Smurfy Memories

Do you remember the Smurfs? 

Many children of the late 1970s and 1980s loved "The Smurfs". They arrived in garages and were available with purchases of petrol, they invaded the shops and they found their way on to our television screens. Today, for many people they are a figure of fun, for others they are simply forgotten childhood toys stowed away in their attic... But as the world goes through new fads and fashions, a small but growing army of smurf lovers, remain devoted to these little blue men.

Smurfing times past...

It was my 10 birthday when I got a small lot of smurfs. I had seen those in a shop called Hong Kong many times earlier but never got them. Then finally I got all of them at the same time! I was so happy! My best friend had also smurfs (different to what I had) and we played with them every day (later I "inherited" her smurfs when she stopped playing with them). At that time I didn't really collect smurfs. I did buy a few more smurfs when ever I saw those but they were really more for playing. If I remember correct, the smurfs in my first lot were: papa, normal, gold, brainy, angry, spy, drummer, prisoner, laughing, mechanic, lute (red), mirror, crying, gymnast (green), sleepwalker (red), author, rock 'n roll, gardener, torchbearer, smurfette, digger (large), lover, artist, trumpeter, flautist. I was never interested so much of the comics or the tv-serie. I did watch tv-smurfs when ever I remembered but those weren't an impulse for my smurf hobby. I started the actual collecting maybe 6-8 years ago. At first I bought smurfs from all kinds of flea markets. Approximately 3 years ago I discovered the Internet and eBay and my collection has grown a lot since then.
Yonna, Finland 

My first memory of smurfs was back in the early 70's when I used to visit my grandmother with my father every Sunday. On the way home dad would fill up with petrol from the nearby station, which in those days happened to be a National Garage. I remember one day going into the station with him and seeing a big head height cabinet in the shape of a mushroom with a glass dome on the top. Inside were little blue pvc toys called smurfs. They looked so cute all set out like a pretend village that my dad must have seen me looking into it, and bought me my first smurf. I still have him, the 2.0041 Hiker smurf. Every Sunday, when we used to visit my nan, my dad would get me another smurf. Pretty soon, what with holidays in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight, I had collected a lot of smurfs! I remember in those days having mugs, t-shirts, large plastic singing smurfs and olympic stadiums. When Star Wars came out, I put my smurfs aside and started collecting the figures, then in the 80's I sold the Star Wars off. Thankfully I kept my large collection of smurfs. My interest was re-kindled when on a visit to Hamleys toy store in London I happened to come across a glass cabinet with smurfs in, and out the collection came again. Not only does my collection give me lots of pleasure of my childhood memories, but it also gave me a reason this year to visit Belgium for a smurf collectors fair 'Smurf Passion' where I met smurf collectors from around the globe. 
Steve Parkes, UK

When I was eight years old, Smurfs began to appear in Spanish TV, and my parents regale to me and my twin brother ten smurfs...The first one I saw when I open the box with the present was Nr 20009, smurf with a drum...I can´t forget it...From this day, my father carry us every Saturday to Sevilla to buy some smurfs. My brother got bored, but I continued... I played everyday with my little blue (because of this, some of them are damaged...but never mind)....... I had about 180 smurfs in my collection...and suddenly Smurfs were not at the stores, and not at TV... My parents usually went to Holland, Belgium, Swizerland, and Germany, and they always brought to me smurfs... But it was so difficult to them to find smurfs for me, and to remember which ones I had...My collection stopped. Years and years passed, I loved smurfs but it was impossible to find new smurfs in Spain...I grew, I went to the secondary school and my sisters began to give birth a lot of childs...They liked smurfs and they always wanted to touch them. So I decided to put them in a cupboard...one year, two years, three years...more and more... In 1992 I began Chemistry in the university, and suddenly somebody spoke to me about smurfs....I decided to take out them, and collection continued again... In my travels, I looked for smurfs... Internet appeared... I got my first job as a teacher of Chemistry and Physics, and I began to spent money in one of the things I loved more:
SSSSSMMMUUUURFFFFSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I have about 1000 differents smurfs: all regulars, some promos, variations, buildings and playsets...It's not too bad for a Spanish smurfer, I think. Since I went to passion, I have decided to buy smurfs and more smurfs...I love them...
Joaquin, Spain

My first smurfs were bought for me by my Mum at BP service stations when I was about 5. I have a particular memory of the day I got the little green bench and table set, my smurfs were thrilled to finally have furniture! I think I had about a dozen or so smurfs in my first collection, not bad since we didn't have a car at that stage and only went to the BP to get the smurfs! I also had a yellow smurfy umbrella that I used to take to school on rainy days. Then smurfs stopped being sold in Australia and I forgot about them for a while. When I was 9, my family went to visit relatives in Holland and I was so excited to find new super smurfs and cottages being sold at a market! My sister and I each bought a cottage and 2 supers. I convinced Mum to take us back the next weekend but the smurf seller was gone! A cousin saw us playing with our new smurfs and mentioned that she had some old ones at home, Would we like them? of course!
So in the end we came home on the plane with a nice shoebox sized collection. That same shoe box was kept safely under my bed over the years until just before Christmas 2004 I saw smurfs advertised for sale, $99AUD for the new farmhouse. My first thought was "geez who are they kidding! They won't sell many of those......" Of course they sold all they had, plenty of smurfs,playsets and buildings to me! Now I am around 20 smurfs away from completing my PVC collection! My smurfs need more cabinets to live in and a room of their own, I think they were happy to come out of the shoe box.
Trish, Australia

