#521 FX SCHMID – PIPPI LANGSTRUMPF and PIPPI LANGSTRUMPF IM TAKA-TUKA-LAND (nr. 609 20 and 608 20) (1971)

I once showed a deck of cards made by Naipes Comas from Spain that had Pippi Longstocking as the main character/theme. That deck of card was actually a reissue of an original German deck of cards that I want to show today.

There is no doubt, that Pippi is a fascinating character for children all over the world. Even today, you can notice this if you visit Astrid Lindgren´s World in Vimmerby, Sweden. There, the actress playing Pippi has to walk from one side to other (without stopping) not to be obstacled/surrounded/grabbed by very small children chasing her and shouting "Pippi, Pippi". This image was very surprising to me, I found it almost scary.

No matter what, Pippi had a first real action TV series shot in 1969 that was translated to many languages and became very popular everywhere where it was shown. The main character was played by Inger Nilsson. Some movies were made after and before the series, and, of course,there were many books written with her adventures. I guess this may vary from one country to another, but being Pippi a character intended for rather small children, the TV series and movies have had more success than the books.

This is an example of merchandising and licensed items. In this case it´s two decks of cards made in Germany (where Pippi was also extremely popular) that sold very well durign the 70s. Probably, two of the best selling decks by FX Schmid.

The first deck is simply Pippi Langstrumpf, and the next one is Pippi Langstrumpf in Taka-Tuka-Land, where Pippi travels to a pirate island and gets back a treasure stolen by pirates. Both are based on the movies with the same names (1969 and 1970).

Both decks were reedited a few years later, and in the case of Pippi and the Pirates, I own two versions. They are actually the same except for the cover card, that has a more modern (70s!) design, and the back of the cards are printed in another shade of blue. The color of the pictures in the cards are also a bit different, but this may also vary among decks in the same issue.

 And to finish this article, all cards from the second set plus "Facts and Figures"

FACTS AND FIGURES:
 •Name: PIPPI LANGSTRUMPF and PIPPI LANGSTRUMPF IM TAKA-TUKA-LAND (nr. 609 20 and 608 20)
•Year: 1971 (plus reedition from the late 70s)
•Company: FX Schmid (Germany)