[HE-MAN_CAT-RA]

I recently won a lot on ebay and I believe they are are indeed fake. The smurfs heads are out of proportion and the joins are not flush. But they do have markings like Bully and W.Germany, however they do not have a date.

I was wondering whether the Bully Smurfs are like the ones I have described and if they are inferior to those made by Schleich? I have got other Bully Smurfs but they do not look as poorly made as the lot I received.

The Seller of these smurfs informs me that they are Bully smurfs but I have seen some of the smurfs I have recieved on websites that state they are fakes?

Is there an absolute way to know what is a fake and what isn't.

Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers

[attombomb7]

hi!

it sounds interesting what you said about your smurfs!

do you have any photos? we can see??


you could check out my website http://www.geocities.com/attombomb7/mennoblue4.html

and see if you see your smurfs there

I do have tons more fakes in my collection so if you tell me which smurf

it is then I can check in the smurfs that I own that arn't on my site yet

[SMURFYSTEVE1]

Hi there and welcome to the bord. Attoms your smurf when it comes to fakes hes our resident Fakes expert im sure he can help you out. Always nice to meet a new smurfer.
Smurfy regards, Steve.

[HE-MAN_CAT-RA]

Thanks for the reply.

I ones I received were:
baseball bat (photo batsmlsm),
beer (photo beerrrsml),
two with wings ones a regular Blue and one is gold (photo angsmle).
Axe (photo axesml)
Head Cook (photo chesml)

I have also seen other smurfs similar to the ones in these links
http://www.timelesstrinkets.com/Smurfs/ ... e20016.jpg

http://www.timelesstrinkets.com/Smurfs/ ... e20034.jpg

I will post photos soon.

But is it safe to say that these are fakes and not Bully as the Seller has stated?

I have been collecting smurfs for at least 5 years and I haven't come across smurfs that look this badly made before. The seller has implied that I should know that they are made by Bully and are not fakes. But from the photo posted on eBay there was no way to tell that the joins were so poor etc. I just want to know that I can spot a fake and that I am not being deceived.

Thankyou

[Bunno Smurf]

The gold flying one is definitely a fake. The easiest way to tell a fake is generally by the shoddy workmanship, the joins are generally rough.

Theres some info on how to spot fakes on Blueimps. I think this is the link:

http://www.blueimps.com/fake_smurfs.html

It won't load up for me at the moment though. Hope its helpful.

Heres a little info on fakes from mushroom village also:

http://www.mushroomvillage.com/smurfs-r ... tions.html


Attom is definitely the person who will know. If you can post pics that would be helpful or the auction link so we can see the pics there.

[attombomb7]

hi He man!


the two samples you showed from timeless trinkets are definitely fakes!

the spy smurf even has a seam on his head

and that smurfette is not even close to a licenced smurfette

many fakes have a fake copyright name on them as well!

[attombomb7]

hi!

I think the seller for smurfs should just take them back ..and keep you

as a happy customer.. wether he knew they were fakes or not...


do you still have the EBAY listing?? in your My EBAY? maybe you can
download the pic from it and post it on here??

[HE-MAN_CAT-RA]

Here is the link for the item I bought. As you can see the smurfs don't look too bad. However the moment I received them it was quite obvious they were fakes.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... %3AIT&rd=1



The Seller through in 3 more not shown in the picture and they were the worst of the lot. The Smurfette (in red dress), the Judge and the Baseballer with Red shirt.

The thing that bothers me is I won't mind that they were fakes as long as it was stated in the auction as being fakes. But the Seller has sent me a rude email after I question him about them, in an attempt to intimidate me. Here is a small section of his response regarding the smurf item.

"The Smurfs are marked Bully, which in buying my Smurf collection have discovered means they are made from a different manufacturer and harder plastic, they still have the peyo, bully markings as stated in the description, I did at no stage state that these had the original sleich markings or datings. I believe it could be seen from the image as I had many questions from other bidders about the differences of which I explained the harder plastic. Other bidders who were knowledgeable in the Bully Smurfs, asked questions and bid on these items, have been happy."

What do you guys think?

[Syd Smurf]

Hi He_Man

Welcome to the forum and it's nice to see another Aussie say hello around here (the rest of the forum goes.... )

To a lot of us that have been collecting for a while it is very obvious that these ones in the auction were fakes...HOWEVER the seller did in no way describe these as such which I find very deceitful. This is what the seller states in his auction:

i try to describe items as honestly and best i can.

I personally think that the seller could of tried a bit harder as I am sure he would of known these were fakes. I doubt very many of these would actually have the Bully markings (maybe the Flying ones) but the rest would be W Germany Peyo and the fact that he states that he never mentioned anything about the Schleich marking makes me think he was planning on someone not realising these were fakes.

Don't feel bad for not knowing that these were fakes as I think the seller had the responsibility to inform potential buyers exactly what he was selling. On the bright side, these are nice to have in a collection as something different and by owning them, they are probably the best way to learn how to spot these types of fakes in the future. When you compare these to the originals you will see the differences so they can become a very good reference for you. There are lots of different types of fakes out there so some look a lot similiar to the normal ones and can be very hard to tell even for people who have collected for long time. These fakes that you bought have originally come from the Netherlands and we believe are only a recent production. There are older ones that look virtually identical except for they are softer and more bendy.