My first smurf was bought by my Dad in 1981 who used to fill up his work vehicle at BP service stations here in Australia. He used to put the smurfs on the company's petrol bill everytime he filled up the car and I think my first smurf was the Drummer Smurf. My Dad was a singer and liked the musicians so he bought the music smurfs for me first and as everyone knows you have to start the music with a beat. I used to always set up the music band which consisted of the Drummer, Guitarist, Lute, Singer and for some reason 2 Trumpet Players which I had. The music ones were always my favourite and many years later in 2003 when I re-started buying smurfs again, my only goal was to get the music smurfs and nothing else....somewhere along the way I got a little sidetracked and bought a few of the other ones as well much to my fiancee's regret.
Dyar, Australia

My first memory of smurfs was going to my brother's friend's house to play. Kim had heaps of them and we used to drool over them. I distinctly remember putting them on his matchbox service station set and watching them ride down the slide with the cars. We were soon addicted to watching the cartoons every Saturday morning too. I cannot remember us ever having any but we sure wanted them. Then in 2004 I was bored one day and browsing ebay and saw some smurfs. It brought back all those lovely memories of playing with Kim's smurfs. I saw a large lot with a jungle smurf in and instantly fell in love with him. I had to have it! So I guess really my first smurf was the jungle smurf and his mates.
Linda, Australia

In 1997 I was planned to go to a fleemarket early in the morning. But I was sleeping so well.. it became none till I got there. Me and my mom where laughing the whole none, she was always telling me I wouldn't find a smurf on this our. One our later we came to a stand full of toys and I asked the man for smurfs. He was happy because he was waiting for me with his box. He knew me from the years before. So I was looking in his BOXES, in a began to shake. The smurf with two white buckets was in for 40 BFR= 1 Euro. My luck wasn't finished yet, I bought a pink jeep for about 6 Euro and a lot of Hong Kong smurfs each for 1 Euro. I had two bags full of smurfs for about 25 Euro. Well well I was happy and my mom she was laughing even more.
Michelle, Belgium

My name's Dominique, I'm 26 years old and from the area of Northrhine Westfalia, Germany. I have been collecting smurfs for more than twenty-three years (since 1983). Reason being my Granny who used to give me smurfs as presents whenever she was visiting us. The first smurf I got from her was the gold smurf. I still remember her saying: You're just as tiny and precious as this smurf is. Only one year later, I had forty smurfs to call my own. I also went to the video shop with my dad and rent some smurf videos, before the series was broadcasted on German tv for the very first time in 1987 or 1988. I could not help myself, but lovin' these blue cuties, so I started to look out for smurfs at the age of six or seven years on fleamarkets and toy shops. I also wrote many letters to Nikolaus and the Christkind asking for smurfs on "Niklas' day" and on Christmas. Meanwhile I have collected more than 1000 smurf items so far, with the majority representing normal smurfs and I still can't stop collecting them.
Dominique, Germany 

Since I’m Italian and here in Italy soccer is everybody’s favourite sport, my very first smurf was 2.0068 football smurf. He also wears the colours (white and black) of Juventus Football Club, that’s always been and always will be my favourite team. It was given to me as a gift back when I turned 8 (as far as I can remember, I’m 32 now) and I can recall that during one very big birthday party all my classmates gave me smurfs as gifts, each person a different one, so my collection started with around 25 smurfs at once.
I continued buying them just for playing when I was a kid, but a couple of years ago I have restarted for collecting purposes and now I like to display them around the house. I basically have all the normal and super smurfs, all the buildings and playsets, and many other items like stickers, albums, games and even tableware.
Paolo, Italy 

I think my first smurf was Smurfette. I would have been around 8 years old. I loved Smurfette sooooooo much when i was a kid (well i still do ) Well I think I actually wanted to be Smurfette. This was quite normal though (well better than talking to the mop and calling it Grandma). We used to live about 250kms from the nearest BP service station. Once a month my brother and I would drive to Darwin with my parents to do some grocery shopping. We always looked forward to stopping for petrol for the trip back. Mum & Dad would let us get a smurf each, I think they were only .70 cents back then. I don't remember ever seeing any super smurfs available. We had about 20 smurfs between us and they were something we could play with together without getting into a fight. I can only think of a few of them now...Smurfette, painter , mailman, soccer, mechanic, Papa, astro,spy, drummer, vanity, watchman,clown, singer, flower & gift etc.
I also had a few smurf comics.... The Smurfette and King Smurf. I remember reading these books over and over. I started collecting again back in March 2004 and I don't think I'll ever be giving away this collection !! I have attached a pic of my little brother when he was 3 holding MY plush smurf. 1982 I think it was taken.
Raelene, Australia 

