Welcome to this month's issue of the Smurfy News, going out to over 1,852 Smurf lovers! Welcome to our new subscribers! If you know a Smurf fan who might enjoy the Smurfy News, please help us grow and forward this e-mail to them. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or edit your profile, please visit www.esmurfs.com and enter you e-mail address in the Smurfy News subscription form, or see the bottom of this e-mail. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Boy, it was tough getting this newsletter together on time with the nice weather we've been having here lately! I have been continuing my effort to identify markings on Smurfs we have for sale, you'll find many nice pieces available that we have not had for a while. Limited quantities as always, so don't be slow to grab what you need! A few interesting letters follow, and there are two feature articles after that. The first is a biography of Peyo, the second is a paper written for a College-level Speech course. Both have been added to the eSmurfs.com article archive. There is also some "Heard-it-on-the-grape-vine" insider info from Schleich, and of course - the Give-a-Way: a Paul Revere History Smurf! So let's "Smurf On!" -Pete eSmurfs.com =-=-=-=-= CONTENTS =-=-=-=-= 1) NEW IN THE SMURF SHOP 2) FROM THE MAILBAG 3) THE MAN BEHIND THE SMURFS 4) INSIDER NEWS 5) COMMUNIST SMURFS 6) SMURFY NEWS GIVE-A-WAY =============================================== -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 1) NEW IN THE SMURF SHOP -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Here are the back-in-stock (previously out of stock) listings this month: 20003 Astro (finger up) [Markings: Hong Kong] 20018 Crying [Markings: Hong Kong] 20020 Gymnast (red shirt) [Markings: Hong Kong] 20030 Torchbearer (Belgium) [Markings: None] 20039 Mallet [Markings: Hong Kong] 20041 Hiker [Markings: CE, Germany, Portugal] 20053 Ice-Lolly (red) [Markings: Hong Kong] 20062 Telephone (thin cradle) [Markings: Hong Kong] 20078 Beer [Markings: CE, Germany, black paint dot] 20090 Jester (gold stars) [Markings: Hong Kong, Wallace Berrie] 20097 Injured [Markings: CE, Germany, no paint dot] 20098 Ballerina [Markings: Hong Kong] 20102 Archer (3 piece mold) [Markings: Bully, West Germany] 20123 Policeman (white) [Markings: Portugal, mustard paint dot] 20124 Santa (white horn) [Markings: Hong Kong] 20133 Field Hockey (white injected) [Markings: Hong Kong] 20137 Surfer [Markings: CE] 20140 Secretary (white dress) [Markings: Hong Kong, Wallace Berrie] 20142 Mermaid (green) [Markings: Hong Kong] 20146 Baseball Catcher (white) [Markings: Hong Kong] 20156 Valentine Smurfette (long arrow) [Markings: West Germany, red paint dot] 20159 Violin (beige hat) [Markings: West Germany, mustard paint dot] 20163 Soccer Smurfette (no base) [Markings: Hong Kong, Wallace Berrie] 20164 Papa with Lab Glass (orange) [Markings: West Germany, mustard paint dot] 20166 Pitcher [Markings: Hong Kong, Wallace Berrie] 20169 Hot Dog [Markings: Hong Kong, Wallace Berrie] 20170 Quarterback [Markings: Germany, white paint dot] 20173 Schoolgirl [Markings: West Germany, mustard paint dot] 20176 St Patrick's Day (green) [Markings: Portugal, no paint dot] 20180 Papa with Pizza [Markings: Portugal, mustard paint dot] 20184 Bullfighter [Markings: West Germany] 20187 Handy Plumber [Markings: CE, Germany] 20199 Smurf With Gargamel Mask [Markings: Applause, Portugal, Wallace Berrie] 20203 Blue Baby with Rattle [Markings: None] 20205 Baby with Teddy (powder blue) [Markings: Macau] 20209 Dentist [Markings: CE, China] 20211 Basketball (red shoes) [Markings: Hong Kong] 20212 Little Angel (black mouth) [Markings: Hong Kong] 20215 Baby with Car [Markings: CE, Germany, blue paint dot] 20442 Inline Skater [Markings: CE, Germany] 40602 Smurfette's Bedroom (new box) 51907 Riding Candycane [Markings: Portugal] 51910 Praying Smurf [Markings: Portugal, Wallace Berrie] Click here to see these back-in-stock listings: http://search.cartserver.com/search/search.cgi?cartid=a-6296&category=Smurfs&maxhits=20&keywords=new0502&bool=AND AOL Click Here! