====================== ABOUT THE SMURFY NEWS ====================== This is the largest e-zine about Smurfs and Smurf collecting with 943 subscribers worldwide and growing. Welcome to our first-time readers! If you know Smurf fans who might enjoy the Smurfy News, please help us grow and forward this e-mail to them! To subscribe to the Smurfy News, send an email to SmurfyNews-subscribe@listbot.com Joining or leaving the list is voluntary, we cannot add or delete you! To unsubscribe or view the Smurfy news archive, please visit http://www.esmurfs.com/smurfs-smurfynews.html ========= FOREWORD ========= By this time most of us are aware of the demise of the Smurf Collector's Club Intl. (SCCI) - The club folded after 15 years of service to Smurfers around the world. The hobby simply would not be what it is today without the devotion she showed and the many hundreds of hours she put into helping her members. Her newsletters will be sorely missed. We also have new listings in our shop to announce, the latest word on the new figurines and more, so let's get on with the news! ========= CONTENTS ========= 1) WELCOME SCCI MEMBERS! 2) ESMURFS INTERNATIONAL 3) NEW BOOK VALUES 4) THE NEW 2001 SMURFS 5) NEW IN OUR CATALOG 6) FROM THE MAILBAG 7) REPRODUCTION ALERT! 8) CHRISTMAS PROTOTYPES SOLD 9) SMURFY GIVE-A-WAY! 10) CLOSING ------------------------------------ ====================== WELCOME SCCI MEMBERS! ====================== The number of people reading the Smurfy News each month has reached nearly 1,000! Many of our newest subscribers are ex-SCCI members sent to eSmurfs by the SCCI. The following is a short welcome message I had posted on eSmurfs.com to tell them what we are about and what they can find at eSmurfs.com. I'm reprinting it here for those who missed it: "We are sad to learn that with the 60th newsletter, the Smurf Collectors Club International has brought 15 years of friendship and fun to a close. Suzanne Lipschitz, SCCI Founder and Editor of the newsletter has decided to return, full time, to her real family and has entrusted eSmurfs.com with the job of providing the new 2001 Smurfs and Supers to club members. If you are a former SCCI member, I want to assure you that you will continue to receive prompt shipments of the highest collector quality merchandise. I would also like to invite you to join the eSmurfs.com community :) eSmurfs got its start as the "Smurf Collectors Club" at Yahoo.com. I eventually decided to move the community here, to eSmurfs.com. In many ways, we are like a club, but "joining" eSmurfs.com is free. Headquartering on the Internet has additional benefits. Interacting with other members of the eSmurfs.com community is easy and fun. Our Smurfs Bulletin Board is *the* place to meet and greet your fellow Internet Smurf collectors and fans. Just sit back, relax and read the posts or jump on in and join the fun for yourself. You'll find experts and novices alike and all are eager to share and learn together. We also publish a free newsletter called the Smurfy News. (You're reading it now!!) It is delivered right to your e-mail in-box and is delivered every month to hundreds of avid readers around the globe. The newsletter is full of, well, smurfy news! It's also where we announce site updates and new features, specials and give-a-ways, new inventory in the Smurf Shop and pass along info reported to us from around the globe. To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to SmurfyNews-subscribe@listbot.com. Most clubs provide a means for its members to add to their collection. Ours is the Smurf Shop. Our extensive online catalog illustrates many hundreds of Smurf figurines, supers, playsets, houses and related items like books, keychains, magnets and pins. Shopping is as easy as clicking a button, and we accept many forms of payment including cash, checks, money orders, credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Discover/Novus, American Express) and paypal. We also encourage you to post buy, sell or trade messages on the Smurfs Bulletin Board. Lots of great deals have gone down there. Our catalog also doubles as our full color ID & Price Guide. At least one color or mold variation is shown for every Smurf figurine in the PVC line. Suzanne Lipschitz reviews and updates our pricing each year using her extensive knowledge of Smurf supply and demand worldwide. The guide is fully searchable by entering keywords in the search box in the upper right hand corner of every page on eSmurfs.com. You can identify an unknown smurf very quickly; simply by entering the name of something the figure is holding or doing, such as skiing or hammer. It is by far our most popular feature. You will find we have much more to offer as you explore our site - free e-mail (YourName@esmurfs.com), collector checklists, tons of information - and more is added