Here are a few documented fakes. To stay on top of the latest fakes, check out our Bulletin Boards. You can click on any picture to enlarge it.

If something is worth money, someone out there will find a way to fake it. This page is devoted to uncovering some of the fake Smurfs that have been produced. To see the images of fake Smurfs in the ID & Price Guide, please click here.

A Smurf is a fake if it was not properly licensed. Some fakes, particularly the older ones, are pirated, black market Smurfs. Another fake is the after-market fake. They involve taking a properly licensed, but cheaper or more common Smurf and altering it to look like a rare and more expensive Smurf, or even a new, never-before-seen Smurf for the purpose of making money off an unknowing collector.

There are also fakes being made by people who are up-front and honest about the fact that they modified the figurine. This can be very pleasurable pastime, and I've seen some great finished products. However, it is important that you learn to recognize what is genuine and what is fake, as pieces change hands over time and new owners may not be aware of the history of their faked Smurfs.

Here are some things to watch for, float your cursor over the pictures for more info and click on them to enlarge them:

Fake "Smurf with Pig"

Another of the Schleich minis looks just like the pig that has been used several times by Schleich. (20067 holding pig on pink Smurf-a-Gram reading "Schleich (S) WUNSCHT VIEW GLUCK IM NEUEN JAHR!!" and the same on a blue Smurf-a-Gram reading "Herzlichen Gluckwunsch und viel schwein im neuen lebensjahr." They also made some for the SCCI many years ago, not on a base. This was when they honored special requests. They were not in their regular line. 20067 (straigt elbows) was used only! These pictures show the new "mini" pig compared to the old pig used in my genuine piece. The "old" pig is the same size and in the same position as the new pig. However, the old pig is a pinker color, and has a seam running along the side of it's body from snout to tail. The new pig has it's seam running down the back. Another difference is in the teats on the bottom of the pig. The old pig has small, clearly defined teats. The new pig's teats are larger and ill-defined. Also note in the view from the bottom that the "old" pig is flat footed, while the new pigs have cloven, or split feet. These have been offered as SCCI promos. However, the SCCI promos were not pink, they were gold! Also, the SCCI pigs have a back seam and only six teats, plus a mold number on the underside of the pig. Please note! The pig may have changed 20 times over the years for all I know, this comparison is just between the pig released in 2000, and the pig held by my vintage Smurf.

This was the very first SCCI promo and was designed exclusively for the club by Schleich to show their appreciation of the club's activities and ideas, and to support the creativity they had shown during their first two years. An elephant with it's trunk raised is a symbol of good luck, hence the name. They were limited to 100 pieces, the smallest run of any SCCI promo. In 2001 the Schleich factory began distributing the elephant used on this promo in their "minis" selection. Soon after, the market was flooded with Good Luck Smurfs, none of which had their original certificates. As a dealer, I was offered them at "only" $75 each. These are garbage fakes! Whenever you buy an SCCI promo, it is important that you insist on having the original numbered certificate issued with the piece, bearing the SCCI raised seal. If there is no certificate, the piece is worth a fraction of a documented piece, even if it is genuine. The new elephant is a lighter grey, and a shinier PVC than my genuine piece, although the difference may be due to age. Otherwise, they are identical in every observable respect, so be careful! Another difference is that on the SCCI piece, the inside of the hands are specially molded to accept the arched back of the elephant. On the regular 20067 piece, the inside of the hands either have molded fingers, or are shaped like a rectangular slot. Also, on the SCCI piece, the fingers can be seen from the right side of the figure, while on a regular 20067 piece, you cannot see the molded fingers unless you look under the hand. Click on the picture to enlarge it and you can see this.

Schleich is now distributing their line of small animal models called "minis" here in North America. There are 40 different styles of pets, farm and wild animals, birds, fish and reptiles, all of them are shown in the picture, as they were distributed in 2001. Some of these are already used in genuine promo Smurfs. These and other small parts are easily added to Smurf figurines to create fake "promo" Smurfs. Here are some I made while playing around, just to show how easy it is. Float your cursor over each to see the name. Stuff like this shows up on eBay all the time:

"Comics No Toxico" Smurfs were produced in Spain. They are an example of a counterfeit Smurf and are not genuine, licensed Smurf figurines. They look very much like real Smurfs, but they have very minor differences in the mold, sometimes have different paint colors, and often (maybe always?) have no markings at all. They were originally sold with a 7 x 9.5 mm oval sticker on them which read "COMICS NO TOXICO." Stefan Schneider in Germany sent this image of a CNT Smurf that still had it's sticker affixed. If you have any of these Smurfs with the sticker attached, do not remove it! Even though it is fake, certain fakes are being collected, and it is more desirable with the sticker.

Pirate or black market Smurfs were produced on a large scale by several companies for distribution through traditional retail outlets. They cut costs by not paying the required licensing fee and by producing a generally inferior product. Pirated Smurfs often have rough seams, missing or muddy markings and/or PVC that feels too hard or too soft. Sometimes there are color variations you do not see on licensed figures, or molds that were never made by licensed companies such as Bully or Schleich. Many of these are collected right along with licensed Smurfs, particularly those that are unique molds.