stuffed figure: Baby Smurf

In the early 1980, Hasbro sought to have a baby Smurf toy that had a soft body, a plastic head, and plastic hands. Designer Erin Libby, through her partner in New York, Judy Albert of Albert's Design Co., was asked to create this baby Smurf. The original artist, Pierre Culliford, had not drawn a baby version of his Smurfs. Libby researched and came up with a probable character. When Hasbro gave her their blessing, Libby began by creating a clay head and clay hands. She also made a first rough of the sewn body. For the final presentation, Libby opted to tint the normally pink wax a baby Smurf blue. Hasbro liked the product and it was produced by Libby's company, Erinworks, in 1984.