic I think I'll wait till I can have a touchy feel

All 3 cones - I'm probably not alone here and am happy to wait till I'm rich

New Grouchy - Suppose I should get it, but is there any difference between this and the original

Congratulations Smurf - Actually I have a couple of these. Both with paint loss where the road sign is missing

The others are Ben Franklin, Super Artist Easel and Super Sign Bearer, but I think I'm sorted with these as along with the pink cone I can buy them all ''Brand'' spankly dankly ''New'' as BIN's

[smurfieduck]

Hi

I have just received an email from 'Smurfattackgermany' - the seller who sold me the fake praying smurfette. It looks like I am one of many who have received this email. Would you believe he is selling yet more praying smurfettes. These must be fake because he is constantly selling them and they are supposed to be rare!! This is the email that he sent me and numerous others:

To: tracey.doyle@yahoo.co.uk
From: cmosie@freenet.de
Subject: NEW SMURFS FROM SMURFATTACKGERMANY
CC: Joensen73@get2net.dk, zuburlu@bigpond.net.au, claude.chazet@wanadoo.fr, MartinMeyerLehrte@t-online.de, masm.weinheim@freenet.de, smurfieduck@btinternet.com, mathias.pfeifer@gmx.de, bon-jovi83@hotmail.com, Aldailly@aol.com
Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:52:11 +0200
Hey,

here are my new smurfs that i want to sale. if any is interested for you pls offer me and tell me wich one!

All smurfs are original. pls see the transparent rohlinge - very very rare and very expensive!

I also have the 2 praying smurfs and the x-mas smurf with wreath (not at the pics)

thx

cordi & mirco

Pls offer within the next 24 hours!

**********************************************************************************************************************

He is breaking Ebay rules left, right and centre and needs to be stopped. It is an Ebay offence to trade outside of Ebay as he is trying to do - he got all the email addresses from people who have previously purchased smurfs from him. That is how he managed to obtain my email address.

And most importantly, he is still selling FAKE smurfs.

What do people think? Have I got enough evidence to report him to Ebay and have him removed as a smurf seller?

Smurfy regards

[eggie smurf]

What do people think? Have I got enough evidence to report him to Ebay and have him removed as a smurf seller?

Smurfy regards

Hi Sharon,
You definitely have enough evidence to report him...what ebay will do is up to them as they are not very consistent with their rules but if you do not try, you'll never know. But I would definitely report the offense and use the email above

[Smurfysmurf]

Hi Sharon,
I agree..try and get him removed...but there are a lot of sellers who do this so I am not sure if it works

and I hope this won't discourage you, but this seller is probably coming back under a different ID...so if ever you are in doubt about a seller, please never hesitate to ask openly on the forum or by pm

You can also try to get your money back thru ebay or Paypal by telling them he sold you a fake..and you can leave him negative Feedback (which might trigger a negative Feedback for you though)..but would warn others that he is selling fakes