Subbuteo Club Magazine Mag15

5/22/2018 Subbuteo Club Magazine Mag15

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SUBBUTEO / SOCCER TWO-IN-ONE CROSSWORD

Clues Across (1) Pattern on shirts (2*) The two teams sold in C180 pack(4) Shared a reference with Leeds (7*) Found on middle of Ajax shirt

(8) A product advertised on C108s (11) The replica of .. football

(17) Ref. 48 (18*) Early goalkeepers came on one (19) Defeat

(20) Type of Umbro ball (21) C106s were .. goalies

Clues Down (1) Ref. 20 (2) Collectors all have one (3) Part of the base

(5) Send ball to another player (6) Team recently added to Dream Stadium

(9) Accessory C112 (10 & 13) The name of an early 1980s set

(12) This Subbuteo rule is almost as complicated as the real one!

(14) C130, C154 etc (15) Set of cups (16) Ref. 6, East .

* = 2 words required Robert Pratt

Taken from a 1985 issue of Subbuteo News, the crossword below (with

clues on left) gave readers the chance to win prizes. The first correct entry

received a Subbuteo Sports Bag filled with Subbuteo goodies and the

next five runners-up each got a Subbuteo Sheaffer pen. Not bad eh?

Unfortunately, there are no such incentives here :-(

You will notice that all the original clues pertained to real football so Ive

updated them and (still using the same grid) made up another set based

entirely on Subbuteo. You can decide which ones to doBest of luck!

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4 5 6

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8 9

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11 12

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14 15 16

17 18

19 20

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Issue #15, Autumn 2006I hope everyone had a good Summer and its good to be back again with issue #15. The first thing you

will have noticed is that were still called the Subbuteo Club and have not changed the look of this

newsletter as planned. I received 3 messages, all very persuasive, to the effect that the SC banner is the

newsletters identity and in the name of continuity we should stick to it. It was also pointed out that

even if the SC no longer has 300+ paid-up members we are still a sizeable group of individuals with a

collective spirit, pulling together not only to produce this fanzine but to maintain an Internet forum*

for all Subbuteo enthusiasts. The club spirit lives on therefore, as does the logo.

So, whats new? Well, its all gone a bit quiet recently since the Shove Hapenny crew (who want to be

accepted as Subbuteoplayers:-) reacted badly to Andrew Churchills parody in issue 14. Some of them

got quite irate, providing fine entertainment for a while but things have now calmed down and theyre

happily discussing their favourite lubricants once again. However, Andrew has promised me another

classic spoof for issue 16 to liven things up a bit - roll on January!

Has anyone else got a piece we can use? Im sure theres a lot of untapped literary talent out there so

please have a serious think about what you can contribute. True, we al ready have enough material for

the next couple of issues but anything really original jumps the queue and gets published straightaway.

In fact, I was agonising over what to put onto P.3 the other day when the Hasbro PLC article dropped

into my mailbox just hours before the deadline.perfect! Come to think of it, I could wax lyrical about

many of this issues articles but you will soon be able to judge for yourselves. I only wish I wasnt the

compiler right now, then I could enjoy reading it with you rather than already knowing whats inside.

On a more serious note, apologies for the cancellation of the Leicester Fair in July which Id advertised

in good faith last issue. Unfortunately, family circumstances meant I was unable to fully commit to this

event and so had to pull the plugs at quite short notice. Darren Ames did put on a Bristol show in

August to partially compensate (although it escaped mention here due to the timing) and plans are

already underway to stage something for collectors early in 2007. The exact date and venue are still

undecided but full details will be in our New-Year edition of the Subbuteo Club Newsletter.See you then!

TREV.

* Join us 24/7 at www.subbuteoforum.co.ukfor the best Subbuteo-related discussions on the Internet

(1) Masterpiece number 15 :-) (2) Life with Subbuteo (3) Anexclusive interview with Hasbros new boss(4) Play Subbuteo Sweep (5) Reliving the Leeds glory days with Subbuteo (6) Dark-skinned Goalkeepers

(7) Comparing Subbuteo bases (8) How to re-base HW players (9) An attic fire - every collectors nightmare!

