[Ritter_Schlumpfenherz]

Dear friends,

Schleich has been sold to a French investor and it seems like our cherished smurfs may be discontinued, for they are not profitable anymore. Another news reads like they are planning new sceneries, sets etc.
I'm really confused. What's your opinion on that topic?

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/n ... -1.1968470
http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/u ... 45176.html
http://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen ... 09942.html

[Cassiebsg]

I didn't know the French had bought Schleich, and I can't comment on the links, as German is still not a language I can read...

However, find it a bit weird, since new Smurf comic albums are still being made... and the only reason why I like to fly via Paris...
However, it is a fact that our lovely blue friends aren't that profitable for the company anymore. I asked my husband to pick me up the pirate smurfs when he drove to a toy shop to pick up some LEGO we add there, but they didn't had the Pirate smurfs, they had dropped the smurfs cause they just don't sell!

Last time I was in Germany (last summer), I found the 2 latest series in a bin set to half price! I must admit, I was sorry I had them already! That would have been a very cheap way to get them!

[Tojo]

If they are really out to make money then it is likely that they will only retain the profitable ranges whilst adding new products in the hope of increasing sales. That could mean that they will stop making smurfs but then again they might not

Both of the department stores in Frankfurt sell the full range of Schleich products & I see people of all ages buying both animals & smurfs. I think it all comes down to advertising really. I can't remember ever seeing an advertising campaign from Schleich. They seem to just expect people to go into a toy shop & buy their products. The problem is that they aren't the only company making plastic toys, two other examples are Bullyland & Papo, so if they want to increase sales then investing in advertising could be a good idea. An example would be to advertise the smurfs range in the break when the smurfs cartoon is shown.

Let's hope that smurfs will be retained in the product range. In the worst case maybe they could pass the licence back to Bully if they don't wish to make them themselves...

[Simon X]

I have read that news as well, but I don't worry about any unsmurfy changes.

To cite your articles:

"Statt Kosten zu sparen, will er das Sortiment aufpeppen" - "Instead of saving money, he wants to extend the product range"

"Der will stark auf das Auslandsgeschäft setzen und zusätzlich zu Schlumpf & Co. ganze Spielewelten anbieten." - "He wants to focus on foreign business/transactions and wants to add whole playing worlds additional to the current product range (smurfs & co)"

For me that does not sound like we have to fear for our smurfs. On the other hand, of course the French company is not overtaking Schleich and say "We will change everything", but let us think positive.

What I found interesting, that nearly every article refers to Schleich as the "smurf producer" and takes a smurf photo to illustrate the article. Although smurfs account only for 4-6 percent of Schleich's sales (as stated in one of the articles), they are a really important factor for the company's image.

[Smurfysmurf]

Yeah, I didn't read in any of the articles (nor in others I have seen) that the new owner plans on discontinuing the smurfs. I am actually hopeful that he might bring back the super smurfs if he wants to add little accesssories to his animal/farm animal sortiment.

[Smurfysmurf]

Here is an article in English
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/ ... D920140518

[Arno]

I know that there no link to this topic, but the web-links included in the messages are opened in the same frame, not in a different one as it is used : it is not so practical to go back then...

[Arno]

After reading the french financial report written by Ardian
http://www.ardian-investment.com/fr/press
I think there is nothing so new : since 2006 Schleich had been bought by HgCapital ; now Ardian invests more money in the Schleich factory, just to make business. The only purpose is to make more and more money with the head of Schleich and its ideas / toys.
So it is "just" background.

One moment, I thought : great, we will have smurfs marked Ardian : new variations !
But no, just new investor ! Unless they want their name written on...
But of course, if the sales of the smurfs should terribly decline, maybe they could decide to remove them from the market.

[Smurf1303]

Thanks for posting the translation, I'd been worried when I heard the suggestion they might discontinue.

New Super Smurfs would be awesome by the way, or even better new playsets, so here's hoping ...