#846 TOYS FROM THE PAST - MUSEUM (IX)

See more of these entries here: http://toysfromthepast.blogspot.com/search/label/TFTP

See you next month!

Important notice: The items on display are NOT for sale.

 

 

 

 

#543 SMURFS - VARIOUS FIGURES (1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978)

In a previous entry I summarized the history of the smurf plastic figures by Schleich and Bully. Until now I owned 3 figures from Schleich (the king and two aboriginal Smurfs), but later I bought a lot of around 20 figures, all of which I´d like to present in this entry.

This time, all of them are marked Bully, and represent models made between 1969 and 1977. I have got another king Smurf and another aboriginal Smurf, so I can compare the marking on the bases, and how similar they are. Apart from a slight colour shade variations, the figures are identical.

So, using my Smurf Figure guide (#428), I have classified this lot according to the release year of each figure, and this is how I want to present them here:

1969 and 1970:

Astronaut and Smurf with Scarf (1969)
Laughing Smurf (1970) (needs to be cleaned)

1973:

Wild Smurf
King Smurf
Smurf with wings
Cook
Mocking Smurf
Physician/ Doctor

1971 and 1974:

Smurfette (1971)
Beer Smurf (1974)
Funny Smurf (1974)

 

1975:

Sitting Smurf

Upside-down Smurf

1976: (complete, only three figures this year, leaving out variants)

Painter Smurf
Clown
Ski Smurf

My clown figure was "Made in Portugal". Portuguese figures seem a bit rarer to find.

1977 and 1978:

Swimming Smurf (1977)
Accident Smurf (1978)

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: VARIOUS SMURF FIGURES
• Toy Line: The Smurfs
• Year: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977
• Company: Schleich and Bully (both West-Germany)
• Size of the figures: approx. 5 cm

#428 COMICFIGUREN PREISKATALOG - SCHLÜMPFE 1997/1998 (MICHAEL KOLLER, BERND MAIER, HELMUT STERZ)

This book was edited by the same publisher (Koller-Maier-Sterz Verlag GbR oder KMS) and partly by the same authors than the book presented in entry #401. That book dealt with plastic (PVC) figures based on comics, tv series, films, books... and this book is also based on pvc figures, but all of them from one single TV-series: The Smurfs.

The book is a catalogue and a price guide of all Smurfs made between 1965 (first series) to 1997 or 1998, which is the date in which the catalogue was released. There´re naturally newer guides, but to me, this guide is new enough.

Each page depicts the Smurfs made in a certain year. The upper half of each page is a colour picture of the figures, while the lower half is a list of characters and prices. The guide also includes some figure variations.

The most interesting part is a few pages that explain the history of Peyo and the Smurfs. Other interesting things I learnt are that there are not as many PVC Smurfs as I though, and also that some of them are extremely valuable. There are also several brands that have made this type of plastic figures, although the book talks almost exclusively about Schleich. It would have been great, if there was some information about the Spanish Smurfs like the famous CNT (Comic No Tóxicos).

#427 SMURFS – KING SMURF and WILD SMURFS (1973)

The first plastic Smurfs ever were a give-away from the magazine Spirou that in 1960 decided to produce 3 figures made of latex.

Schleich is a German company founded in 1935 by Friedrich Schleich. During the first years, the company produced security clothes for industrial workers. After the war, the company changed to plastic toys. It was 1951, and the first Smurfs wouldn’t come out until 1965. Those were the first figures intended to be sold on stores.

During the 70s, Schleich shared the production of these pvc figures with Bully. In 1981, after 57 figures, the production is again exclusive to Scheich.

Since 1978, there’s an additional line, the Super-Smurfs, which are articulated, as well as a complete series of accessories like different houses, castles, a mill…

In 1979, the production of the figures is expanded from Germany to some other countries: Sri-Lanka, Hong Kong, Macau, Tunisia and Portugal. The figures were gaining popularity and after the Hanna-Barbera TV series from 1983, Schleich was selling over 1 million figures each month. That same year, the small plastic figures were declared “Toy of the Year” in The Wall Street Journal.

This toy has been offered as a give-away by Hardee’s or McDonalds. There are also lots of promotional figures out there, some marked with the logo of some company, other were exclusive to that offer.

The only three figures I own were released in 1973 and are the King Smurf and two Wild Smurfs (or in German, “Schlimps”)

Something that interests me even more than the official Schleich/Bully/Peyo releases are copies, bootlegs and imitations. The most famous for me are the CNT Smurf from Spain (Comic No Toxicos), form which I have heard a couple of times, and that are very rare and difficult to find. These were made by Comics Spain, a company from which we have talked a couple of times before. Probably, because they lost the licences to produce Smurfs, decided to make them without the name of the company. Each figure had only a sticker with the words “comics - no tóxico” (not toxic).

Possible (until now unknown) CNT Smurf? -Sorry for the quality of the picture-

I thought my fourth Smurf might be one of these, but according to some sources, CNT Smurfs are very well finished, and have a similar quality to Schleich. This is not the case. I haven’t seen the Fisherman Smurf anywhere, I think it must be even rarer than a CNT, some kind of bootleg or similar. It was bought in Spain as part of a lot that also included this Torero and some small plastic figures in the “Dunkin” Style (maybe they’re real Dunkin, not sure about that), so I guess it is an old fake from the late 70s, it’s not a modern figure. Any information on this?

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: KING SMURF, WILD SMURF and FISHERMAN SMURF
• Alternate Names: KÖNIG SCHLUMPF, WILD SCHLUMPF or SCHLIMPS, ANGLER (German) / PITUFO REY, PITUFO SALVAJE, PITUFO PESCADOR (Spanish)
• Toy Line: The Smurfs / Fake?
• Year: 1973
• Company: Schleich (West-Germany) / Unknown Company (Spain)
• Size of the figures: approx. 5 cm