(10) Subbuteo Keepers 1947 - 2006 (11) The 61*** Accessory Price Guide (12) A Subbuteo/Soccer Crossword

CONTENTS


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Ill begin this story in 1979 when my Dad was given some hand-me-downs by my cousin Craig. This was on the

understanding that theyd be looked after once introduced to me. I think I was kicking the cats wicker ball around

the house at the time, minus the bell, when my Dad had told me that you could actually play football in the house,

but not with a real ball! I was a bit confused by all this ( being only 8-9 ye ars old at the time) so he showed me

this green pitch, some boxes and a couple of old brown panel footballs. Whats all this Im wondering, and then

got a stern lecture on treating them like the Hornby train set and Scalextric. I laid out the pitch, complete with 2

goals which were similar to C148s but on wide green bases, and then I saw the 2 teams These were Man City (5)

and Fulham (156) and lovely things they were too.both with white outers and with sky blue/black inners

respectively. My Dad picked City and I was Liverpool in changed kit (with only 2 teams I improvised!) A couple

of weeks later my Dad knew Id taken to this game so he made me a board for the pitch (considering he was no

craftsman he did a great job!) and bought me a ref 41 Zombie from Grays Sports in Cambridge. Apparently the

shop still exists today according to my brother whos moved to the city. Both this shop and Mick McNeil stocked

teams and Id soon spent my pocket money on a 232 100 &21, all Zombies. My brother got a 28, 25 & 211

- he loved the teams but hated the game!

In 1981 I got a 1980 brochure and could now see there were 3 styles of team about. My Grandma then went to

Bristol on a trip and got me a set of footballs and ref 12 in LW while my brother had a ref 252 & League Cup.

At this point I got into finding trophies too. My Aunt Inga sent a package for Xmas one year and it contained the

scoreboard, TV Tower, C167 balls, a ref 8 HW and 2 LW teams (9 & 194) but of these only ref 8 HW and the

scoreboard ended up being mine (!?) We then had a trip back to Tyneside where my cousin Craig (the one whod

started all this off) had more teams to clear outhed completely lost interest in Subbuteo by this time, preferring

Golf and Pool, so I inherited all these HW sides...11, 19, 42, 50, 51, 56, 58, 79 with white shorts, 317 in an England

box and 206 (which had been the last team he bought!). He was actua lly going to keep this Coventry team but I

persuaded him Id treasure it and I was good to my word, only using it half a dozen times.

Ill always remember that trip up North!!

On the next years visit Craig found a couple more green boxes in his brothers cupboard containing a ref.2 with

winged shorts plus a 119 with white outers/blue inners.great! Then 2 others popped up - a ref. 21 with 3 players

missing and a ref 80 (minus 2 players). He gave me the 21 to use for spares but, criminally, he chucked out the

Northampton insisting that they were useless :-( I never did manage to retrieve that team from him a nd it still

haunts me, knowing that Id have replaced those players by now with a bit of sleuth work.

During the early 80s I picked up more teams and got a 350, 355 & 21 in a window box type and a 168, 47 & 266

in HW but only managed to find a 488 and 382 in a horizontal box. We also got the Cricket for my brother (who

still loathed football) and I then took all his football items instead.not bad really! I tried in vain to persuade my

Dad to buy me the Rugby but it never happened. Im afraid he thought it was too extravagant and too similar to

football.

We moved to Norfolk in late 1984 and I noticed that there were not a lot of Subbuteo stockists. It had now moved

from Sports shops into Toy shops and they seemed too childish a place to be seen when you were a 14 year-old.

One or two lads at school liked the game but we never formed any leaguesI just played at home and picked upteams to repaint. The first team I found here in Norfolk was a 571 France (it resembled Ipswich at the time) which

was in a large window box. This was the era where my Mum moaned at me for spending a fortune on teams so I

ended up buying most of them in secret. However, the idea of converting teams was great and soon became

addictive. A lot of my obscure sides were repaints. From the late 80s to the mid 90s I got items and accessories

with my earnings (along with CDs/vinyl, T-shirts & gigs) to do a massive collection of lights. I even replaced all

the refs I had in Zs so I could put them into retirement and the same thing happened to my heavies. Little did I

know that a shop in Norwich (Langleys) had a big sell-off with several Astropitches, going for about 3-4 each.