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 2) FROM THE MAILBAG =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Just wanted you to know this order arrived today & was especially pleased with the free 2 " figure - New Hiker, as it is a paint variation for me. -Erda Jo" --- Pete: Sharp eyes Erda! I did not even spot the change in paint! I have not added the variation to the catalog yet, but Erda says; "Look at the shoe laces. I realize it is a very slight variation, but on the one hiker I got last year the shoe laces have white spots in the middle of the laces & on the one which you sent me the laces are brown in the middle like the shoe color. When I set the two of them side by side, it is very noticeable." Right you are! All of my current stock has the lace loops painted brown, so if any of you readers look for variations, here is another one you might need, and it's in stock now! ===== "Again I'd like to thank you for your newsletter, which I greatly look forward to reading every month. I was wondering actually if you could answer a few questions for me please? First, I was wondering why Schleich hasn't numbered the 12 new Smurfs consecutively. Second, I was wondering if there is any hint of another world cup football (soccer) Smurf like there was for the 98 and 2000 competitions. Third, and this is one that's bugged me for ever. I distantly remember when I was a kid about twelve years ago seeing the baby with a rattle in a shop window in France wearing a yellow baby grow (much the colour the baby with blocks does sometimes). Although I have asked several collectors, no one has ever been able to confirm such a Smurf was ever made? Have you ever heard or seen of such a Smurf? Finally, I was wondering if you or any of your readers could tell us anything about how Schleich decides the designs for the new Smurfs, and what process is followed before we see them arrive? Indeed anything more you can add about the Smurf making process (and indeed, you've already gone a good job on your website) would be much appreciated. Thanks again for all your Smurfy work, Helen." --- Pete: I'm, sorry Helen, but I am afraid I won't be able to help with many of these questions :( Schleich is very secretive and getting information from them can be tough. I can tell you that the new Smurfs are numbered as they are to fill in blanks in the numbering sequence. The new Trumpeter starts at 20479. 20480 and 20481 are used for the English and French variations of the 20125 Smurf with Heart (Thanks Stefan Schneider for this info, he has been tracking the Schleich #'s for years!). They had to skip 20489-20492 as these number are already taken by the old Easter figurines. 20496 Papa Conductor actually is using a # already used by 20496 Smurf in Bunny Suit. I have no info that will help with your other questions, but if a reader contacts me with info, I will pass it along! I am always looking to establish insider contacts - if you are a Schleich employee who would be able and willing to answer the occasional collector question, please let me know! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3) THE MAN BEHIND THE SMURFS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Born in Brussels, 1928, of an English father and a Belgian mother, Pierre Culliford, alias PEYO, studied at the city's Fine Arts Academy. He found success as one of a generation of stripcartoon artists who followed in Hergé's footsteps. Peyo, a sobriquet acquired because an English cousin could not pronounce his nickname, Pierrot, began his career in 1947 with a medieval page-boy character called Johan. The boy's adventures were serialized in the Belgian dailies, La Dernierè Heure, in 1947, and in the youth columns of Le Soir, in 1951 and in 1952. Johan was soon joined by a companion, Pirlouit, and the Smurfs were born as extras in one of their stories. The blue dwarfs were discovered living in a mushroom-house village deep in the forest. Their special way of talking, replacing key words by SMURF, became the delight of Belgian children who, to their parents' consternation, would imitate it. By 1959, the Smurfs became Peyo's central characters. They are known in Dutch as Smurfen, as Schlumpf in Germany, Schtroumpf in France, Pitufos in Spain, Smols in Danish, Puffi in Italy, Smurfies in Afrikaans, Strumps in Serbo-Croat, Cumafu in Japanese, Lang shin ling in Chinese and Dardassim in Hebrew. Peyo's Smurfs have appeared in a total of 25 languages. The Smurfs became so popular that after appearing in nine 13 mm films, in 1975 they starred in the feature-length La Flute à Six Schtroumpfs. Peyo then introduced the wise old Papa Smurf and the coquettish Smurfette, who remained long the only woman in the dwarfs' adventures. In 1991, a Smurf theme park opened near Metz, France. The venture was not a success, closed, and was then reopened again, under the new management of Walibi. But Smurfs still pop up all over the place. Cuddly toys, Saturday morning cartoons on American television, memorabilia of all sorts. Even the Manneken Pis has a Smurf outfit. Fellow cartoonist Morris paid tribute to Peyo's success: "I think he owes his popularity to his enormous talent as story-teller and to the extreme clarity of his drawings." Peyo's 16th and last album Le Schtroumpf Financier was published just a month ago by Editions Lombard, and is already selling like hotcakes. Not bad for someone who was told by his schoolteacher that he had no future as an artist. This story was written by Rosamund Green and printed in Newsline Magazine on December 24th, 1992 (just after the death of PEYO). This article has been added to the eSmurfs.com Article Library, thanks to all who have submitted articles, and keep them coming! