This is the largest e-zine about Smurfs and Smurf collecting with over 650 subscribers worldwide. Welcome to our first-time readers. We hope you decide to stick around. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the Smurfy News, please visit http://www.esmurfs.com/smurfynews.html or just send an email to the "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" address at the end of the list. Joining or leaving the list is voluntary, we cannot add or delete you! To view the Smurfy News archive, visit http://www.listbot.com/cgi-bin/subscriber?Act=view_archive&list_id=SmurfyNews --------- CONTENTS: --------- 1) SMURF DESKTOP THEME 2) ESMURFS.COM OVERHAUL 3) PAPA SMURFS DRINK 4) MORE SMURFS ON TV 5) NEW SCHONWALD PROMO 6) REPRODUCTION ALERT 7) RESOURCE REMINDER 8) CHAT REMINDER ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) SMURF DESKTOP THEME Our friend Jocelyn in Arizona came across a website the other day and thought we might be interested...they have 2 desktop themes! You can find them at the following links: http://themeworld.com/cgi-bin/preview.pl/themes/smurfs2.zip http://themeworld.com/cgi-bin/preview.pl/themes/smurfs.zip (note, as we went to print, this server was down, so please try it again another time if you get no response) She went on, "I also saw a truck the other day with a Smurfette sticker on it's back window! At least I know there's somebody else out here in Arizona who loves Smurfs!" Speaking of stickers, have you heard? eSmurfs.com is now giving away FREE Smurf stickers with every order! We have 8 styles to give out, collect them all! 2) ESMURFS.COM OVERHAUL We’ve made some changes at eSmurfs.com and would like to invite you to come check things out. There is a new site-wide header you can use to go anywhere from anywhere, just pick a page from the pull-down menu. You can also search the ID & Price guide from any page in the site by entering keywords in the header. Explore our Guide by with keywords such as "smurfette," "supers," "promos," "Christmas," "food," baseball," etc. It’s very powerful, and makes it a cinch to find any Smurf piece by entering a keyword or two. Enter a Schleich #, and all the variations, promos and Smurf-a-grams for that mold come up. You can also browse "the old way" by using our catalog links. Many of the items shown are available for sale, and lots of new items have been added...look for the old Smurfette cottage, old grey windmill and the Lunar Lander playset, all mint in box! We have some stickers, pez, Smurf cookies, candy toppers, a carrying case and other miscellaneous items. Don't miss the handicapped Smurfs activity book. This was distributed with the handicapped pair, your set is incomplete without this book! Beautiful mint condition. We also have plenty of PVC's in stock...some new, popular and/or hard-to-find pieces we now have in stock include 20005 Gold, 20025 Swimmer (orange tube), 20028 Gardener (large mold), 20069 Jungle (light and dark versions), 20096 Sledgehammer (bully), 20133 Field Hockey (red/white stripes) 20406 Chitter, 20407 Smoogle, 20409 Patriot (light blue flag), 20412 Bride, 20413 Groom, 20460 Golf, The entire History series, 40249 Computer and literally hundreds of others. Check out the new look at http://www.esmurfs.com and don’t forget, we now send free Smurf stickers with every package! 3) PAPA SMURF DRINK Here’s an nice Summertime drink we found on mixed-drink.com: Papa Smurf ? 4 oz. Vodka ? 8 oz. Red Kool-Aid ? 1 Blue Popsicle (crushed) Mix and chill vodka and Kool-aid. Crush blue popsicle and add to mixture. The crushed popsicle should settle at the bottom of drink, making it appear as a blue layer at the bottom and a red layer on top. Sorry kids, you’ll have to leave out the Vodka! 4) MORE SMURFS ON TV Our friend Shannon in Ohio spotted the Smurfs on TV, she reports "The Smurfs cartoon was on BOOM TV on Wednesday July 5th 11:30 am-12:00 noon I'm not sure if it is a daily thing" So if anyone gets BOOM TV, there's a tip for you!! Keep those sightings coming in, we’ll keep reporting them! ------------------------------ SUBSCRIBER FEEDBACK We'd like to hear from you! Just hit "reply" to send us your comments and suggestions or e-mail esmurfs@esmurfs.com! ----------------------------- 5) NEW SCHONWALD PROMO Schonwald is a small German town in a mountain district called the Black Forest for the many dark spruce trees blanketing the mountains. They have produced a series of promotional Smurf-a-grams over the past few years to promote their Skiing and tourist attractions. All Schonwald promos are on the same triangular base with a sticker on it, there is no printing on the plastic itself, like most promo Smurf-a-Grams. We hear that there is going to be a NEW Schonwald promo Smurf released very soon! It's 20460 Golf on the usual Schonwald base, a limited edition of 400 pieces. This will make the 6th piece in their set, the others were: 20176 Good Luck (Brown) - September, 1998 - 180 pieces 20452 Snowboarder - November, 1998 - 250 pieces 20453 Snowboarder Smurfette - November, 1998 - 250 pieces 20459 Nameplate (signed) - April, 1999 - Unlimited 20455 Tourist - July, 1999 - 400 pieces 20124 Santa - December, 1999 - 500 pieces View them at http://search.cartserver.com/search/search.cgi?cartid=a-6296&category=Smurfs&maxhits=20&keywords=schonwald 6) REPRODUCTION ALERT Our Friend Dirk in Germany reports that he has added three new fakes to his collection! They are 51910 Praying Smurf, 51011 Praying Smurfette and 20195 #1 Grad. Dirk, like many collectors, enjoys collecting fake Smurfs. These examples are a bit worrisome, however, in that they are excellent copies! We suspect these fakes were deliberately made to take advantage of the high prices these rare figures now bring! The appear do have been cast in molds that were made using original figurines with Schleich markings, as the markings are there, they are just "muddy." However, the rings in the ornaments heads are gold (they should be silver) and like many fakes, the PVC is too soft, the seams are a bit rough, and the colors are not a 100% match compared to the real thing. Dirk knew what he was buying, but a new Smurfer might pay far too much. Unfortunately this happens whenever any collectible starts to become very desirable...reproductions "pop up" so be careful out there! For images, check out Dirk’s port at the Smurf Bulletin Board: http://www.landofmarbles.com/forum/SmurfVillage/306.html# 7) RESOURCE REMINDER Just a reminder about all the great Smurf collector resources we have FREE at eSmurfs.com: FREE Bulletin Board - Meet other Smurfers who share your interests FREE Collector Checklist - Print it out to track your collection FREE Trade/Sell board - list your doubles and your wish list FREE ID Guide - Full color, every figure shown, fully searchable FREE eZine - you're enjoying it now! 8) CHAT REMINDER Smurf Chat is a place to meet and greet your fellow Smurfers live! Ask and answer questions, or just Smurf around. Chat meets every other Tuesday from 7:00 PM EST to "whenever" and meets again tomorrow, Tuesday 8/1/00 in the chat room located at http://www.esmurfs.com/chat.html -Pete eSmurfs.com The "Smurfy News" is a free biweekly e-mail newsletter published by eSmurfs.com. To subscribe to the Smurfy News send an e-mail to SmurfyNews-subscribe@listbot.com. To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to SmurfyNews-unsubscribe@listbot.com. To view the Smurfy News archive, visit http://www.listbot.com/cgi-bin/subscriber?Act=view_archive&list_id=SmurfyNews Want to submit an article or information for publication in a future issue of the Smurfy News? Send it to esmurfs@esmurfs.com or hit reply now. All letters will be considered for publication unless the author requests otherwise. They may be edited for clarity and space, and we may print your first name and State or Country unless you request that we do not. 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!!