[Syd Smurf]

Just wanted to point out that the actual Smurfette is an original authentic smurf...it is only the blue skipping rope part that is in question here as being fake or authentic.....just incase someone new to the forum was reading this and wasn't clear on that fact.

I tend to think that these (particular ones) are fakes for this reason:

1. There are so many around at the moment when they are meant to be really quite rare.

2. They are nothing like the material used for the other ropes with this Smurfette and seem an odd choice for Schleich to use.

3. They would be EASILY faked and we know people do fake smurfs a lot these days.

The question might be "Were these ever produced as an authentic variation?"

"Der Schlumpf Katalog" labels these as a "Spanish Variation" but I believe it is meant as being produced in Spain but NOT a fake Comics Non Toxico smurf which makes sense as CNT smurfs are smaller and different to Schleich smurfs whereas this is clearly an authentic Schleich Smurfette mould so it is definately not a Spanish Smurf in the classic sense (i.e. CNT smurf).

Xavier mentioned something about these coming from a factory in Spain but I can't remember the exact wording of his post....maybe I should find out some info regarding these......I'll see what I can find out.

Dyar

[JT]

Yes, Smurfette is real deal, but I think that old rope has been cut off and holes were drilled on both handles. Then new (strange blue material) rope was clued instead.
As Andrew said, this one is supposed to be rare and yet I got one cheap (well, fairly cheap) and in first try
If only Schleich could confirm these real or fake...

Janne

[Guest]

I've got a feeling ours came from Eugene in Holland originally. Didn't he have those and the ice cream variations? David, can you remember? Did he say they all came from a factory in Spain? I will ask my contact he knows of a genuine Spanish factory. He has only ever mentioned fakes to me as coming from Spain.

[Syd Smurf]

I have emailed the authors of the smurf catalogues to ask if they can tell us anything about the origins and anything else that may be useful.

I did notice that the pic of the this variation in Der Schlumpf Katalog does look identical to the blue cord that is on all of ours.....curiously, there is no pic of one in the Comicfiguren katalog that I have (2000/01) although I do not have the most recent one so I can't say whether or not it features in that one.....if someone has the 2003 Comicfiguren katalog can they please check it for me to see if it was included that in edition?

Dyar

[Guest]

I just spoke to my contact, he said there has never been a genuine Schleich operation in Spain. He said that Schleich went down to the factory in Barcelona where the Comic non-toxicos were being made and got production stopped, and he said there were no other genuine production outlets for smurfs in Spain either.

He mentioned he has found an old photo of the opening of the Portuguese factory, I don't know whether I will be able to see this at some point but will keep you posted!

[Syd Smurf]

I have received a reply email from both authors of the Katalogs and they have said quite a few interesting things....I have asked for permission to quote them so you can read what they had to say first hand as they both make some very good points regarding this variation.

Thanks Karen as well for the info above. I believe what your contact says to be true too just from a logical point of view regarding Schleich never operating out of Spain. It was interesting to hear that they went and closed down the production. I hope you get to see the Portuguese factory pic and also hope that you will be able to post a pic of it on the forum.

Dyar

[attombomb7]

hi!

it makes me wonder if the Spanish smurfs we keep seeing on EBAY are

newly made?? as they seem to pop up more then normal and usually the

same types are listed every month or so???


what puzzles me is if the SMurfette with white underwear is real? then how come we are seeing so many all of a sudden..even as fakes??

is the Hong Kong Smurfette now that common??? I have always seen the

yellow underwear one..



OMG! this thread must sound totally bizarre to some newby?? or funny!

it's all about the mystery of the undies!!:lol:

[attombomb7]

oh I forgot to ask one thing

if the blue skipping rope smurfette is made in Hong Kong??

is that not odd?? for it to be Spanish then??

so could this be another HONG KONG produced fake?? like the EASTER smurf ? maybe the same makers????

[JT]

so could this be another HONG KONG produced fake?? like the EASTER smurf ? maybe the same makers????

