CONTENTS: 1) NO MORE SMURFS ON CARTOON NETWORK! 2) OUR FINAL LETTER FROM PAPA? 3) NEW SMURFY LINKS 4) A PLUSH PLEA 5) NEW 2000 SMURFS IN STOCK NOW! 6) TECHNO THEME SONG UPDATE 7) NEW AT ESMURFS.COM 8) CHAT REMINDER --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) NO MORE SMURFS ON CARTOON NETWORK! Well, it happened! It looks like the Smurfs have been booted altogether from Cartoon Network! Animaniacs have been airing in their time slot from 3:30 - 4:00 AM. A devoted follower of the cartoon tells us there is hope, as the Smurfs have been dropped from the schedule in the past, only to reappear at a later date, so keep those fingers crossed! I have not been able to find out who we can complain to, but there is a web page where you can vote for your favorite cartoon *episode* and maybe see it on an upcoming episode of JBVO. See http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv/jbvo/index.html for details. I voted for "The Purple Smurf", the episode where lazy is bit by a fly, turns purple and hops around yelling "G'nap, G'nap!" biting the other Smurfs' tails… In the meantime, if anyone spots the Smurfs on Cartoon Network, or anywhere else, please let us know so we can spread the word! 2) OUR FINAL LETTER FROM PAPA? We e-mailed Papa Smurf at Smurfs@cartoonnetwork.com to wish him a happy cartoon appreciation week (May 3-9) (Cartoonists Day is May 5, See the National Cartoonists Society's - Cartoonists Day web site at http://www.reuben.org/cartoonistsday.asp) We don't know how long this mailbox will be set up for Papa now that Cartoon Network cut the Smurfs from their schedule, but here is what he had to say this week: Tonight is the night of the big talent show. Every Smurf is very excited. They've been working extra hard to make it the best show ever. Handy has created a wonderful stage, complete with curtains and lighting. It's quite a sight! Smurfette has Smurfed some lovely flower displays, not to mention wreaths for the winners. She's really out-Smurfed herself this time. Everyone else is Smurfing in, too. Jokey has no doubt created many exploding gifts for the winners. For dessert, Greedy will finally Smurf his famous Smurfberry pie and Smurfberry shortcake. Come to think of it, I should go practice for my part in the talent show! -Papa Smurf We have also discovered CN cycles through just three responses when Papa is e-mailed, and we have now received all three responses. (What!? Papa isn't really writing me???? :o) So, for now, it seems this is the end of our "e-mails from Papa." We thought this was a neat idea, and hope more responses are added, but with the show having just been pulled, that's probably a futile hope. Well, it was fun while it lasted! (You can e-mail Papa at Smurfs@CartoonNetwork.com) 3) NEW SMURFY LINKS There are some pretty amusing Smurf theories over at the "Cartoon Over-Analyzations" website (http://members.aol.com/thegriffon/cartoon.html) I stumbled across this page while researching the "Smurfs are Communists" theory, but they go way past that. Good for a laugh, or are they serious? Jenifer from Jenifer's Smurfy Smurf Page (http://www.angelfire.com/tv/smurfygirl3) sent us this Smurfy web page; http://www.sadmule.com/smurfdance/ This page features some animated Smurfs dancing…give it a minute to load the graphics and the (fast!) version of the Smurf theme song! Do you know of another Smurf-related page that does not already appear on our Links list? (Visit our Smurf links at http://www.esmurfs.com/links.html) Send it to us (just hit reply) and we will publish it in a future issue of the Smurfy News! 4) A PLUSH PLEA And now a plea from Jim Smith: I, like many of you, enjoy collecting PVC Smurfs. In fact, I have a pretty good sized collection. My greatest love and passion, however, is collecting plush Smurfs and, WOW!, do they ever have plush Smurfs at Spencer Gifts. The Heunec-made Smurfs are the best plushes I've ever seen! Check 'em out. Get one for yourself, and it makes a great gift for children. The plushes I've seen and bought include: 20" Smurf (He's big and fun to hug!), 12" Smurf and Smurfette, and the little Smurf character beanies (Smurf, Smurfette, Papa, Brainy, Umbrella, Mailman). Please let Spencer Gifts know that you want them to continue to carry Heunec-made Plush Smurfs (Lord knows, there have been weird, inaccurately designed plush Smurfs made by other companies in the past) as well as other Smurfy items, like PVCs. The best way to do that? Talk to EVERYONE, including Customer Service (800)762-0419. Let them know you want to see new character Plush Smurfs, such as Jokey, Greedy, etc. You may get the run-around from Customer Service and have to listen to store managers who are indifferent or would prefer to see Smurfs walk out their door-- but don't despair! If Spencer Gifts chooses to phase out the Smurfs now, who's to say they won't bring them back in the future because of your persistent requests? Of course, in that case, I would hope Heunec would still be around to make the plushes. I've been to five Spencer Gifts in the area, and each store had a Smurf item the other four didn't. Please refer to my list and let me know if I missed any of the plushes. Got to go: one of my Smurfs has his arms stretched out...he's looking for a hug! This is Pete again. I agree with Jim, the Heunec plush look most like the cartoons, I have the 20" Normal, and he is way cool! You can visit the Heunec we site at http://www.heunec.de, they show the classic Smurfs (Papa, Normal, Smurfette and Baby) as well as many "party" smurfs modeled after PVC figures such as Umbrella, Cell Phone, Groom, Judo and more…I think you’ll be happy to see there are quite a few more Jim! Apparently they are still made, it just that Spencer's won't import them anymore…maybe someone else will! Let us know if you see them around! 