| SMURFS BY COUNTRY |
Smurfs have been made in countries all around the world.
Many countries manufacture legitimate Smurf figures under license from Peyo. Illegal Smurfs have also been released... some being better quality than others! Certain countries have released both licensed and counterfeit Smurfs.
In the past, unlicensed Smurf figures have been made in Argentina, Mexico, Poland and Spain. More recently, high-quality counterfeit Smurfs have come on the market originating in Hong Kong and China.
Whether the Smurf figures are licensed or unlicensed, they all have a story to be told! | |
List of Countries
- Argentina
- Brazil
- China
- Germany
- West Germany
- Hong Kong
- Macau
- Mexico
- Poland
- Portugal
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Romania
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Argentina Smurfs
Argentinean Smurfs are Smurf figurines made in Argentina. There are three kinds:
1) Smurfs made by Minimodels Industria Argentina (MIA) under license. These are high quality, marked with the MIA stamp.
2) Minimodels without stamps made by MIA after they lost their license to produce Smurfs. These are also high quality.
3) Smurfs made my by amateurs using the Minimodels Industria Argentina molds, or other molds. These are low quality. |
Argentina Smurfs (Minimodels Smurfs) |
For more information on these fascinating figurines, read our Minimodels Smurfs page.
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Mexican Smurfs | Mexico Smurfs
Mexican Smurfs are unlicensed Smurf figurines made in Mexico. There are generally no markings on these figurines.
If your Smurf was: bought in Mexico, or from a Mexican seller - and it is poorly painted with rough seams and no markings - there is a good chance you have a Mexican counterfeit Smurf.
Read about Mexican Smurfs here. |
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Polish Smurfs | Poland
Polish Smurfs are unlicensed Smurf figurine knock-offs made in Poland. In many cases these Smurfs are unmarked! However, there is one way that helps tell if your Smurf is Polish or not: the many unique color combinations available with these Smurfs.
In fact, there are many Smurfs available without blue skin at all. Some are yellow and orange, and many have uniquely colored hats and pants. (But don't confuse Empire Gnomes with Polish Smurfs!) |
The telltale signs that you have a Polish counterfeit Smurf are: 1) Bought in Poland or from a Polish seller 2) Poorer painting than usual 3) Very rough edges along the seams 4) Unique color painting.
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Spain
Spanish knock-offs are counterfeit unlicensed Smurf figurines made in Spain. There are four types of Spanish Smurfs: 1) Comics No Toxico Smurf, 2) PVC No Toxico Smurfs, 3) Eura Spain Smurfs, and 4) Unmarked Spanish Smurfs.
 | Comics No Toxico Smurfs
Comics No Toxico Smurfs are unlicensed figures made in Spain.
Comics No Toxico Smurfs have a gold "Comics No Toxico" sticker. |
 | PVC No Toxico Smurfs
PVC No Toxico Smurfs are unlicensed Smurf figures made in Spain.
PVC No Toxico Smurfs are marked with "PVC NO TOXICO" markings. |
 | Eura Spain Smurfs
Eura Spain Smurfs are unlicensed Smurf figurines made in Spain.
Eura Spain Smurfs are marked with "Peyo" and "Eura Spain" markings. |
Comics No Toxico and PVC No Toxico knock-offs are relatively well made for an unlicensed product. The unmarked Spanish fakes are generally of lesser quality.
Smurfs with the Comics No Toxico or PVC No Toxico markings immediately tell you that you definitely have a Spanish counterfeit. A few of the otherwise-unmarked fakes have a "Made in Spain" sticker, which makes it obvious too. If you bought your clone in Spain, or from a Spanish seller, but it's unmarked, that increases the chance that it is a Spanish counterfeit.
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West Germany
West Germany Smurfs | West German Smurfs
If you bought a Smurf figurine sometime in the 1960s - 1980s, there is a good chance your Smurf was made in West Germany.
Many Smurfs were produced in West Germany over the years, and Schleich had a factory in Helikofen (near Schwäbishgmünd).
Markings:- "West Germany"
- "W. Germany"
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Germany
Made in Germany Smurfs | German Smurfs
After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, West Germany was united with East Germany and Smurfs from this new country were stamped "Made in Germany". |
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Hong Kong
Hong Kong Smurfs | Hong Kong Smurfs
Legitimate licensed Smurfs have been made in Hong Kong for many years.