every month. Thanks Suzanne for mentioning us in your newsletter. I hope your members find eSmurfs.com to be a valuable tool as they continue to make friends and enjoy this hobby, which has been enriched immeasurably thanks to your devotion through the years. Your newsletters will be missed!" ----- You can also read this Welcome message on eSmurfs.com, where you will find links to the resources mentioned. Just click here: http://www.esmurfs.com/smurfs-scci.html AOL Click Here! ====================== ESMURFS INTERNATIONAL ====================== The new lower international rates we announced last month have been very well received! We now figure postal rates by the ounce, not by the pound, resulting in lower charges for Smurfers around the globe! In 2000 we shipped across the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, the territories of Puerto Rico, Aruba and Bermuda and military installations worldwide. We also shipped to the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia, Italy, The Netherlands, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa and Switzerland! It's exciting to talk with so many of you around the world! International customers can pay with US Dollars (you can get them at the bank), or with an International Money Order payable in US Dollars. A personal check is fine if it is in U.S. dollars and written against an account held with a US bank. (The US address of the bank will be on the face of the check.) We also accept credit cards (Discover/Novus, Visa, Mastercard or American Express). We also accept PayPal and now PayPal works for International customers! PayPal is easy, fun and free. It let's you send and receive money right through the Internet and you won't have to give us your credit card number. To learn what countries PayPal is available in, and to sign up for an account, click this link: http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/approved_countries-outside AOL Click Here! ================ NEW BOOK VALUES ================ The SCCI reviewed and updated our catalog prices a couple of weeks ago. Suzanne does this for us each year after the retirees and new Smurfs are announced. Please note that the price guides in print are all at least a couple of years old. None of them take a "whole-world" view of the Smurf market; they are each skewed towards the market conditions in the publishing country. We feel that the prices at eSmurfs.com represent the most accurate and current "book" values. Especially with the popularity of the Internet reshaping hobbies like Smurf collecting, it is important to step back and look at things from an International perspective. Suzanne's 15 years of experience buying and selling around the globe make her uniquely capable of providing these values. The prices indicated are for Mint pieces. Mint pieces are perfect, with no damage such as: Paint rubs or chips Repairs such as white out, after factory paint, or magic markers Extraneous marks or stains, such as initials inked on the feet Chewed, broken or missing pieces Cracked paint from bending If a piece was originally sold in a box, the box should be present. Yellowing does not lower the condition of a piece, but white is more desirable. Collectors are becoming more tolerant of yellowing PVC. This process can be slowed with careful treatment and proper storage, but is inevitable. It is getting very hard to find bright white PVC on the older pieces. (We specialize in bright whites, and always offer full return privilege if any piece is not to your liking.) Click here to check out our Smurf Shop: http://www.esmurfs.com/smurfs-shop.html AOL Click Here! ==================== THE NEW 2001 SMURFS ==================== We expecting the arrival of our little blue friends any day now! Party Pigs/Schleich North America had told us they'd be here late February, then mid March, and now they are saying they expect them in the warehouse by April 1. Well, we can't make any promises until they are in our hands, we can only tell you what we are told. We do promise that as soon as we receive them, we will drop everything, pack them up, and get them out! As always, all orders for the new 2001 Smurfs will ship with free Smurf stickers! And we have a new bonus! Everyone ordering the *full set* of ten new for 2001 figurines will receive a free *retired* Smurf (our choice please). This free Smurf is only for those who place their order early, before the Smurfs arrival here. If you have already placed your order, you will receive this extra freebie! If you have not ordered yet, it's not too late! As long as you order before we announce on our home page that the new figurines have arrived, you will get this bonus freebie! We also hear rumors there may be a mini collector catalog for 2001. If there is, we will be shipping one of those free with every order in 2001! We are