I only got one but had I known Id have bought about half a dozen. Mind you, I still wasnt driving and so getting

them onto a bus would have been difficult!

So I then lost interest for a few years until being able to use my brothers PC in about August 2003. I discovered

others who still cared about the game and thats when you realise you dont have a massive collection but are just

one of many with a similar problem! So that brings me up to today and Im glad to have rediscovered Subbuteo

with only a 6-year gap.who knows where it will lead from here?

Life With SubbuteoBy Andrew Phillips

The 61*** Accessories Price Guide By Jon French

My last accessory valuations list stopped at the end of the C (Continental) range with reference #C206.

Ill therefore resume with #61207 and continue through to the final Waddingtons accessory using my

usual mixture of Swapmeet prices, Ebay prices, what Id pay for it myself and just pure guesswork!

As ever, the values quoted refer to MINT items and can be scaled down accordingly for anything in a

lesser condition.

REFERENCE # ACCESSORY VALUE

(Boxed) (Unboxed)

61207 European Goals 20.00 12.00

61208 TV Tower 6.00 4.00

61209 3 Tango Balls 4.00 3.00

61210 3 Mitre Balls 4.00 3.00

61211 Assorted Keepers x 4 10.00 5.00

61212 Alicante Balls 6.00 4.00

61213 Mundial Goals 15.00 10.00

61214 Trainers, Ball Boys, Police figures 6.00 4.00

61215 Samba Balls 4.00 3.00

61216 New Grandstand (Red/Blue) 15.00 12.00

61217 2 Grey Terraces 10.00 7.00

61218 1 Grey Corner Terrace 6.00 4.00

61219 Italia 90 Goals 9.00 5.00

61220 Italia 90 Balls 4.00 3.0061221 Italia 90 Pitch 9.00 6.00

61222 2 Newer Style Floodlights 18.00 12.00

61223 Umbro Elite Balls 4.00 3.00

61224 1992 Wall Poster 3.00

61225 USA 94 Balls 4.00 3.00

61226 USA 94 Goals 10.00 5.00

61227 1995 Wall Poster 3.00

61228

61229 Euro 96 Goals 10.00 7.00

61230

61231

61232

61233 5 Different Balls 6.00 4.00

61234 Premiership Accessory Pack 12.00 8.0061235 Euro 96 Balls & Flags Pack 8.00 6.00

61236

61237

61238

61239 Stadium Services Set 7.50 5.00

61240 Referees & Flags 6.00 4.00

61125 Premiership Trophy 8.00 5.00

61133 Throw-in/Corner figures 5.00 3.00

Please note the crazy numbering and omissions, which do not represent errors. This was just the way that

Waddingtons did their accessory references!


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Subbuteo Goalkeeping through the ages

If you could choose any kind of goalie for your team (irrespective of the outfield players used), who would you place betweenthe sticks? Here are the pros and cons for all wearers of the number 1 jersey who have graced Subbuteo pitches since 1947....

Pre-60s Goalkeepers (+) Straight, upright posture meant they could stop the ball more effectively than many of theirsuccessors. The celluloid ones also pinged the ball a fair way out of danger when a save was made, but this did not apply somuch to the cardboard versions.

(-) Unrealistic-looking with arms down sides rather than being in an action pose. They also came with a very short handle,although at the time this was not a disadvantage...short in relation to what?? Cardboard types were also a bit fragile, and oncecreased (usually in the ankle area) they were useless.

60s HW goalkeepers (+) Very long wire handles giving them mastery over a large part of the penalty area. More realisticin this respect, as well as being more effective in clearing the ball. You could also narrow the angle against the oncomingattacker taking a shot. Available in either a crouching or diving pose (a very poor design which looks good but is ineffectivefor stopping shots due to the 45-degree angle of the body).

