[Mark]

G'day everyone. How are all of you doing?

A long time a ago I posted that i was leaving for a trip to Australia for a year. Sadly things didn't work out the way we planned and we returned early after 5 months.

Now that I'm back I am having my doubts about going on with my smurf collection. I'm trying to make up my mind via a pro's & con's list.

Con's:

- I have no space to put them on display
- There are just so many of them
- It's not cheap

Pro's:

- It's just so much fun

Do you guys have any pro's or con's for me to consider?

Thanks,

Mark

[Pitufo]

I would add more pros...

- you can speak and chat with people from different countries with a common thing: love for smurfs
- collecting smurfs, you keep alive remembers of your childhood
- you can spend sundays mornings looking for bargains at fleamrkets
- when you are sad or worried about some important thing, to have this kind of hobby is important...


I know each one has a different life, different hobbies, different economical situation, and different troubles...it is neccesary to study the pros and contras for doiing something...But many times it is better not to think too much, and say: I will do this, just because I love smurfs...

[André]

I would add more pros...

- you can speak and chat with people from different countries with a common thing: love for smurfs
- collecting smurfs, you keep alive remembers of your childhood
- you can spend sundays mornings looking for bargains at fleamrkets
- when you are sad or worried about some important thing, to have this kind of hobby is important...


I know each one has a different life, different hobbies, different economical situation, and different troubles...it is neccesary to study the pros and contras for doiing something...But many times it is better not to think too much, and say: I will do this, just because I love smurfs...

Well spoken Joaquin!!

[Smurfysmurf]

I agree with Joaquin as well

As long as you enjoy collecting, keep on going..you don't have to spend a lot of money on rare variations...if you can't afford it, concentrate on the more common ones that you find on fleamarkets

If you no longer enjoy collecting...take a break. You never know if you enjoy it again later down the road

back...I hope you had a great time Down Under

[Tojo]

Hi Mark,

I agree with the others as well.

Right now my smurf collecting has come to a standstill but I'm not stopping collecting. The problem is that the smurfs I'm now missing from the normals are mostly the rarer ones. I could continue with the supers but I'd have to leave them packed away due to lack of space (one of your problems).

If I see a smurf I like & can afford I still buy it though, such as the Schöller ice cream promo which I bought recently. Basically I'm just going through a quiet phase at the moment but I expect that with the release of the movie I'll go mad & collect everything that I find

I hope you decide to still continue collecting & to visit the forum as well

[bradley]

Hey Mark, hope you enjoyed your stay here in Australia. what did you get around to seeing? which States.. And did you make it to South Australia? I'm guessing getting work was the reason your stay didn't work out... as I hope it wouldn't have been you hated living here, lol.

[Mark]

Hi,

Bradley, We LOVED australia! We only missed Western Australia and the top end of the Northern Territory. The problem was indeed finding work, we tried so hard but had no luck at all. We are still devistated about that. We miss Australia every day. We did go to South Australia and it was amazing. We also visited Adelaide and we saw the BALLS you told me about before we left. We will go back some day to australia as a piece of our hearts are still there.

I even found two Smurf moneybanks in NIMBIN, a weird little town.

Thanks everyone for all the messages, it is already getting me kind of excited to start collecting again.

Greetings,

Mark

[Lia]

Nice that you decided to start collecting again!

( ik begrijp alle argumenten om te stoppen, maar......smurfen verzamelen is wel de leukste hobby van de wereld!!!)

Lia

[Tojo]

It sure is Lia

[eggie smurf]

Right now my smurf collecting has come to a standstill but I'm not stopping collecting.

Same with me, Tojo....I guess I'm just not actively collecting but if I find something smurfy in everyday life, then I definitely try to get it if it's reasonably priced. Plus like most, I have just run out of room so most of the collection is packed up. I would love to have enough room someday to display it all A con I thought of, Mark, is that if you stopped collecting and wanted to sell your collection, you probably wouldn't get too much for it as smurf sales seem to be at an all time low Good luck

[SmurfingH]

I've almost stopped too but only because I would rather buy in person than on the internet. I did do a little ebay shopping today though....

[bradley]

Bradley, We LOVED australia! We only missed Western Australia and the top end of the Northern Territory. The problem was indeed finding work, we tried so hard but had no luck at all. We are still devistated about that. We miss Australia every day. We did go to South Australia and it was amazing. We also visited Adelaide and we saw the BALLS you told me about before we left. We will go back some day to australia as a piece of our hearts are still there.

lol, yeah you saw the malls balls! Impressive hey, lol. Glad you enjoyed your stay in Australia & Adelaide. Shame it had to came to an end sooner than you'd hoped for.

[Mark]

Yes the balls were very impressive, never seen such big balls before, haha.

[bradley]

lol, great photo Mark!! can't believe you actually had a photo taken in front of them, hehe. I'm sure that was a highlight. I don't know whos job it is to polish the balls. that would be an interesting job So you did some shopping in Rundle Mall. Did you go any further outside the city while in SA?

[Mark]

We only spend one day in Adelaide. We spend a couple of days in Gawler and freeling, where Mcleod's Daughters was recorded. We also went to Flinders Ranges NP and ofcourse to Coober pedy. It was quite impressive in South australia. We love Australia very much, but there was one thing we hated: the FLIES!! They were just everywhere and hundreds of them....

[Tojo]

They taste lovely don't they I have great memories of my time in Australia but flies are definitely not a part of them

[Tojo]

I just forgot, I actually bought something smurfy today when I was at the supermarket - a 700g tub of Haribo smurfs. I'd never seen them in a tub that size (only the larger one) so I had to buy myself some.

[bradley]

great photos Mark. yeah hate the flies.