[smurfowen]

Hi All
As anyone else noticed or is it just me? Every since the smurf movie has been lauched people have become greedy? Not Greedy Smurf but greedy in the ways.
Let me explain: You see more on ebay and auction site smurf items where people are asking for riduclous prises for items, I know there are still some been honost about the prices, but it seems to me everyone is tring to ride thesmurf wagon.. For example one of our good members on this forum recently put a item on ebay, contatced me but i did not make the auction in time, the item was won for less than £4. and with in hours of winning, the item was back on ebay with a buy me now price of over £30 by the new owner.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SCHTROUMPF-SC ... _603wt_936
Also Im starting to feel that if you dont own the lastest smurf items (and More than four of the same item) then you arent a collector. I do understand that people are excited and going smurf crazy with all the mania. But do it for the passion of smurfs not for how many of the same items you can boast with. If you think of it, its kind if silly to have twenty of the same items and still lack the basic smurf set. lol
I just want to say, we all would love to own everything smurfy, but its quit impossible, so for those out there that can good for you, BUT PLEASE DONT MAKE THE OTHER COLLECTORS FEEL AS IF THEY ARE NOT WORTHY COLLECTORS!!!!!!
If your are a true blue collector (wether going to Blue Paradise or not) helping each other with each others smurfing hobby is what its all about.

Also If someone asks a question, no matter how ridiculous you might think it is, maybe that person is really wanting an answer.

Thank you all for listening.

[lobo]

Well, I can´t agree more with you.

[Tintin]

Hi Owen

Nice topic !!!
I have been collecting for about 15 years and i think it’s not only because of the movie that people are trying to take advantage of collectors out there.
I hate to admit but I have been cheated in the past to, sometimes even by well known sellers.

That’s why I have been using this forum and smurfy friends to find out about prices, sellers you can trust etc etc etc.
That’s one of the reasons I started to write here to.
It don’t mean I know everything but we can discuss about it ………………

Ofcourse it’s important to treat new collectors like full members ( not sure if that’s the right word ) even if they own just a handful of smurfs. We all started that way, and I was very pleased to get some help when I just started. So I try to help others now to.

And not going to fairs doesn’t mean your not a full member.
A lot of people simply don’t have the needs to go to one.
Why would they be locked out ?!?!?

Ok nothing new in this topic, but wanted you and everyone else to know I totally agree with you !!!!!!!!!!!

Greetings Tintin

[Tracker Smurf]

You know, one of the things I like about this community is that everyone is so accepting. There are people here who just like to collect figures, there are people here who collect general smurf merchandise, and there are people here who have every varient marking on the back of every smurf made. There are even those on here that have been blessed with the amazing talent of making their own smurfs. I would say most of my smurf collection is Jakks smurfs and smurfs released over the last ten years from schleich (with those few rare gems that I've found at Yard sales and such). Anyways I've never felt anyone here has looked down on me becuse I'm newer or because I don't know as much about smurfs as the next guy. I do get a feel that out there are some people who are just cashing in on the hobby, but there are just as many around here who love sharing what they have found so that others who are interested can find these items too. I agree that on places like ebay thee are those who are cashing in on the current spotlight smurfs are in but this will pass. I'm glad I got back into collecting smurfs well before I even knew there would be a movie, but it is fun to be a collector right now because there is so much out there (and you can get carried away too). Anyways I guess its up to all of us to make sure we treat other collectors fairly and encourage eachother in our hobby here. This forum is a great place for that with so many wonderful people.

[southernyacht]

Well said!

I think it's far too easy to get the feeling you have to buy everything, but thankfully I decided early on to take a step back and only get the items that appealed to me. Some of the new material produced in the last year I love, some I hate. No point buying stuff just for the sake of it.

Plus, the most important lesson I ever learned (from all the good people on here) was: if you really really want something, don't panic if you can't get it straight away. Keep searching and in time you'll get it. I have a wish list on my pc and I regularly check ebay. The list is slowly going down!

[Smurfysmurf]

I have made the same observation, Pierre, about sellers...in this case it's not surprising..it's Robcar after all

But I have noticed sellers jumping on the bandwagon of claiming something is rare and unique because the smurf or smurfy item is from the 70s or 80s. I feel for new collectors who fall for this crap, and wished they knew they can ask on here (or other forums) before spending too much on a pretty common item or smurf

I just want to say, we all would love to own everything smurfy, but its quit impossible, so for those out there that can good for you, BUT PLEASE DONT MAKE THE OTHER COLLECTORS FEEL AS IF THEY ARE NOT WORTHY COLLECTORS!!!!!!