However, Hong Kong is notable for another reason: it is the place where extremely high-quality phony Smurfs are sold (often in large sets).
If you see Smurfs being sold at "too good to be true" prices from Hong Kong - you may be buying high quality knock-offs! |
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Portugal
Portugal Smurfs | Portugal Smurfs
Portugal produced a wide range of Smurf figurines for many years.
Portugal also produced some special and well-known Smurf figurines as well!
Some of the more special Smurfs manufactured in Portugal include the Christmas Smurfs (including the praying Smurf and Smurfette) as well as the super-rare Christmas Prototype Smurfs. |
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Brazil
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Macau
Macau Smurfs | Macau Smurfs
The most notable Macau Smurfs are the History Smurf Series, which feature important historical figures including Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin, Christopher Columbus and even Thomas Edison (with a lightbulb).
Look closely at this picture of the Macau History Smurfs! History Smurfs were made in Hong Kong as well - and even use the same molds. The words "Hong Kong" are rubbed-out and replaced with "Macau" on two of these History Smurfs. |
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China Smurfs | China
Many of the newer Smurf figures are now made in China.
In addition to these licensed Smurfs, unlicensed Smurfs from China have also entered the market. Pirated Chinese Smurfs are extremely high quality and sometimes the counterfeits are hard to tell from the real thing. Most of the pirated Smurfs say "Made in China" and are sold in large sets - six or eight Smurfs at a time. |
The Made in China pirated Smurfs are often sold from Hong Kong sellers for a substantial discount off of regular prices. The quality of these knock-offs is amazing - generally, the copies are a bit smaller than the real thing, and sometimes the pirated molds are slightly different, and sometimes there are even misspellings ("Made in Chian"), but by-and-large they look fantastic.
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Sri Lanka Smurfs | Sri Lanka
In the 1980s, the explosive demand for Smurf figurines in the USA by companies like Wallace Berrie and Schleich necessitated new production facilities.
Sri Lanka started making Smurf figurines in the early 1980s (around 1982) in a factory made specifically to handle new Smurf production, owned by Quality Crafts Ltd. The factory was located near Columbo Airport. |
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Same Smurf, Different Countries | Same Smurf, Different Countries
Sometimes it is fun to collect different versions of the same figurine, all made in different places.
It is interesting to see that a single Smurf Figure could be made in various countries! For example, the Clown Smurf (20033) was made in several different countires including: Hong Kong, Portugal and West Germany. |
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The Smurfs in Different Languages
There is a word for SMURF in many different languages. When you collect Smurf figurines from different countries, it can help to know what "Smurf" means in the native tongue. Read our handy Smurf Dictionary to learn what "Smurf" is - translated into languages from all around the world!
| Language | Translation | |
| Afrikaans | Smurfies |  |
| Arabic | As Sanafir |  |
| Basque | Pottokiak | |
| Brazilian | Os Smurfes | |
| Breton | Ar Chmarfed | |
| Bulgarian | Smurfovete | |
| Catalan-Valencian-Balear | Els Barrufets | |
| Chinese | Lan Jing Ling |  |
| Croatian | Strumf | |
| Czech | Smoulove | |
| Danish | Smølferne / Smols | |
| Dutch | De Smurfen | |
| English | The Smurfs | |
| Estonian | Smurfid | |
| Finnish | Smurffit | |
| French | Les Schtroumpfs | |
| German | Die Schlümpfe / Schlumpf | |
| Greek | Ta Stroumfakia |  |
| Hebrew | Dardasim |  |
| Hungarian | Törpök | |
| Icelandic | Strumparnir | |
| Indonesian (Bahasa) | Makhluk Biru Kecil | |
| Italian | I Puffi | |
| Japanese | Sumafu |  |
| Korean | Seumeopeu |  |
| Lithuanian | Smurfai | |
| Macedonian | Strumfovi | |
| Norwegian, Bokmal | Smurfene | |
| Persian | |  |
| Polish | Smerfy | |
| Portuguese | Os Estrumpfes | |
| Romanian | Strumfi | |
| Serbian | Štrumpfovi | |
| Serbo-Croatian | Strumps | |
| Slovak | Šmolkovia | |
| Slovenian | Smrkci | |
| Spanish | Los Pitufos | |
| Swedish | Smurfarna | |
| Turkish | Sirinler | |
| Urdu | Smarf | |
| Vietnamese | Xì Trum | |
| Welsh | Y Smyrffs | |
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