Well, I had smurfs as long as I can remember and really do not know what made me start that collection.. ... I think my mother thought smurfs are less expensive than Barbie dolls.. ..... she doesn't think so now, when she comes to visit me . because like they say in good old Tennesseean "Hoooney, ye ain't seen nutting yet". Anyway, here is my first "real" smurfy memory..
In Stuttgart, every spring and fall we had something like a smaller "Octoberfest' with lots of booths and rides.... my mother and I really like the "lottery ticket booths (Losbuden)", not really lotteries, but if you got enough tickets to get certain numbers you could win a prize that was laid out on the stand... Usually those stands didn't really have much we liked, so we just bought the tickets for fun and small prizes.
One year though, when I was around 9, one of the booths had this Giant stuffed Papa Smurf, probably half my size, and I really wanted it, but we would have to get so many tickets, I wasn't sure we could afford it.... My mother must have seen the longing written in my face , because she kept buying tickets and tickets and more tickets..... I was so afraid, somebody would get Papa, before we had enough numbers... but nobody did, and I was so happy when they handed me Papa Smurf....I usually don't like to be the center of attention, but that day, oh boy, did I enjoy to be the center of attention... I hang onto that Smurf for dear life (mind you, he more carried me than I him, he was that huge) , even when we rode home in the "Strassenbahn". I still had Papa Smurf years later, until we moved to America and he somehow got "lost".. ( I believe, my granny gave him away with my other smurfs ) and I haven't seen one like him since then. 
Maureen, USA 

I don't remember my very first smurf as my brother and I shared several growing up, but it was the bully soccer smurf that got me into collecting. My baby brother would actually stick this smurf in his mouth and suck on it causing the paint to come off. One day I noticed that he started chewing on this little guy and I snapped. I gathered up all the smurf we had put them in the smurf house and hid them in my room never letting him play with them ever again. Those smurfs remaind packed away for years in my parents home until I moved into the house that I now own. I have always picked up any smurfy items I would come across over the years, but never actively searched for smurfs until about 4 years ago when I found out I was done haveing kids and needed a new hobby to fill my time. I now have many cabinets filled with smurfs and many more items packed in boxes waiting to be freed once the kids move out. And all because of saveing one little smurf. (as you can see by the picture I resqued him a little too late, but at least he is not chewed up).
Gerda, USA 

I got my first smurfs when I was 6 or 7. I remember watching the series on tv each noon when I came back from school, I would rush from schoool and enter the house without saying hello to my mom and open the tv, my 2 small eyes opened so widely and so eventually I wanted to have smurfs, being such a big fan, so when my birthday came I asked smurfs,, but I was so sad to learn from my parents that they were not anymore produced..... So my birthday came and I received transformers from my dad and mom...but...but when my grandmas gifts came it was a small box and when i opened it there were 3 smurfs (prisoner normal and gold) my grandmas had save them all these years from my dads toys I was so happpy. Then I started back collecting smurfs when we got internet and since 4 months Ive done a big hunting and my collection is up to 200 smurfs and stilll growing ...
Sam, Canada 

My first memories of smurfs is from the National Garages campaign when I was much younger than I am today. Dad didn't buy petrol at National as far as I can remember & I never had any smurfs but I do remember the advertising & those clear plastic car window stickers which I always wanted but also never had. Our next door neighbours but one had their car windows plastered with them. In the early 80's I was working in a cafe as a summer job & next door was a shop that sold all sorts of knick-knacks. I was browsing around came across smurfs. I can't remember what they had now but I bought 40214 Hobby Horse & 40222 from the tips that I earnt at work. I don't remember why I didn't buy any more though. Then in 2001 whilst visiting my parents in England I decided to buy a Kinder Surprise egg to see what was in the English ones - I live in Germany & was collecting Surprise egg toys at the time. I opened the egg & there was an archer smurf inside. I dug the other 2 smurfs out of the attic & brought them over to Germany where they gathered dust in a cupboard. That was that until 2004 when McDonalds brought out the pirate smurfs. One of the women I work with came in with a happy meal & there was a smurf with it. Blimey I thought. I must get some. I got myself a Happy Meal which came with the pirate on the raft & decided to go next day & get another - but disaster, the promotion had ended. This was however the true start of my smurf collection & since then I've been adding to it whenever I can.
Tojo, Germany

My first smurf was Baker smurf 20113. Back in 1986, I was only 6 years old when I saw a shop display full of smurfs just where I used to live. In those days I used to watch the smurfs on the tv and I always wanted that sometime I acquire a little smurf. Actually I wanted a living smurf but my big brother used to tell me that they live too far away from us. When i saw that shop display window full of smurfs I really shouted and my mum bought me the baker smurf. It was one of the best days I ever had in my life. That smurf is still in my collection and in really good condition because I always treated him as my best friend. Nowadays I have more blue friends in my collection. 
Forum member: Garage 23, Malta