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Postby BlueSibie » Sun Jun 29, 2014 9:14 am
Hi everyone,

My name is Alfredo. I am originally from Argentina but have lived in the United States for 30 years (by way of Italy, where I have family). When I was a kid, I used to love the Tintin and Asterix comic books as well as the Japanese animated series HEIDI. Sadly, we did not have the Smurfs books down there until the animated series, which is interesting as we had Tintin and Asterix. However, at age 12 my family relocated to the United States, where I was happily introduced to the Smurfs. A year later we moved to Italy, where the Smurfs were equally popular. I remember walking by a nearby toy store and looking at the 'giant' Smurf Mushroom house and wanting it desperately, but considering a 12 year old boy should be playing soccer and not buying Smurf houses, I kept my mouth shut. Needless to say, I never got it, which is just as well because I would have probably lost it in my many moves.

You could say that now in my 40's, I am compensating for all that stereotypical nonsense and I can buy whatever Smurf I want and do not need to explain it to anyone. But it sure got nicer when I realized other adults were as much into the Smurfs as I! Through the years (and moves) I lost whatever Smurfs I had. I even had a plastic mold I got in Argentina, that you put clay in, close it, open it and you had a Smurf you could paint and customize after it was dry! I wish I still had that.

I mainly collect figurines, as eventually I am planning to make the entire village. These days we have access to amazing stuff like Woodland Scenics, plaster, clay and other great stuff to make a very realistic Smurf village. I am planning to build the houses too. While the plastic ones are really nice, they lack 'soul.' For now, I am collecting the figurines. What is great about being the only one in my circle of friends that is into the Smurfs is that when word got out, a dear friend in Germany decided to send me his childhood Smurfs, which are about 40 of them. Surprisingly, among the collection are some Smurfs I found out to be rather expensive and quite a collector's item. Who knew?!

Anyway, this intro got longer than I planned so I will end here with the basic necessary intro: by trade I am a professional musician (I was honored with a Grammy nomination two years ago) and by hobby, I collect Smurfs.

Wishing Smurfiness to all!

Alfredo
Have a Smurfy day!
Postby Cassiebsg » Sun Jun 29, 2014 2:51 pm
Hey Alfredo! :welcome:

Glad you decided to join us! :)
I had a couple of those molds with Disney figures, I did use plaster though. Never thought about using clay. :lol:

Make sure you check SMURFYSTEVE1's new Mini Village thread!. You won't regret it, and maybe you can get some inspiration. ;)

Congrats on the Grammy nomination! :-D

Sandra
There are those who believe that life here began out there...
Postby The Smurf Collector » Sun Jun 29, 2014 3:29 pm
G'day from Down Under

Thanks for sharing your smurf story with us. I always like to read why people collect smurfs, as every story is unique.

Cheers

Kath
Keep Smurfin

Kath B

Try smurfing this: http://www.smurfs.com.au
Postby BlueSibie » Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:12 pm
Thank you Sandra and Kath! I looked at the Mini Village Thread and will be looking some more! I am feeling rather ambitious. When I get working on the Smurf Village to create some of the houses with actual lighting... We'll see where it goes!
Have a Smurfy day!
Postby Smurfysmurf » Mon Jun 30, 2014 6:51 am
:Welcome: Alfredo,
Great to have you join us...and it's great to have another collector in the South lol. I am an immigrant to the US as well (from Germany) and live in Tennessee. My original plan was to re-create the smurf village as well, but I have gone a bit overboard in the last few years :oops: :)
:hiya: Maureen :hiya:

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Postby BlueSibie » Mon Jun 30, 2014 8:04 am
Hi Maureen!

You're right next to where I am! Also, while I am from Argentina, my father is of German descent, so we have that in common. I still have family in Germany (and a recently discovered cousin from Hamburg!). I was in Kiel a few years ago working on my second album with a producer there who is a dear friend AND the one sending me the Smurfs he had as a child.

