RARE 1978 SOCCER PLAYER SMURF KEYRING PEYO SCHLEICH GERMANY - IN GOOD CONDITION

A RARE 1978 SOCCER PLAYER SMURF KEYRING BY PEYO SCHLEICH GERMANY. WHAT MAKES THESE SMURFS SO COLLECTABLE IS THAT THEY ARE ALL HAND PAINTED AND EACH IS UNIQUE IN THAT SENSE. THIS SMURF IS MARKED W GERMANY AND CONFIRMS THE TIME BEFORE REUNIFICATION AND INDICATES IT WAS HAND PAINTED IN GERMANY.

OUR BLUE SMURF HAS A WHITE CAP WITH RED SHIRT, YELLOW SHORTS AND BLACK SHOES KICKING A WHITE SOCCER BALL.

MARKS: ON LEFT ARM SCHLEICH, ON LEFT BUTTOCKS PEYO, ON RIGHT BUTTOCKS W GERMANY.

NOTE I HAVE ANOTHER LOT WITH VINTAGE DISNEY CHARACTER KEYRINGS ALSO ON AUCTION THIS WEEK.

SIZE: 4CM WIDE 6CM HIGH 5CM DEEP
Material: Hard Plastic

CONDITION: SOME USED SMUDGES AND SCRAPES BUT OVERALL IN VERY GOOD CONDITION WITH SOCCER BALL IN TACT.

SLEICH WEST GERMAN SMURFS (1965-present): 
The Smurfs is a Belgian Comic Book series created by Peyo (Pierre Culliford was a Belgian comics writer and artist who worked under the pseudonym Peyo. His best-known works are the comic book series The Smurfs) in 1958.  
With the popularity of the Smurfs came a wide range of toys and spin-off products and use of the Smurfs in merchandising. Dupuis, editor of the Smurf comics, first produced smurf figurines in 1959. The first one was a series of three figurines, 5 centimetres tall, of Papa Smurf, Normal and Angry, followed in the next decade by some larger figurines. Those were only for sale in French- and Dutch-speaking countries.
In 1965, Schleich (1935-present), a German company known for their hand painted toy figurines made the first truly mass-produced PVC Smurf collectible figurines (the first three being Normal Smurf, Gold Smurf and Convict Smurf). In 1966, Spy Smurf, Angry Smurf, and Drummer Smurf appeared. In 1969, five more smurfs followed: Moon Smurf, Winter Smurf,Brainy Smurf, Guitar Smurf, and Papa Smurf.
The popularity of the smurfs in countries such as Belgium and Germany has never waned, and Smurf collecting has become a growing hobby worldwide, with 400 different figures produced so far. New Smurf figures continue to appear: in fact, only in two years since 1969 (1991 and 1998) have no new smurfs entered the market. Schleich currently produces 8 new figurines a year. The design of products and the creation of tooling is mostly in-house. Production is at the German headquarters and in production facilities in foreign countries. When a figurine is manufactured, a digital model is first made on the computer, followed by a resin prototype. From this, a mould is made for the injection moulding machine. The figurines are then cast and hand painted at various locations in Germanby, China, Spain, Portugal, Tunisia, Bosnia and Romania.  

PLEASE ALSO SEE MY OTHER ITEMS LISTED. NOTE I HAVE ANOTHER LOT WITH VINTAGE DISNEY CHARACTER KEYRINGS ALSO ON AUCTION THIS WEEK.
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