Bully smurfs are considered to be authentic smurfs however that didn't stop people putting the Bully marking on the fake Flying Smurf as you can see on your ones. Learning to tell the difference between real and fake smurfs is not very easy at first but it doesn't take long to learn what the differences are and how to spot them. Once you learn a bit you tend to pick up more by seeing other smurfs and before too long it becomes quite easy to spot them most of the time.

If you ever have any doubts about whether a smurf is fake or real then you can always post a pic here of a smurf or contact me or some other forum member via Private Message and they will be more than happy to help you in any way they can. That's the type of thing this forum is for and we have all learnt so much since coming here....I don't think I could of spotted a fake before I joined here last year but with the guidance of people like Attom and others I am now quite confident in spotting which smurfs are fakes or not.

Perhaps another good idea is to purchase a copy of a smurf guilde like Der Schlumpf Katalog which shows pictures of each authentic smurf as well as supers, smurf a grams (aka sockels), raws (unpainted smurfs) and also fakes. This could be very handy to see what the different types of smurfs look like. I know I learnt a lot after buying this book. Here's a link so you can see which book I am talking about...it's the one at the top:

http://www.kittyscavern.com/shop/catego ... gory_id=25

If you have any other questions then please feel free to ask anyone here for help at anytime.

Other than that, tell us a bit about your collection and how you got into collecting smurfs.



Dyar

[eggie smurf]

he-man!
I would be quite annoyed if I purchased these thinking they were original as well...you paid a good amount of money for a bunch of fake smurfs. If the seller won't deal with you and plays "dumb", you can report it to ebay as the listing was misleading and dishonest. There was an American seller selling these similar fakes awhile back and Attom and I both questioned him on the smurfs being "fake" and the seller acted unknowing of even the simple definition of the word fake!! It is very irritating. Good luck - whether you decide to try to deal with the seller, ebay, or keep the set. These are nice fakes to have but if you don't collect fakes, they are pretty much worthless in a collection

[HE-MAN_CAT-RA]

Thank you everyone that has responded to my question.

I do appreciate the in depth responses and the fact none of you guys have treated me like a fool.

I knew when purchasing them that there was definitely something suspicious about them. But I thought why not take a gamble on the fact there might be a rare variation amongst them.

I normally don't buy Smurfs off eBay as I like to inspect them for paint rubs and broken bits but I never thought I would have to be on the guard for fakes.

The fact that the Seller was trying to convince me that these were genuine was what I found disconcerting. I began to doubt what I know about Smurfs. But one good thing to come from this debacle is I have a completely new aspect of my Smurf collection with 20 fakes and I have discovered this excellent Smurf forum.

I will be sure to visit again with any questions about Smurfs I have and if I find something cool that I can’t help but share.

Have a Fabulous Day
Everyone
Naomi

[Bunno Smurf]

Hey Naomi,

Welcome welcome welcome. I think i forgot to say that at the start. Finally another West Aussie! I lived in Kambalda for a few years when I was little and my brother was born in Kalgoorlie Hospital. Is it getting hot out there already? It was 32 here in Bunbury today and I felt like I was melting.

I really like the gold fake flying smurf myself. One day I am going to get one! Its a cool colour for him.

[hfos]

What do you guys think?

I have that same set, see them >>here<<

On the bright side, these are nice to have in a collection as something different and by owning them, they are probably the best way to learn how to spot these types of fakes in the future. When you compare these to the originals you will see the differences so they can become a very good reference for you.

That's great, how you manage to give this a positive turn!

[Fram]

Naomi! DOn't feel to bad about it. My first eBay buy was the spy with the red cape with red on the inside. Turned out to be a fake as well. I wouldn't fall for him again, after spending a year here, but that is the way most of us learn it (only Attom kleeps on buying them fakes ).

[Guest]

Welcome to the forum, Naomi.

I'm sorry you got stung with these fakes. I am curious, is the seller definitely from Australia? Some of the way he writes sounded a little like English isn't his first language. Was the package shipped from Australia definitely? Just curious really. You can make a claim to paypal for misrepresentation, as long as you get a letter from a smurf expert confirming they are fakes you should get your money back. It sounds like you are looking on the bright side of things anyway, at least once you have fakes in your hand it is much easier not to get stung next time.

[SA Smurfette]

Naomi

I remember seeing this lot on Ebay. I think it's the first bunch of fakes i've seen on Aussie Ebay before. I wouldn't have known they were fakes either if i hadn't joined this forum.


Karen, the seller is from Tasmania so that probably explains it
Well if it doesn't explain it maybe Dyar can explain it for you He'd do a better job than me

Raelene

[Bunno Smurf]

Yeah this seller is from Australia. I think I bought something from them a long time ago.

I just checked out their feedback. Heres an interesting auction they won:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 6210134380

From what I can see it says no real smurfs so the guy must've known they were fakes when he bought them??

[Rachel]

Hi Naomi, welcome aboard.

I am sorry to hear you have had problems but as Dyar says, these are not easy to spot as fakes and the seller certainly has their facts wrong. In fact when these smurfs first started appearing we weren't sure on here wheather they were just old stock or in fact newly made fakes, here is a link to the topic:

http://www.forum.bluecavern.com/viewtopic.php?t=1204

They are still nice to have in a collection, I know I bought them knowing that they were fake just so I could see what they were really like.