Interesting theory. Smurfette feels a lot more like new smurfs rather than "old" skipping rope smurfette. Plastic seems a bit harder. Then again, easter smurfs were sold mainly from Asia and I got my skippy ( ) smurfette from Belgium. But what would I know, let´s wait Dyar´s quote...

Janne

[XoioX2000]

Hi Karen,

I have to admit I thought Eugene said Portugal... but it was a little while ago now so and we talked so much that day, that I could have got that part wrong and maybe it was Spain...

What I remember is that Eugene was being very forthcoming on explaining why these blue smurfettes had been created... "Because the white ones were too thin and were breaking too easily!" he said...

For the same reason he described the one with a red thread as a test variations for stronger material...

[Guest]

He did say Portugal, David, because I tied it up in my mind with the recent Christmas smurf boxes coming out of Portugal, remember now. Do you remember the retail boxes with praying smurfs in on ebay? It was all supposed to be from the same factory which had closed.

[XoioX2000]

Karen,

It's interesting because we are talking about a factory in portugal, yet they are marked "Made in Germany" and Attom seen to have one "Made in Hong Kong"...

Something fishy is going on... (No no Eggie, not you, I know you're blue... but that's what I meant! )

[eggie smurf]

Something fishy is going on

Hey! What's the ...

(No no Eggie, not you, I know you're blue... but that's what I meant! )

...oh oh, ok

[Syd Smurf]

Are you saying that maybe Stace is a fake Spanish fish or she was made because the white fish seemed to break too easy?.....is she really a test tube version????

Attom, does yours definately have Hong Kong markings?

In some ways the actual Smurfette is pretty irrelevant as we know it's an official Schleich smurf and perhaps they could of got the actual smurfette from anywhere in large quantities. Maybe they had a ton of them without or without the white rope and just added the blue skipping rope later so the markings on the smurf may not mean too much......then again Attom...you bought yours from a different source didn't you?

What I can say is that one expert believes these are 100% fakes while another says that they could be fake or licensed by Schleich....I tend to feel they are fake....but that is just my original opinion and not based on anything besides a hunch......I could be wrong....but these seem to be very different to other Schleich accessories and in any case it's a fact that these were never officially sold in the shops with the other licensed smurfs or the regular Smurfette Skipping Ropes.....so they are either fakes or testversions and I just think there are way too many of them produced to be a testversion.

Dyar

[SuperJen]

OMG! this thread must sound totally bizarre to some newby?? or funny!

it's all about the mystery of the undies!!:lol:

LOL it even sounds bizarre to me

Well if they're fake or real I still thing the blue skipping rope is cute ......
I will check what markings mine have and let you all know

[Syd Smurf]

Well if they're fake or real I still thing the blue skipping rope is cute ......

I think in the end then it comes down to whether you like them or not so if you think they're "cute" SJ then that's a good a reason as any to purchase them. I am happy with my one and very grateful for the people involved that made it possible so I am not complaining at all.....I guess I just wanted some answers as this was one that stood out to me.......and Syd now wants to know if there was one without undies.......BAD SYD!!!!

Dyar

[attombomb7]

I agree dyar

Ihaveliked the blue skipping robe for a long time and really wanted to own one..

I saw them very rarely on EBAY until lately so I got one!..

but now I will also watch if I can find a old one!

[XoioX2000]

Below is the pic of the 4 different markings that could be found in the bag of 10 that we bought at Passion.

All the markings say "Made in Germany" and only the mould numbers differ from 1 to 4.

I'm not sure whether this really helps the discussion as I start to believe these blue ropes were added afterwards anyway. But were they added by Schleich is the question?

Cheers,

David

[SuperJen]

Ok mine says Made In Germany, mould number 2.

Yeah I agree HPH even though I love mine, I would still like to know the story behind it. And I'll keep my eyes open for one without undies

[JT]

Mine has Made In Germany and mould number 1

JT