~Empire Gnome & Astrosniks~ profile picture

~Empire Gnome & Astrosniks~

Gnomes have more fun!

About Me


~ * ~ This MySpace is devoted to a relatively obscure line of figurines called "The Gnome Family" . They were produced by a company known as Carolina Enterprises, Empire of Carolina, or Tarheel Industries Inc., and later known as Empire Industries in Tarboro, NC, USA back in the late 1970's and on into the 1980's.

~ * ~ They were very obviously inspired by the Smurfs , a line of little blue guys (and one girl!) made in Europe starting in 1965, and later also manufactured in America after they became well-known in the USA. Their fame spread when they became the subject of a Saturday morning cartoon and developed a loyal following.

~ * ~ Carolina Enterprises was a company located in the small town where I raised my sons, so I have a very personal perspective on these figures. My oldest son had a friend whose father worked for Empire, so we saw a lot of these little guys in our household. They were produced in orange , green ,yellow , and also very occasionally in flesh color. The flesh colored versions were later produced as the Lucky Little Leprechauns . I can remember getting whole boxes of them!

~ * ~ While they were an obvious attempt for Empire to "cash in" on a trendy product, they have a charm all their own. In my eyes (and a growing number of collectors), they are more desirable than Smurfs , and are a nice compliment to a far-too-blue Smurf collection .

~ * ~ In the last few years Empire Gnomes have been discovered by collectors and are again in demand. Check my pictures for a recent auction on e B a y that made around $130 for the seller. As stated earlier the Gnomes were available in several different colors. They were also produced in different poses. I am currently working on a website that will show all the colors and poses.





My Interests

~ * ~ Deep in the Forest

Welcome to our home in the woods.









I'd like to meet:

.. Get Your Own! | View Slideshow



Please sign our guestbook!

Music:











Movies:




The EMPIRE GNOMES welcome the famous ALL BIRD BAND to the GNOME FOREST.....



Television:



Books:










Heroes:


BEER GNOMES:
GIRL GNOMES:

Our friends the ASTROSNIKS have left Outer Space and are joining us on this site.


PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT OUR FRIENDS...
THE ASTROSNIKS

The Astrosniks
At least this is some of us !



*Astrosniks are happy Fun-Loving friends of mankind from outer space. Millions of years ago the Astrosniks decided to move to a more peaceful area of the solar system, their side was full of traffic jams and accidents. So the Astrosniks used the mysterious quasar power that is hidden deep within their planetoid of Snikeria to move their small planetoid to our side of the Milky Way hidden behind our moon.


*Astrosniks are tiny green creatures about two inches tall with enormous strength and intelligence. They have pointed ears and two tiny white teeth which always show because they are always smiling.
*Astrosniks have antenna which are used to draw energy from the sun just like the chlorophyll systems of our plants. That’s why most Astrosniks are green. However, you may also spot some that are black, blue, pink, peach, and special editions in gold, silver and yellow.



The Walkmen also known as Snikys.



Pyramido is the very best friend of the Astrosniks.



Be sure to check out our cousins the
LITTLE BLUE SMURFS:
http://www.myspace.com/smurfs6771
http://www.myspace.com/smurfs6771

My Blog

What's this all about?

My sons and I started collecting Smurfs in the 70s and very early 80s. We purchased quite a few Smurfs and accessories. As the boys were growing up our home was always geared towards collectibles. W...
Posted by ~Empire Gnome & Astrosniks~ on Thu, 06 Jul 2006 01:26:00 PST