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 4) INSIDER NEWS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- I recently asked of a contact at Schleich: "I was wondering if you can help me to verify some information I have heard. A Smurf dealer has told me that they visited a Smurf fair in Belgium where there was a Dutch seller with lots of variations of all kind of Smurfs. He had several variations of Smurfette with ice cream; he had the one with the red/white/blue balls, but several others as well and he had dozens of each. He also had Smurfette with blue jump rope, but also with red, dark blue, and yellow jump rope (also dozens of each). He really had loads of variations; you name 'em, he had 'em. Anyway, this guy claimed he bought an entire stock of a Portugal Smurf factory that closed down not much before that fair. He said he had a whole warehouse full of Smurfs and Smurf sets he hadn't even unpacked. Does it sound like this story could be true?" My source said: "There have been rumors about an illegal Smurf production in Portugal for a long time. The name of the company seems to be Yolanda. We have tried to sue this company many years ago but were not able to prove that they are actually copying Smurfs. It is good to hear that this company has ceased to exist but I do not know what the substance of this statement is. In the last two or three years no Smurfs from Portugal have appeared in the market and it is my feeling that the guy from Holland has "produced" the color variations himself in order to get a higher price. Sorry that I cannot be more specific but as you know Schleich is not actively involved in the gray or even black market for Smurfs." REMEMBER - be very wary of previously unknown variations you may come across. Visit the Smurfy Bulletin Boards and run it by the regulars before you plunk down your cash! We have many long-time collectors there, who can help determine if what you have found is a rarity, or a fake! Here's a link: http://www.esmurfs.com/cgi-local/forum2/dcboard.cgi?az=lobby AOL Click Here! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 5) COMMUNIST SMURFS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Before everyone gets all bent out of shape, let me say that the author of this article told me "it is intended to be a humorous piece, but as with most humor, there are small grains of truth in it, otherwise it wouldn't be funny." So, do not take this too seriously. I have been trying to research the history behind this "theory" but the author tells me he had no other sources and came up with this idea himself. This article has never appeared in print. I tend to believe that this idea arose independently among more than one person - I would appreciate any information anyone might have about other articles or web sites that put forth this idea... "The Smurfs as a Paradigm for Communist Society" (Written by Eric Lott in Spring, 1995 for a speech class) The Smurfs are a what? That's right I said the Smurfs are a model of how a communist society should operate. "What am I talking about?" you may ask. Very well then I shall explain. The TV show "The Smurfs" provided youngsters like myself hours of entertainment as a child, but what I am now finally realizing is that the Smurfs were actually a well devised piece of Communist propaganda to erode American society from within. What follows is a list of evidence supporting my accusations: 1) Have you ever notice how much Papa Smurf looks like Karl Marx? Could this be a subtle attempt to get young children used to the sight of the Father of Modern communism (in Soviet Russia, large posters depicting Karl Marx were carried in parades celebrating communism.) 2) As well, notice that Papa Smurf wears red pants, red is the color of revolution, and of the Bolshevik party. It is also interesting to note that while Papa Smurf wears red all of the other Smurfs wore white. In the 1918 revolution that resulted in the replacement of the Czarist government by the Communist party, there were two Communist factions battling for control, the reds (Bolshevik) and the whites (The actual name escapes me). In the end the Bolsheviks won and became the ruling class in Communist Russia. Is it not an odd coincidence that Papa Smurf, the ruling member of the Smurf community, wears red while the others all wear white? 