About The Site
Suzanne Lipschitz is the founder of the Smurf Collectors Club Intl. founded in 1986. She recently ceased publicaton of her quarterly print newsletter after 15 years. The newsletter was distributed around the world. We (www.MushroomVillage.com) are not a collectors' club in the traditional sense, but we offer all the resources of a club for no charge on the Internet. We publish a monthly newsletter via e-mail and host a bulletin board where Smurf collectors from around the world meet each day to chat, teach, learn, buy, sell and trade. Suzanne has taken up residence on the bulletin boards where she is available for her old members plus the growing online community of Smurf collectors. The site also features a fully searchable electronic ID guide illustrating every Smurf mold ever produced which doubles as our catalog many of the items shown are available for sale. We offer checklists for collectors, free e-mail accounts and additional information.
History of Smurfs
The Smurfs were created by Pierre Culliford (1928-1992), a Belgian artist from Brussels. In the family everyone called him Pierrot (the diminutive of his name Pierre) except for a small cousin who could not articulate his "R" and pronounced it "peyo." The nickname stuck.
He drew a weekly comic strip series called "Johan and Pirlouit" in the European publication Spirou. When the Smurfs made their debut in a 1958 episode called "The Magic Flute," they were an instant success and so popular that they were given their own series. The first Smurf book was The Flute and the Six Smurfs, which was later made into a film. More books were written and in 1965 the first PVC figurines were created. Peyo's name was molded into these figures along with the Schleich logo, and has been ever since. Three figures were created that first year: 20002 Normal, 20005 Gold and 20010 Prisoner. In 1966, three more figures were added to the line: 20008 Spy, 20007 Angry and 20009 Drummer. The figures were very popular, but no more were produced until 1969, when five more released: 20004 Shiver, 20006 Brainy, 20013 Lute, 20001 Papa and the ever popular 20003 Astro with his transparent space helmet coinciding with the landing of men on the moon. Smurfette made her debut as a figure in 1971. New Smurf figures continued to be produced every year thereafter, except for 1988 and 1991. The Smurf PVC line is the world's largest figurine collection.
Smurfs first appeared in the United Kingdom in 1978 when National Gas used them to promote service stations. A year later, they made their United States debut. These years mark a significant increase in the production of new Smurf figurines. Soon, Super Smurfs were added to the line, which were boxed figurines with an accessory. The first Super Smurfs included 40202 Chimney Sweep, 40201 Bobsled, 40205 Skier, 40203 Tricycle, 40206 Gardener, 40204 Skateboarder and 40211 Gargamel with a small Azrael the cat.
In 1982 the Smurfs went to Los Angeles where Hanna-Barbera Studios together with Peyo produced 400 episodes of Smurf cartoons, many of them based on the previously released books. This was the first introduction to the Smurf characters for many American children, and soon the craze was in full swing. These cartoons continue to air in repeats.
Many interesting Smurfs were made during their peak production years. 20065 Rugby and 20066 Cricket were inspired by the U.K. love of these sports, and 20132 American Football, 20129 Baseball Batter and 20149 Cheerleader were created to appeal to the American market. The Easter, Christmas and Historical Smurf series also made their debuts during this period.
From about 1985, Smurf figurine production began to taper off, and in 1992 Smurf lovers were saddened to learn that the man behind the Smurfs' characters, Peyo, had passed away. However, his son, Thierry Culliford, continued to sculpt Smurfs and new figures continued to be added to the line each year.
Recent years have witnessed a rebirth in the popularity of Smurfs, especially with adults. As has happened countless times before, the child within us all reemerges in the adult, and with financial resources not available to us as children, we seek to reclaim the trappings of our youth. Every day new collectors are born who are thrilled to learn that the Smurfs they played with and loved as children never really went away. Smurf collector clubs have been established around the globe and the Smurfs have been reintroduced in the U.K. and the U.S. markets.