5) NEW 2000 SMURFS IN STOCK NOW! We finally received out shipment of new 2000 Smurf stuff last week and all orders have gone in the mail. If you are waiting on new 2000 Smurfs, you will receive them any day now, if you don’t have them already! As you know, some figures had already been done (diver, fireman, chimney sweep) but the new figures look very different, with the new modern sculpting. We were delighted to see pieces such as Diver and Climber feature extra, extra-bright paint colors. The fireman’s gloves are an odd off-white color that looks almost like yellow PVC, put it is actually painted that way. The figures are all “bulkier” than the older ones, continuing the trend away from the classic white hat, white pants, no shirt. The new Super Playsets include all the Smurfs and accessories shown on the box. This includes the four new Super Smurfs with the School playset, but there are no individual boxes for the Supers when you get them in the playset. The students all have the same desk as the older 40220 School desk, but the figurines are new. The Principal Grandpa Super is standing on a podium and holding a purple book and is all-new. The students are Smurfette and two normal Smurfs. Smurfette is wearing pink shoes, and her underwear is painted pink! A strange detail, since it's not even visible when the figure is in position. The figurines in the playset are the Smurf on a swing (identical to the figurine that came with the old tree stump pen cup), 20227 Thinker (the large mold, with knees bent) and two Smurfs for the see-saw which are the same mold as 40221 Rocking Horse. The picture on the box must be of a prototype, as it differs from what is in the box. Most noticeable is that the knotted rope hanging from the swing really hangs to the back, not to the front, as it shown on the box. (The box bears a disclaimer that there may be technical and color variations from what’s shown on the box.) Each playset comes with a sheet of stickers that read either “playground” or “school” in several languages to put on the sign. The School sticker sheet has Papa Smurf to peel off and put in a picture frame on the wall. We give the new playsets a thumbs-up! You get A LOT of Smurfy stuff in each playset, Schleich has never made anything quite like this! See and order yours at http://www.esmurfs.com today! 6) TECHNO THEME SONG UPDATE Thank you to our Smurfy friend Dirk in Germany who found the complete Smurf Theme Song - Techno remix! We reported in our last issue that we had added this MP3 download to eSmurfs.com but our version cut off the end of the song. Dirk located the complete file and it is now available at http://www.esmurfs.com/song.html. Thanks Dirk! 7) NEW AT ESMURFS.COM We recently expanded our Promotional Smurfs page (http://www.esmurfs.com/promo.html) and we have lowered our nnsurance rate to just 25 cents! Just a quarter insures your entire shipment, no matter how big! 8) CHAT REMINDER Smurf Chat meets every other Tuesday from 7:00 PM EST to “whenever” and meets again tomorrow, Tuesday 5/9/00 in the chat room located at http://www.esmurfs.com/chat.html -Pete eSmurfs.com The "Smurfy News" is a free biweekly newsletter published by eSmurfs.com. It is a "voluntary opt-in" list, meaning that joining or leaving the list is voluntary, we cannot add or delete you! To subscribe to the Smurfy News, please visit http://www.esmurfs.com or send an e-mail to eSmurfs-subscribe@listbot.com. To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to eSmurfs-unsubscribe@listbot.com. To view the Smurfy News archive, visit http://www.listbot.com/cgi-bin/subscriber?Act=view_archive&list_id=eSmurfs Want to submit an article or information for publication in a future edition of the Smurfy News? Send it to esmurfs@esmurfs.com or hit reply now. All letters to the editor (Peter Caparelli) will be considered for publication unless the writer requests otherwise. They may be edited for clarity and space, and your identity will be used on request only if you include your name and e-mail address. All right reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole, or in part, without the express written consent of the author. Use info contained herein at your own risk. Nothing in life is guaranteed. Let the buyer beware. A stitch in time gathers no moss. Oh, and SMURF ON!!