 |
|
|
||||
| Fakes | Info Home | |
| With the growing popularity of smurfs, many fakes have been appearing on the market. Although most fakes are easily spotted, there is a growing list of very accurate fakes which are becoming harder and harder to spot. Ebay is full of fakes and a great reason to buy from smurf stores where you can be assured of the authenticity of the smurf. | ||
 Genuine Smurf  Fake |
 Genuine Smurfette  Fake |
Fake Christmas Smurfs Christmas Smurfs are very rare as they were only made for a limited amount of time. The Praying Christmas Smurfs were only made in 1985 so they are very valuable. Due to the value of Christmas Smurfs, fake ones were made at some stage. Fake Christmas Smurfs can be identified by a few points. Firstly, the colour of the smurfs skin is slightly darker than the orignal smurfs. This is difficult to spot as you can only tell the colour difference if you have the two together to compare. Secondly, the fake smurfs have a rough seam running around the smurf. This is from the mould that the smurf came from. The original Christmas Smurf has only a very fine seam. Thirdly, the faces of the fake smurfs are a lot more narrow than the original. Again, this is very hard to identify unless you have the two smurfs side by side. A general rule of thumb is that the original Christmas Smurfs look great! If the Smurf you're buying looks slightly odd, than it's probably a fake. Christmas smurfs are very rare and very valuable. The Genuine praying smurfs are valued around $200 US. Funnily enough, there is still value to fakes. Christmas fakes are also rare and valued at around $40 US. One way to be certain of what you're buying is to buy from a Smurf Dealer. You might end up paying a little more than on ebay, but you'll be guranteeing yourself that you'll get the real thing! |
 Fake  Fake |
 Fake  Fake |
Ebay Fakes Over recent years, there has been an absolute glut of fake smurfs appearing on ebay. Sadly to say, many of these fake smurfs - called "custom smurfs" by the sellers - have originated on Australian ebay. Unfortunately many people have been fooled and have paid up to $100 for a smurf that is actually worth about $1 - $2. They're more just a novelty and of no real value to a collector. The smurfs are usually made by getting a smurf that is missing it's actual item and then gluing in an object - quite often dollhouse items - in the smurfs hands. Bingo! You have a new looking "rare" smurf. Cute to look at, but worth next to nothing. If an Smurf for sale of Ebay looks suspicious, go to a smurf store and do a search for the Smurf. Don't hesitate to report the auction to ebay and let them sort them out. Many sellers were banned for a period of time for selling fakes on ebay. |
 Easter Smurf |
 The Original  The Fake |
Fake Easter Smurfs. In 2004, fake Easter Smurfs started appearing out of Hong Kong. These fakes were a little smaller and most made from two separate parts glued together. The fakes could easily be told apart from the real smurfs if you had both of them side by side, but unfortunately many were sold on ebay to unwitting buyers. The fakes are of a much lower quality and not worth a great deal. Only six of the Easter Smurfs were copied as fakes: 20511, 20512, 20513, 20514, 20515 and 20516. As a general rule of thumb: if a Smurf comes from Hong Kong, it's more than likely a fake. Fake Easter smurfs can be be spotted if you know what to look for. The fake smurfs are put together using two pieces. The pieces slot together to make the smurf. The original smurf is made using one mold and has no seams or joins. Another way of spotting fakes, though you'll need the original to compare, is that they are slightly cruder and smaller than the original smurfs. As a general rule of thumb, if it is sold on ebay from Hong Kong, then it's probably a fake. Sure this doesn't apply to all auctions, but you'll find that it applies to most. If the price seems to good to be true, and it comes from Hong Kong, then it's a fake. Don't be fooled. |
 |
More Fakes on Ebay. There are fake Smurfs all over Ebay coming out of China and Hong Kong. They are fairly obvious to spot as the price is so cheap. They are usually only $1 - $2 to "Buy it Now" and then only about $8 - $10 postage. These Smurfs are terrible fakes with shoddy paint jobs. The sellers claim that the items are real, but they are fakes. Sometimes they use real photos of the real product and then send out the fakes. Ebay do not care about the selling of fakes and turn a blind eye. The sets on sale as fakes are 2008 Party Smurfs, 2007 Indian Smurfs, 2006 Halloween Smurfs, Series 2 McDonald Smurfs and others. So if the price looks too good to be true, it's because it is and the Smurfs are fakes. |
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
