[Raresmurf]

I just couldn't help myself...

[Raresmurf]

I love the green one!!! This is from the seller:

"The smurfs with cone are NOT FAKE they are originals but unpainted"

I just need the pink surprise cone rohlinge and the red and green painted cones...and this will be a nice little addition to my collection!

[Syd Smurf]

Congrats on adding these to your collection.....I would love to buy these but I just never have the money. They are on my "would love but just can't afford" dream list.

Dyar

[Tor]

It's strange that he has so meny of these.

[Raresmurf]

Hey Tor,

it's not strange to me. I have only seen maybe 3 of these in the last year so I am just happy to add it to my collection

[Fram]

Seeing what else he sells now and what he has sold in the past, I wouldn't trust it. No proof, just a big hunch.
2 pairs of praying smurfs (and another one sold recently)? 5 or 6 smurfs with Pepsi cans, Dr. Pepper, and Coca Cola, found on a market in Belgium, of which he has sold a lot already the past few weeks? Whole sets of six Easter Smurfs which look remarkably like the recent fakes?
At least when he sells the 35 newly made Holland fakes, he tells they are fakes...

[Raresmurf]

Maybe,

But we can't prove that they are not fakes or if the smurfs real and the cones real - to me they are original.

Lets face it, all smurfs sold with unpainted extras e.g. white rohlinge with Gargamel white box, would be classed as a fake too? As this isn't how it is made and sold if you know what I mean.

I'm not sure if the above makes sense, but I hope you can see what I'm saying...

[Guest]

Youre Biddin on a smurf wuth Colabottle which I found on an market in Belgium ,I do not know if its fake,I accept paypal with 7% fees extra ,and only ship on monday.

7% paypal fees? He's having a laugh isn't he?

I guess while there are people prepared to buy these strange smurfs then it encourages some sellers to be "creative". Next thing we will see is the buyers of these smurfs selling a small lot with a surprise cone tucked in somewhere to make it look like a "genuine" find, that's the bit that really gets me.

[Raresmurf]

ha-ha Karen - I was waiting for your input...bang on time...lol... but I have to agree with you - that buying fakes encourages more fakes to be made and sold. Unfortunatly it's something that we can't control...

I was aware of all costs involved otherwise I wouldn't have purchased it. The seller don't change for for the Paypal fees by the way...lucky me...

[pekkelien]

rare smurf ask him to sell a white cone to you
are these real or not i couldnt say i know some stores in holland sell these where they get them i dont know but i think they are real
and whats real!!???
for example
if an old schleich employ gets a hold on a machine to make these and uses other pvc and the same pvc
are these than real or fake???
i think these are real

[Guest]

I'm sorry, you've completely lost me?

Oh you've edited it since I read it before. I'm going to post this and start again.

[Guest]

The way I see it is this and please bear in mind I'm not particularly referring to this seller, I am talking about sellers of questionable smurfs in general. With some of the "remakes" out there they probably only cost the sellers approx. £2 or thereabouts in the first place. Don't you think these sellers are laughing at people who pay through the nose for these?

I take your point that if you want something badly enough and you know the price then it's totally the buyer's choice whether they go for it or not. I buy ugly Olivia Newton-John Barbies for god's sake, now where is the sense in that?

[Rachel]

I agree with Fram, I have seen dozens of these unpainted cones sell in recent times, my hunch is someone is making pvc parts.

I also tend to look at what else is being sold to get a picture of what a seller is like and in this case personally I wouldn't spend much money on any of his items. I think sellers forget sometimes that once they start selling any dubious smurfs then everything they sell becomes questionable.

I have to agree with you that buying fakes encourages more fakes to be made and sold. Unfortunatly it's something that we can't control

If people buy them they will keep on being made, therefore we have to try and educate buyers as to what is and isn't a good buy.

As to whether yours are real, I don't know, it will be interesting to see if the seller lists more again soon...........

[Raresmurf]

Rachel,

We can try by not buying these fakes or repros, but hey at the end of the day if you see a £1800 ("maybe fake?") figurine of those three rare xmas smurfs on ebay and you have a chance to get them for £50...

one can't honestly say "well, this isn't going to help the smurf market or collectors of smurfs in general..." - hey maybe they fakes or maybe you (not you in particular, but someone) may go - "bugger that - I would love to have this in my collection."

People are going to keep on buying fakes for that fact (that they are fake or that they want it in their collections) - Supply and demand - supply and demand....

Yes you may get the odd buyer (or even many buyers) that don't know any better...and will buy it because they have just bought a Katalog and from what they can see, is that they are about to get a rare smurf.

Buyers will learn and sellers profit and the smurf industry will suffer.

How do we combat this? Cut the problem off at the head!!!

Do some investigative work and find out how these are been made and put a stop to it.

Guys,

This is our hobby and for some our life (been dramatic here - lol!), lets all try figure this out and we can actually make a difference here...

