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.