Fake Native Indian Smurfs

In late 2007 we first started seeing fake Native Indian smurfs appearing on Ebay. Having discovered the Halloween fakes a couple of months earlier we were not too suprised to see these although it does show a trend for the newer released smurfs which is of course a huge worry. Also we should note these were the 2007 smurfs so to see fakes being produced within a year of the genuine release is also a big concern.

The same pattern as the Halloween set and Easter fakes, these fakes were being sold from Hong Kong, in complete sets of 8 smurfs, with tags attached but at very low prices. Overall, the quality is very good and it would be difficult to tell that these are fakes from just looking at a photo, especially if you are not aware there are fakes of these on the market. Again, as soon as the smurfs were removed from their sealed bags, there was a very strong paint smell, the quality of the painting isn't brilliant, there seems to be quite a lot of spray painting on some figures and the paint is very thin with a few of the colours. Also some smaller features are missing eg. Medicine Man missing head gear buttons. The material is once more very hard and this set has the markings "Made In China", well at least China is spelt correctly this time, although it should be noted, the genuine figures should have "Made In Germany".

Please be aware if you are looking to purchase the Native Indian smurfs, there are a few things you can do to avoid spending your hard earned money on fakes. It is relatively easy to check these by their markings, if you are buying from Ebay, ask the seller what the markings are first, look out for any signs of thin paint or odd colours and look at where they are being sold from and for how much. It will be harder to spot them once they start being sold individually and from different countries but again, the markings will make it easier.

Article Written December 2007