3) A fundamental theorem of Marx's Scientific Socialism as stated in the Communist Manifesto is something to the point of "from each his ability and to each his needs." Take note that each Smurf does the job that he/she is suited for i.e. Farmer grows the Smurfberries, and baker bakes all of the Smurfberry pies. Yet, all of the Smurfs get all that they need. In fact, the Smurfs do not use money or even bother to barter. 4) The Smurfs were not alone in their world. You may ask how does Gargamel fit in to this model. Well communism is not alone in the world either. Indeed, forces out there seek to exploit the proletariat for personal gain. The name of this evil is capitalism; the system by which a few select bourgeoisie control all of the capital and attempt to exploit the working class for personal gain. Well this is how Gargamel fits into this model. Gargamel represents the capitalist bourgeoisie attempting to exploit the proletariat Smurfs for personal gain. But wait you say wasn't Gargamel just trying to eat the Smurfs. You obviously did not watch the show too well. In most every case, Gargamel was trying to catch Smurfs because they were ingredients in his latest spell to create or turn something into gold. Therefore, it is evident that Gargamel is the representation of the materialistic drive behind capitalism, to increase capital at any cost. 5) Finally, there was Azrael, Gargamel's cat. This scraggly old cat fits into the model as well. Azrael represents the third world despotisms that are clinging onto the coattails of first world capitalistic nations trying to grab any scraps they can. In the show, Azrael followed Gargamel around trying to catch a stray Smurf or two for a meal. I think these five points provide very strong evidence pointing to the conclusion that the TV show "The Smurfs" is indeed a paradigm for communist society. This article has also been added to the eSmurfs.com Article Library. Here is a link to the library, including links to all of the articles published to date in the Smurfy News, as well as articles submitted by readers: http://www.esmurfs.com/smurfs-library.html AOL Click Here! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 6) SMURFY NEWS GIVE-A-WAY =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Here are last month's winners! Congratulations "gary.painter1" of Wales, UK!! An International winner! (Yes, everyone may enter our contests!) Congratulations Peggy Eurick of Hobe Sound, FL!! Congratulations "doug55" of Jacksonville, FL!! All of you have won *dealer-only* sticker sheets! These sheets of stickers feature the entire current range (well, except the Smurfestra) for dealers to use in organizing and displaying their inventory. You will not see many of these available, lucky you! Prizes ship automatically to the address provided when you entered the contest. Remember people, no address, no shot at the prize. All entries lacking a mailing address are discarded before the drawing! My Sister Melissa helped pack last weekend, since my regulars were sleeping off their Prom. She thought she saw a little paint bubble on a Paul Revere Smurf and picked at it resulting in this month's Give-a-Way: A NEAR-PERFECT PAUL REVERE SMURF FROM THE HISTORICAL SERIES!! (Uh, thanks again Melissa!!) I'll also draw a second name for a dealer-only sticker sheet as a consolation prize. Enter by completing this secret entry form for Smurfy News subscribers ONLY!! http://www.esmurfs.com/smurfs-contest.html AOL Click Here Winners will be announced at the Smurfy Bulletin Board before the next issue. GOOD LUCK TO ALL!! =-=-=-=-=-= 7) CLOSING =-=-=-=-=-= OK, I'm not going to feel bad about asking for submissions again...it's what keeps this newsletter alive - I could not do it alone!! Thanks to all who keep in touch from all over the world - keep those e-mails coming! Please feel free to write and tell me about you and your collection - what got you into the Smurfs? Got questions? I'll try to answer them! Happen to have some info or a story about Smurfs or Smurf collecting? Let's hear it! And please do visit me at the Smurfy Bulletin Boards - there is now info posted there every single day! Here's a link: http://www.esmurfs.com/cgi-local/forum2/dcboard.cgi?az=lobby AOL Click Here! See ya there! -Pete www.eSmurfs.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- THE SMALL PRINT =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This newsletter is (C) 2002 eSmurfs.com, All right reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole, or in part, without the express written consent of eSmurfs.com. 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. 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For information on licensing the Smurfs name and/or character, contact I.M.P.S. at rue du Cerf 85, Genval 1332, Belgium