Fa - La - Lala - Lala - Falalalalaaaaaa!

I was holding out on posting these guys until I could do a full-fledged forest photo shoot, but fellow lunatic toy collector/blogger Reis of Geek Orthodox fame tipped my hand.

But first, a little context.

I love the Smurfs. I collected the little figurines as a kid and got up every Saturday morning to watch the cartoon. I even trained myself to sneeze like a Smurf whenever I had to "aaah aaaah aaahh - Ahhh SMURF!"

I ate Smurfberry crunch every morning and to this day cannot hear the Nutcracker Suite without thinking of the commercial's theme song "Smurfberry Crunch is fun to eat - a Smurfy, fruity breakfast treat!"

I even once tried to steal my friend's brother's Papa Smurf. Yup, I had it bad.

In fact, Toyriffic's fourth post EVER was a Smurf, way back in December of 2007!

Anyways, a couple months ago I discovered new Smurf toys were popping up at Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, K-Mart etc.

Made by Jakks Pacific, these new Smurfs are similar to the old (and surprisingly still being made) PVC Smurf figurines, but with a little articulation, houses, vehicles and accessories giving the series a more "playable" angle.

I bought my daughter the Smurfette mushroom house playset back in March and tried not to obsess over how cool these new Smurfs were (could I, a grown man, love the Smurfs again?) all the while looking with longing at the smurf cars and figure two-packs on the shelves every time I made a trip to the toy aisle (which is like, every other day!)

Well, Doctor, about two weekends ago the Smurf became more than I could Smurf. I walked into K-Mart and saw a new release of two-packs - one set containing Gargamel and Azrael and one containing Wild Smurf and Tracker Smurf!

I, like my brother-in-Smurfs Reis, struggled with the upcoming rift in my mandom - the struggle to maintain manly dignity at mid-thirty-something while gazing in wide-eyed awe at shirtless little blue communists (one in a loin cloth no less!)

I snapped.

Unlike Reis, I couldn't get out of the store without at least ONE set - the struggle finally leading to the purchase of Wild Smurf and Tracker Smurf...with the promise to return later for Gargamel/Azreal if my man parts didn't fall off and I didn't suddenly develop a penchant for a house full of cats, or the musical Cats for that matter.

Well now I have two new blue friends who can't wait for their Redwood forest photo shoot, which should be coming soon. So without further ado, I give you:

Tracker Smurf -


"Tracker Smurf is the Smurfiest guide in the entire village. He loves to explore and never gets lost. Seen with a feather in his cap and a walking stick in his hand, he knows all the best picnic spots."


Wild Smurf -


"Wild Smurf may live in the forest, but he is a friend to everyone. Especially animals! Although other Smurfs can't understand what he says, he's always there to lend a helping hand."


Unfortunately Wild Smurf has a mistake - his hat is painted white in the front as if he wrapped a regular Smurf cap in leaves, when in actuality he made his cap out of leaves (he is wild, after all.) I will have to figure out a way to safely remove the white paint without damaging the plastic he is made of. But come on - a Wild Smurf figure? Really?!?! How Smurfin' cool!!! I couldn't pass him up!


Other Smurfs available in this new release include Grandpa and Granny Smurf, Painter Smurf, Tailor Smurf, and of course the previously mentioned non-Smurfs Gargamel and Azrael.

So turn in your man-cards, boys, and go get you some Smurfs!

(I just want to add that on Jakks Pacific's website the Smurfs are listed in the boy's section.

So there.)