This train's got the disappearing railroad blues.

My daughter had her Fisher Price Little People lined up and waiting for the train. The smiling faces and bright colors were so appealing, I just had to take a picture.

Here she is taking over the living room. And the TV. Although I have to admit that iCarly show is surprisingly charming and humorous. Who knew?

I handed the camera over to my daughter and she took a couple shots herself. Here's one of the chickens in the hay loft.

And here's one she took of Tracker Smurf making some cakes.

This shot is a little blurry; that circus train must have been rumbling by pretty fast!

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.)