It seems that we are getting more and more emails from people asking if we want to buy their smurfs. This is always difficult because most smurfs are in “played with” condition and this devalues them considerably. We deal mainly in mint condition stock, this means the smurfs must be in perfect condition, with no rubs (these are white parts where the blue has rubbed off, they commonly appear on noses, ears or tail). Smurfs with missing parts are often not worth very much at all, and for a Super Smurf to be considered mint it must have the original box and that should also be in “as new” condition. The problem is that one smurf in a collection might be rare, and even if it does have rubs or other imperfections, rare smurfs will hold their value often regardless of condition. So because of this we look at everything that is offered to us, but if the smurfs are unremarkable, as in fairly common, then we generally advise to hold on to them for a few more years. With the Smurf Movie coming out, smurf figurines will increase in value because demand will increase, so it is worth waiting until 2008 before parting with a smurf collection. A common misconception is that the houses are the most valuable part of a smurf collection. Houses and playsets from a childhood collection often have pieces missing, and they are not particularly valuable, although obviously if they are mint in original packaging this does make a difference.
Some people will be wondering what would be considered a rare smurf? Well if you are in the UK and have a rugby smurf in your collection (excluding the more common yellow shirt variety) then you could have a fairly valuable smurf. Rugby smurfs are a good example of a smurf that retains some value even with missing parts, Rugby smurfs in certain colours, even without their stands, will still sell for more than your average smurf.
For more information about how to value your smurfs then please visit the Smurf forum.