(-) Because the keepers were only attached to a wire by a hole in their base they could often come off, sometimes at acritical moment! The rods were also prone to rusting and most from this era now have some rust on them, although this isonly a cosmetic thing and doesnt affect their playability.

70s HW goalkeepers (+) The new green rods were welded to the keepers base and were more comfortable to hold. Moreaesthetic with the green blending in better with the pitch. Enormous variety of keepers available from this era, including amore vertical diving pose which combined the best features of the crouching and diving keepers. Later ones came wearingcaps (C153) and a couple of other types which began in the 70s (but were later available as LWs) are mentioned below.

(-) Shorter rods only gave these keepers control of their own 6-yard box. Keepers could no longer be detached from rods tobecome improvised drop backs, although the ref. C106 (spare keepers) catered for this.

70s Interchangeable Keepers (+) These combined the ability to remove the keeper if required with the fact he waspermanent (being snapped onto the end of the rod) and not prone to falling off. Otherwise theyre basically the same as thestandard keepers but with a slightly larger base - its small differences like this which can prove decisive! Also, one box ofthese and you were set up for l ife with 6 different colours and action poses. What more could you want?

(-) I cannot think of any serious negatives with these

70s Springy Keepers (+) I cannot think of any positives at all with these!

(-) They just wobbled on the end of the spring which made them hard to control and the keeper kept falling off of attachedspring. These were probably the worst keepers Subbuteo ever made, and they didnt do what they were supposed to

80s LW goalkeepers (+) The more upright pose with arms stretched above their heads meant that these keepers were bettershot-stoppers with both a greater horizontal and vertical reach. Easy to remove from bases, you just pull out the plug toreplace a broken keeper and pop in a new one!

(-) Glossy machine painted kit not as good looking as the previous ones and most of them have drab colours like grey/black

& dark green/black. Only available in one pose, which was the vertical type. The keepers bodies are long and thindisproportionately so!

Hasbro Photoreal Keepers (+) The player itself is about twice the width of previous LWs and considerably talleran advantage for both horizontal and vertical saves. They are the only keepers to have the players name on; it doesnt getmore realistic than that!

(-) Pity about the handle design, which makes the end of the rod almost impossible to grip properly. Some would also claimthat returning to flat figures is a retrograde step but theyre of far better quality plastic than their 1940s60s predecessors.

So who would get your vote? All things considered Id probably go with the 80s LW types that stood up to everything thatwas flicked at them for about 20 years, whether from Zombies LWs or Hasbros. I grew up with these and theyve served mewell since I began playing in the late 80s. Maybe in the end it comes down to what youre used to and feel comfortable with??

lex Isman

Fantastic! Ive just landed the job of Managing Director here at Hasbro PLC. Apart from the 120K a year, which Im sure willbe very handy, Im overjoyed because I can now implement some serious improvements to the company. Many of these willdirectly concern our Subbuteo department, which I intend to upgrade in view of its enormous potential. Here is what I proposewith immediate effect.

I consider boxed sets to be of the utmost importance and so a Euro 2008 edition will be launched straightaway. This willcontain 2 teams (the host nation & current holders), goals, balls, pitch and a miniature trophy. The cost will be just 25.00 as Ithink it is important to introduce newcomers to the game at an affordable price and then attract them to our other items as theybecome hooked.

With this in mind I propose a new range of 3D teams in boxes like those they sold the Italian ones in, all different colours

depending on those worn by the team. There will be a full Premiership range and a full Calcio range too for our numerousclients in Italy. The top 5 or 6 teams of some other European leagues will also be featured, as will some South American teamsplus a dozen or so prominent International sides. I envisage a total of about 100 new teams going into production as fromNovember 1st 2006, while future plans include a Euro 2008 Qualifiers series in special boxes, available from January 2008.

