Hong
Kong Fakes
2004
saw a few different fake smurfs, not seen before,
being sold from Hong Kong. The most notable being
a set of Easter smurfs and two different sized vinyl
King smurfs.
Easter
Smurfs - These are very similar to the original
Easter smurfs and can be quite difficult to tell apart
from the real ones by just looking at a photo. They
are slightly smaller than the originals and some of
them come in two piece molds.
There are very slight seams visible on the smurfs
but generally the quality is very good and the paint
work is also to a high standard. These smurfs were
only being sold from Hong Kong to start with making
them quite easy to spot, but over time, they are now
being sold from all over the world and not neccessarily
always in sets making it much more difficult. Always
be aware when buying Easter smurfs, these fake figures
have a much lower value and must also be considered
a health risk because of the risk of choking on the
smaller pieces.
Vinyl
King Smurfs - There was an officially licensed,
limited edition vinyl King smurf released which was
sold in an official box with T-shirt. The larger of
the two smurfs shown in the picture is an exact copy
of the original, same size, same markings but the
the
overall quality is very poor in comparison and the
paint quality and colour is quite different. This
copy was available not long after the original was
released but more recently the quality of the fakes
has been improving, the paint work is far more similar
in quality and colour to the original. There have
been various colour capes available including the
original red, green, blue and yellow and also some
of the fake Kings have been available with red paint
instead of yellow. The smaller king, as far as we
are aware, hasn't been released officially and is
just a copy of the larger version. If you are in any
doubt whether you are a buying a genuine one, just
remember that the genuine figure comes in an official
box, has a gold broach and is worth about ten times
the amount of the copy.