Fake
Smurfs
Legally: Any smurf that has been produced without a license or
has been altered from the original production is a FAKE.
As a product becomes more popular (and profitable) the risk of
it being faked or illegally produced increases. Smurf figures
and smurf merchandise are no different and over the years many
fake smurfs have been made. There are quite a few different types
of fake smurfs around today including mass produced unlicensed
figures, repainted smurfs to look like rare variations, smurfs
that have had items added to them, fun home-made creative smurfs
and even smurfs that bare no resemblance to any original figure.
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Some
faked smurfs have become quite sought after by some smurf collectors,
especially those that are not based on an original figure. The majority
of this type of fake were not produced on a mass scale and are therefore
normally quite hard to come by.
Unfortunately, the more modern fakes tend to be related to profit
and the business of repainting to make rare smurfs and the unlicensed
production of more expensive normal smurfs is causing a growing
concern to all smurf collectors. There are two serious problems
that smurf collectors must consider:
1. Spending a lot of money on a "rare" smurf that turns
out to be a repainted standard figure.
2. It will decrease the value of "real" rare variations
and expensive normal smurfs.
Below you can find details about some of the fake smurfs that are
available on the market today.
*** BEWARE SMURFS ARE EASILY FAKED ***
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Unlicensed
mass produced smurfs.
Probably the largest selection, these figures were produced in
huge numbers back in the 1980's and tend to be based on original
smurfs. I have found from personal experience that most of these
smurfs are to be found in Europe, especially Holland and Belgium.
Normally the overall quality is very poor and different materials
were used ranging from very hard plastic to soft rubbery materials.
Seams tend to be rough and if there are any markings, they tend
to be blurry and unclear. Colours normally correspond with the
original but there are many cases of colour variations within
this type of fake smurf.
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Fakes
not based on original figures.
There were a number of these smurfs made, they don't seem to be
based on any of the original designs. Again these smurfs seem
to have appeared during the 1980's. As nobody really knows how
many of these smurfs exist, some of the designs can reach high
prices. |
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Fake
expensive smurfs.
There are a number of smurfs that were only produced for a short
time or in some cases only available in certain countries. These
smurfs often have higher values which has resulted in their exploitation.
The main smurfs targetted have been:
Praying smurf and smurfette
Christmas Wreath smurf
Candycane smurf
Graduation #1 smurf
Their quality is very good compared to the earlier fakes and often
it is very difficult to tell whether it is fake or genuine, especially
from a photo. Sometimes the base material is a different colour,
the markings are often unclear and the shape of the mold can be
slightly different. It is widely believed that some of these smurfs
were actually produced using the original factory molds but little
information is available because if this is the case it would have
been done unofficially and probably illegally!
Check out - Ösi-Schluuumpf
- for lots more information. |
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Repainted
to replicate rare variations.
With so many colour variations produced and very little official
information regarding production, it is quite common to find ordinary
original smurfs that have been repainted to produce "rare colour
variations" or "rare test versions". This is a real
problem for any smurf collector, basically remember that if you
discover a "new variation"or a "never seen before",
it could be that somebody decided to open a tin of paint the week
before! |
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Items
added to smurfs.
A series of smurfs were officially produced and released only to
"Smurf Collectors Club International" (SCCI) members in
very limited numbers, these tended to have items glued to them and
when complete with original certificate fetch very high prices.
It was relatively easy to obtain the "Schleich minis"
that were used and the result is a number of fake SCCI smurfs, often
being sold for large amounts. See MushroomVillage.com
for more details.
I have seen many wierd and wonderful items added to smurfs ranging
from miniture cola cans to lego to condoms, some for fun, some by
mistake and of course some trying to mislead. |
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Creative
homemade smurfs.
Another type of fake smurf but these creations are not normally
profit orientated. Generally this acivity is carried out by genuine
smurf collectors, using damaged smurfs and their creative talents
to recycle otherwise useless figures. Some of the creations are
quite stunning with incredible detail. Usually if one of these figures
is sold it is made clear that it has been altered. That said, these
homemade smurfs can sometimes reach high prices when sold on Ebay. |
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