looking into several other potential freebies, stay tuned! You can see and order the new 2001 Smurfs right now at eSmurfs.com, just follow this link: http://www.esmurfs.com/smurfs-new2001.html AOL Click Here! =================== NEW IN OUR CATALOG =================== I have been hard at work adding new listings to the Smurf Shop catalog. We already show the entire basic range, so the new additions are all color variations and promos! Many hard to find pieces are now not only shown for your reference, but available to add to your collection right now! ALL NEW additions include: 20014 Sunbather (red/white trunks) 20020 Gymnast (yellow shirt, black mouth) 20037 Doctor (ina) 20054 First Aid (light brown case) 20056 Card player (ASS Promo) 20082 Shy (ina) 20119 Superman (Bully, yellow base, red shoes) 20123 Policeman (Jubilee) 20132 American Football (orange helmet) 20183 Aerobic Smurfette (Jubilee, dark purple leg warmers) 20188 Majorette (pink boots) 20417 Bodybuilder (Sport & Fitness Promo keychain) 20458 Newsman (black & white newspaper) 20467 Chimney Sweep (Schonwald Promo Smurf-a-Gram) 40208 Sign Bearer (French Traffic Safety promo) Hardees Skateboard (Smurf with swim ring) We also have some ALL-NEW miscellaneous related items: 1990 Kinder Smurfs original packaging Smurf transfers Italian Panini album stickers, collect all 180! Giant and regular vinyl puffy stickers Smurfling stickers Papa's lab postcards Theme park pamphlets featuring the Smurfs Highly collectible PVC's poster Many assorted German comics Marvel mini comics All the newly added stuff can be seen by clicking this link: http://search.cartserver.com/search/search.cgi?cartid=a-6296&category=Smurfs&maxhits=20&keywords=new031701 AOL Click Here! We also have new stock in many pieces that were previously out of stock. As we go to press, the following are also available, but quantities are very limited (usually 1 or 2 pieces only) so do not delay if you need one of these: 20006 Brainy (black glasses) 20012 Mechanic (light gray wrench) 20014 Sunbather (red/black trunks) 20021 Sleepwalker (green pompom) 20023 Rock n Roll (orange guitar) 20034 Smurfette (Bully, flirting) 20037 Doctor (red/black thermometer) 20047 Trumpeter (yellow horn) 20057 Thirsty (no straw) 20069 Jungle (light orange) 20086 Present (red bow) 20099 Head Cook 20114 Lion Tamer (short yellow whip) 20124 Santa (Hong Kong, white horn) 20128 Amour (yellow bow and arrow) 20129 Baseballbatter (brown bat, with "3") 20129 Baseballbatter (beige bat) 20133 Field Hockey (Hong Kong, white injected) 20133 Field Hockey (West Germany, blue injected) 20140 Secretary (pink dress) 20142 Mermaid (green tail) 20149 Cheerleader (with "S") 20149 Cheerleader (No "S") 20156 Valentine Smurfette (long arrow) 20159 Violin (West Germany, beige hat) 20171 Handy (orange pencil) 20192 Smurfette with Baby 20205 Baby with teddy 20404 Sassette (orange hair) 20459 Nameplate (Schonwald Promo Smurf-a-gram) IMPS 30th Anniversary, original Smurf on gold stand Smurfs Bumper Sticker Click this link to see all these and hundreds of other listings in the Smurf Shop: http://www.esmurfs.com/smurfs-new2001.html AOL Click Here! =================================================== =============PLEASE VISIT OUR SPONSOR!============= An eSmurfs banner has found a home at http://www.YourBargainBazaar.com where it is attracting the attention of Smurf lovers from around the world. Your Bargain Bazaar offers a new way to shop for the familiar and the unusual. It's fun to explore with values galore. Check it out at: http://www.YourBargainBazaar.com AOL Click Here! =============PLEASE VISIT OUR SPONSOR!============= =================================================== ================= FROM THE MAILBAG ================= Helen in the UK writes: "Am really excited about this - my parents told me to spend forty pounds on smurfs for my birthday, and so I'm taking the opportunity to get the retirees haven't previously got, plus some old favourites in colour or mould variations. You run a great website Pete and the e-mail list is excellent - keep it up...." Pete- Well thank you Helen, I do try :) I hope your birthday was Smurfy! --- From Mitch Jaeger: "Our team, which is a Hi-Q team from Oconto Falls High School, would like to know if we can get permission to use Papa Smurf on our team shirts. We are a nonprofit team that competes with other schools in our area. We have used Papa Smurf as our team mascot throughout the season. Our coach has decided she would like to buy our team some team shirts and we thought it would be nice to include a picture of our mascot. We would be making ten shirts, there are eight team members and two coaches. Please write back and tell us if this is possible or if there is something else we would have to do to make this possible." Pete- We get requests like this sometimes. If you are