This one got to me a bit...and I hope nobody ever feels that way when some of us post what we got....most of us post it because not only are we proud of what we found and feel the need to share it, but it's also to let others know what is out there...I wouldn't know of 90% of items that are available in the US if they had not been posted on here...the same goes
for items in Europe, but those are a bit harder for me to get. A forum lives off members sharing about what they found or got...so I actually hope more members would share of what they found, where they found it so we all can enjoy the pictures, dream of owning it one day,...and just be happy for the person who posted the picture.

I do agree with everything said in the posts above...smurf collecting is a hobby..and it should be fun...and not about who gets the most or has the most valuable collection. I don't care if you have one smurf or 100000..it just means some are willing to spend more on their hobby than others..and I am not sure that really makes you a better collector..it certainly makes you a poorer one

If your are a true blue collector (wether going to Blue Paradise or not) helping each other with each others smurfing hobby is what its all about.

This also got my attention...because I could not have said it better

Also If someone asks a question, no matter how ridiculous you might think it is, maybe that person is really wanting an answer.

the only stupid question is the question that's not asked

[Lia]

Lia

[Cassiebsg]

Well, I have noticed an increase of interest in the danish auction site QXL, smurfs that were being sold for 10 dkk ( +/- 1,3€) or less are now reaching prices that can be 5 or 6 times the asking prince.
As for greedy sellers, there are those who already were greedy before the movie, but I notice that there are also those "riding the wave" and taking advantage of it.
About a year or 2 I bid on a 20170 Quarterback wich I of course lost. The winner was a regular smurf seller and collector at QXL... it didn't took long before the same smurf was back... only now it cost 4,6 times more than it was originally sold (and it wasn't even mint!)
That kind of annoyed me, I have no problem that others are willing to give more than me for the same item, but losing just so someone else can "artificially" increase the price of the item, is rather annoying!

[André]

Great subject Pierre!

And I think you are correct, but don´t have to excuse yourself. Because everybody collects in different ways.

And like Dalai Lama says: If you want to be happy stop comparing yourself with people who have better living standards than yourself and start comparing with people having lower living standards than yourself! And this also goes for smurfcollections. We don´t have to have everything!!!!!

Everybody has started collecting smurfs at some point and then the collections was not that big, so we all have to see the collecting like some kind of journey with (hopefully ) no goal. The ones collecting a long time will then have larger collections. For me I like seing other collectors with many items and just feel lucky for them that they have these items.

I have decided not to buy all smurfsitems they are selling now since I think, just like you, it would be to many items and I personally don´t collect that way. I try to respect every persons own collecting "ways" and I also like it when you say that all questions should be answered no matter how ridiculous. That is off course like Maureen says: No questions are ridiculous. Only the answers.

"You are your own master" and you, and nobody else, decides what you should buy, and you should definatly not feel bad about that!!

I you want something and can afford it, you should buy it. If not, don´t buy it. For me it is not the amount of smurfitems you have that decides if you are a smurfcollector. It is the love for the smurfs that tells us if we are real collectors or not??

[Michelle]

I totally agree with everything here in this topic.
And we (the organizers) of Blue Paradise do realize it's not possible for everyone to come to Belgium. We know. But we do this to make it a possibility! If there aren't fairs we only can buy from the internet, and being alone with our computer.
On Blue Paradise we will be talking like smurfs! All different nationality's, This is the smurfiest!

Big hug
Michelle

[Tojo]

I also agree with this. I have bought quite a lot of smurfs via the internet in the past but none that I consider rare, only the common ones although I did once get a Christopher Columbus smurf quite cheap which was described as a Smurfette because of his hair

The remaining smurfs I still require for my collection I will only buy from collectors / a smurf fair as I don't want to be ripped off / spend a lot of money on what could be a fake - especially as sellers are attempting to obtain high prices for smurfs due to the interest caused by the film

In the case of the easter smurfs for example it's hard to see on a photo whether they are 1 or 2 piece moulds.

[smurfowen]

I totally agree with everything here in this topic.
And we (the organizers) of Blue Paradise do realize it's not possible for everyone to come to Belgium. We know. But we do this to make it a possibility! If there aren't fairs we only can buy from the internet, and being alone with our computer.
On Blue Paradise we will be talking like smurfs! All different nationality's, This is the smurfiest!

Big hug
Michelle

We are proud of people as yourself, that go the extra mile for Smurf. Thank you for this.

[bwalters]

I agree with everyone above. I know this about the collectors here. We all buy stuff not only for ourselves, but for other collectors that can't get what we can get, and have asked for our help. I personally buy stuff if its cheap enough just so I can give it away. Just one case I bought 60 lanyards and have already given 30 of them away. I love to give stuff away if I can afford it. I alway have. I will probibly give a lot of them as gifts when I trade with someone. I love those little suprises I get too.