***"Med, get off your soap box - you ponce..."***

I agree with Fram, I have seen dozens of these unpainted cones sell in recent times, my hunch is someone is making pvc parts.

I also tend to look at what else is being sold to get a picture of what a seller is like and in this case personally I wouldn't spend much money on any of his items. I think sellers forget sometimes that once they start selling any dubious smurfs then everything they sell becomes questionable.

I have to agree with you that buying fakes encourages more fakes to be made and sold. Unfortunatly it's something that we can't control

If people buy them they will keep on being made, therefore we have to try and educate buyers as to what is and isn't a good buy.

As to whether yours are real, I don't know, it will be interesting to see if the seller lists more again soon...........

[Fram]

rare smurf ask him to sell a white cone to you
are these real or not i couldnt say i know some stores in holland sell these where they get them i dont know but i think they are real
and whats real!!???
for example
if an old schleich employ gets a hold on a machine to make these and uses other pvc and the same pvc
are these than real or fake???
i think these are real

Nope, they are fake. Even if we can't tell them apart, they are fake. They are not original, not licensed, and made with the intention to deceive. They ruin the market, ruin the collecting fun, and only make the makers / sellers rich.
You can discuss if these should be called fake or real, but they certainly are illegal and immoral, and to me they are fake.
And if I see a seller selling this kind of things, or the new Holland set of fakes, or the six Easter fakes, I don't buy from him. I don't mind the old quirky fakes that much, and I have no problem with Attom collecting them. Those are clearly fake, and although they were originally as well made to make easy money, they are now only collectors items, as they are clearly different.

[Rachel]

This is our hobby and for some our life (been dramatic here - lol!), lets all try figure this out and we can actually make a difference here...

This is actually my whole point!

I agree that people will always buy fakes of rarer smurfs that they will probably never own but it is the value at which some of these smurfs are bought for worries me immensley. A good example being the cones you have just bought. Yes, they are possibly real but if they are fake it just seems a bit odd to spend the "going rate" for a real one on them, especially when you have mentioned you don't have the real ones yet, surely it is better to invest money in something you at least know 100% is original.

Yes you may get the odd buyer (or even many buyers) that don't know any better...and will buy it because they have just bought a Katalog and from what they can see, is that they are about to get a rare smurf.

To be honest, my opinion on this is that if anyone is prepared to pay a lot of money on something without doing any homework, well more fool them. You wouldn't just go and buy a TV or a car on Ebay without finding out a bit more first so it would be silly to do this in a hobby. I am not talking about a few quid, I mean £30, £50 even £100 on an old toy that could quite easily be worthless.

How do we combat this? Cut the problem off at the head!!!

Do some investigative work and find out how these are been made and put a stop to it.

You would be suprised at how many of these dodgy sellers we have already had thrown off Ebay. It is easier said than done finding out who is actually making alot of the stuff but we will never give up.........

[Guest]

I find it difficult to understand because personally even if I saw the original of one of these I still wouldn't spend that amount of money on one smurf, I guess I am a different kind of collector. This is why I definitely don't understand spending lots of money on fakes (except in Attom's circumstances where he actively seeks fakes). It's my opinion that these Surprise Cones are definitely recently manufactured, they are in too good a condition to be "finds". The Fix & Foxis I recently purchased had never been distributed to the public but they were still rubbed just from being stored for so many years. How can a smurf that should be at least 15 years old look so good? In a word, it is "poppycock".

It's funny but it makes me think of those rip off "Top of the Pops" albums they produced in the 70's with those posters of women free inside. Everyone bought those when they couldn't afford the real deal and now what are they worth? I know it sounds like a daft analogy but I am just telling you what springs into my rather strange mind. Save your hard earned cash for the real thing, that's what I think.

And anyone who is deliberately vague about where they bought things or is selling too many odd variations, testversions, etc. is shooting themselves in the foot, because they might earn a quick buck but they will totally destroy their credibility and what is the point?

[Raresmurf]

That's the fighting spirit I like to see girls!!!

I recon even though I may have bought these ("fakes") and am 100% happy with how much I have paid for them, I think that Karen, Fram (and obviously R.) can front this cause, why should we allow these fakes on the market (or virtual market anyway.)

c'mon guys -I am been sincere about this...if you all love this crazy blue things so much, why not fight for this and start a watchdog or something...

...ok, maybe I'm really been stupid here, but we all are thinking the same thing and love the same hobby...so I say fight back. Why should these people make money and screw all legitimate smurf collectors?

[Guest]

That's the fighting spirit I like to see girls!!!

Fram I told you not to wear that skirt in public!!!!!

[Raresmurf]

My apologies Framster, my friend - I get confused on who's who....as you all have seen in the past - No dis-respect...

That's the fighting spirit I like to see girls!!!

Fram I told you not to wear that skirt in public!!!!!