Once an idea creeps into my head, it will not leave me alone until I do it, so I will make this Smurf village if, as Gargamel would say, "it's the last thing I do." LOL. I just have to start by finding some map that shows where each Smurf house is located. So far, I found the usual general map of where the whole village is, but not individual houses. After that, I'll plan out the village and surrounding areas (Gargamel's house, river, bridge, Sarsaparilla field, etc.)
Have a Smurfy day!
Postby Arno » Mon Jun 30, 2014 11:01 am
Hi and welcome.
What a great project !
You will maybe also see that smurfs produced in Argentina during the 1980s are quite rare and searched by some collectors who like variations, like I do.
Good luck with the village / Arno
Postby BlueSibie » Mon Jun 30, 2014 12:18 pm
Hi Arno,

Argentina produced Smurfs? Wow! I never knew my homeland produced anything other than grain and cattle. LOL. I'd love to see images of Argentinian Smurfs. Do you know if there are any?
Have a Smurfy day!
Postby paolo » Mon Jun 30, 2014 12:34 pm
Hello and welcome aboard from Italy!
:cheers:
Postby BlueSibie » Mon Jun 30, 2014 12:41 pm
Ciao Paolo! Mille grazie!
Have a Smurfy day!
Postby Cassiebsg » Tue Jul 01, 2014 7:18 am
Hi Arno,

Argentina produced Smurfs? Wow! I never knew my homeland produced anything other than grain and cattle. LOL. I'd love to see images of Argentinian Smurfs. Do you know if there are any?
Her you go, from our very own forum administrator, Smurfysmurf: http://www.hiddeninthewoods.com/argenti ... odels.html
There are those who believe that life here began out there...
Postby BlueSibie » Tue Jul 01, 2014 9:00 am
Thanks Cassie. I loved seeing those Argentinean produced Smurfs. I never knew, while living there, that we had some made right at home! :shock:
Have a Smurfy day!
Postby Cassiebsg » Tue Jul 01, 2014 1:41 pm
No problem, I also never noticed all those Smurfs "made in Portugal", that I had plenty off! I always looked at Smurfs as something French/Belgian made in Germany... LOL
There are those who believe that life here began out there...
Postby Dansmurf » Wed Jul 02, 2014 3:28 am
Hi Alfredo,

Welcome to the forum. I am sure you will like it here. I myself recently joined the forum. I am in my fourties too and do not know anyone over the age of 8 who collect smurfs so I was happy to discover this home page, which means I am not alone with this hobby :D

Lene
Postby Arno » Thu Jul 03, 2014 1:48 pm
Hi, going through the "Variations of PVC Smurfs" theme, you will discover many Argentinian variations.
It is a good point of blue cavern that you always can discover new things, time after time.
Postby BlueSibie » Fri Jul 04, 2014 12:48 pm
Thank you! I am liking it already!
Hi Alfredo,

Welcome to the forum. I am sure you will like it here. I myself recently joined the forum. I am in my fourties too and do not know anyone over the age of 8 who collect smurfs so I was happy to discover this home page, which means I am not alone with this hobby :D

Lene
Have a Smurfy day!
Postby André » Fri Jul 04, 2014 1:14 pm
Welcome Alfredo!! :)))) :cheers:
André

In Sweden the smurfs are blue ( and yellow).

Website: The collectors guide to the smurfs ( under construction) : http://thecursedcountry.com/

Smurfy blog: http://smurfblog.thecursedcountry.com/

_________________________________________
Postby Wandy » Fri Jul 04, 2014 1:53 pm
:welcome: Alfredo !!!!!!
:flower: :flower: :flower: :flower:
Wandy :witch:
Postby Tojo » Sat Jul 05, 2014 1:47 pm
Welcome to the forum Alfredo,

as you've probably noticed there is a lot of valuable information to be found here at the forum and I have learnt a lot about smurfs here. I am also in my 40's (next year I turn 50, eek!) & don't know anyone who collects smurfs (except here at the forum & at BSCC).

I too am an expatriate. I'm British but left aged 25 to travel to Australia. After that I ended up in Germany where I've been living since 1992. It's great being able to go to various stores & buy smurfs straight from the shelves.

Congratulations on the Grammy nomination. What style of music do you play?
Tojo McTonyson - Okarben's Bagpiper Extraordinaire.... :partyon:
Postby BlueSibie » Sun Jul 06, 2014 4:54 am
Hi Tojo! Indeed, I have really enjoyed reading about other member's experience with their collecting of Smurfs.

I see that you have moved around as much as I have. I think, in many ways, it is such a great experience, but we can eventually start feeling like we do not belong anywhere in particular.

Thanks! I compose within the New Age/World genre. You can generally find fellow artists Enya, Yanni, Chris Spheeris, George Winston, Will Ackerman, Steven Halpern, etc. within this genre of music. :violin:
Have a Smurfy day!
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