interested in using the Smurfs likeness you need to contact IMPS, they handle the licensing of the Smurfs for Studio Peyo. Their web site is http://www.smurf.com --- Jocelyn writes: "I just got done reading the Smurfy News letter and I loved it! I love getting it because there is so much info in there! I can't believe all the wonderful Smurfs you just added to you site! I looked earlier today and saw what I have been searching for! The Blue version of Australian Football! Just wanted to say keep up the good work! The little "teasers" about new stock coming in are a killer though! It makes me look all the time! Which is good. Don't want to miss out on anything exciting. Have a Smurfy weekend! Pete- Mail like this just makes me so happy :) Thanks Jocelyn, and thanks to all of you who regularly send your well wishes and greetings! =================== REPRODUCTION ALERT =================== I want to echo my sentiments from last month regarding fake Smurfs. This is becoming a real problem for the hobby, as confused collectors are beginning to shy away from buying rare color variations. Ever since the price guides hit the market illustrating rare color variations and test versions, people have been painting Smurfs themselves. This is fraud! Unfortunately, without the piece in hand, even a knowledgeable Smurf collector will have trouble identifying a repainted piece as genuine. Be especially wary of eBay, as this has become the spot of choice to dump this garbage. Do not buy rare pieces from anyone but trustworthy dealers. Being on eBay does not make you trustworthy! Forewarned is forearmed! =========================== CHRISTMAS PROTOTYPES SOLD! =========================== We overlooked reporting some special news! There was a lot of excitement in January when three one-of-a-kind prototypes were sold on eBay Germany! These pieces have been documented by the SCCI, these are real Smurfs, as rare as you will find! These prototype pieces were produced in 1984 for the US market, but were never put into regular production. There was Bellringer; a Smurf holding a bell, Christmas Smurf with Boot; which is holding a red stocking with a gift and candy cane and the Christmas Angel, which is a Smurf with golden wings holding a square gift. The bellringer ended first setting a short-lived record of 5.135 DM (about $2,500 USD). The Angel auction ended soon afterwards breaking the record when it came in at 5.311 DM or about $2,585 USD). The Smurf with Boot was the last to end, and took in the standing record for a Smurf sold at auction: 5.519 DM or about $2,687 USD! To see these ultra rare figurines, click here: http://search.cartserver.com/search/search.cgi?cartid=a-6296&category=Smurfs&maxhits=20&keywords="ebay%20germany" AOL Click Here! =================== SMURFY GIVE-A-WAY! =================== I was very busy this month, and so I did not have time to put together a Give-a-Way this month. ***JUST KIDDING!*** On our Bulletin Board is a message titled "March Smurfy News Give-a-way." We have just one winner this month, but a special prize! This month's contest winner will receive 40227 Smurfette with Shopping Cart! Details are in the message, so get going! http://www.landofmarbles.com/cgi-bin/forum/dcboard.cgi?az=list&forum=SmurfVillage&conf=Smurfs AOL Click Here ======== CLOSING ======== I close again with my usual plea for submissions. I can only report news and events that are reported to me. Hitting "reply" now will get an e-mail to me, Peter Caparelli. Let me know what is new with you! We will be running a series of guest article by Suzanne Lipschitz, is there a topic you'd like to see written up in the Smurfy News? Let us know! I am also going to try accepting some classified ads to run in the Smurfy News. If you would like to submit an ad, hit reply now and let me know. Ads will be free. This is just an idea I am playing with, so there is no guarantee that your ad, or any ad, will run. I'll see what comes in, and if I think one or two will be beneficial to publish, I will do so. Until next time, keep it Smurfy! -Pete eSmurfs.com ---------------------------- The "Smurfy News" is a free monthly e-mail newsletter published by eSmurfs.com (http://www.esmurfs.com) Joining or leaving the list is voluntary, we cannot add or delete you! To subscribe to the Smurfy News send an e-mail to SmurfyNews-subscribe@listbot.com. To unsubscribe or view the Smurfy News archive, please visit http://www.esmurfs.com/smurfs-smurfynews.html 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. The contents of this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the opinions of eSmurfs.com. eSmurfs.com makes no warranties, either expressed or implied, about the truth or accuracy of the contents or information provided by the sponsors or by the writers. 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!!