Accessories will be relaunched and already there are some ideas in the pipeline. I quite liked those statuettes from way back,and imagine what extra detail you could put onto them these days! A logbook for recording scores and fixtures would also behandy and so is a serious contender. On the actual playing side, there will be Corner Kickers and Throwers for thoseall-important set pieces plus revamped goals, balls, fences and flags. Some new-style pitches are also in the offing, made ofbaize and with different patterns like you see at most grounds these days (light & darker green stripes across the pitch being themost common). Undoubtedly, a redesigned grandstand will be coming out at some stage as I hear these are very popular, alongwith spectators at affordable prices to fill them gradually. A modern-looking scoreboard is also long overdue I dont countthat thing which hung from the dome of the Dream Stadium Edition as a scoreboard!

On this point, many of those formerly in charge of the Subbuteo department have been relocated to other divisions of HasbroPLC and replaced by specialists who know more about the sport of soccer and who are in touch with public demand for thisminiature replica of the real game. However, some of their ideas of the past 10 years will be retained, such as the extra(substitute) player in each team which Im sure people will recognise as one of our companys better initiatives.

The rules will be rewritten, based on those which made Subbuteo so popular but with a few essential updates. Skills such asspinning as well as sliding will be catered for and we hope our new players base designs will reflect this. The importance ofhaving a rulebook which is both thorough (for the serious player) without being off-putting to beginners cannot be exaggerated!A return to the 2-tier Elementary and Advanced system is therefore a distinct possibility, and in an attractive brochureillustrated with clear colour diagrams where necessary. Any tweaks to the rules, suggested to us by our new army of players,will be made in annually revised versions of the brochure. In the future we hope to create Hasbro-sponsored leagues with themajor tournaments being played at prestigious venues.

My aim is to raise the profile of the game to attract those currently unaware of our products existence. I shall thereforedesignate a substantial sum of money to promoting Subbuteo on both the TV and in the press. Celebrity players have beenrecruited for our publicity campaign, which we will be intensifying in the run-up to Xmas so that all youngsters are aware ofwhat is on offer. There will be brochures produced by our advertising department to show all our latest releases, availableseparately as well as being included in box sets, and these will include colour charts of all the teams plus photos of theaccessories in our new extended range. The main thing is to keep Subbuteo present in the High Street shops from now on sothat it becomes an instantly-recognisable name once again. I believe there is enough general interest in soccer for this to bepossible, and in this way we can win back some of the computer games market.

I hope that members of the Subbuteo fraternity will appreciate these efforts. Having signed a 5-year contract I can guaranteethat the game is in safe hands until at least 2011. I will be aiming to restore Subbuteo to i ts former glory and establish it asHasbros flagship product. If success is achieved via soccer we can then look at relaunching some of Subbuteos other classicsports games andwho knowsmaybe even some new ones! You will be hearing more about these projects in due course butI must now attend a meeting in order to make the above announcements.

The golden days are still ahead!

an J oley

Hello, this is Ian Jolley, the new Managing Director of Hasbro PLC


4/6

I cant believe it! I won a competition and have been invited to a kind of Supermarket Sweep, Subbuteo-style!Theyve now cleared the supermarket, thats the good news, but 2 minutes is all I have - which way shall I go??Looks like the shelf stacker has had an off day or Id have a route worked out easily, but theyve gone and putthe Hasbros next to the Newfooty! Have they no historical perspective? And then weve got soccer accessories

on the other side of the shop to the general accessories.it must have been the trainee who did this lot!!!

Well never mind, Ive got my trolley on the starting grid (S) and I reckon I can blitz round this place getting a

dozen or so rare OHWs (if I can find them with the pressure on), drag about a hundred packs of flats off theshelf as I dash by and still have time to grab a Munich before sprinting to the finish (F) in just under the allottedtime. Thats assuming my mental trial run goes to plan.Id hate to get there too early and feel cheated not to

have got more, but thats better than arriving too late and being disqualified!

Unfortunately, anything that spills out of your trolley is not allowed and I dont think it will hold many teams

with a Munich Edition also in there. On the other hand, there are no other rivals in the shop so its a clear run.This could make or break my collecting career because lets face it, some of this stuff will never be seen

againespecially FREEso Ive got to be on top form for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Ive been toldthat every item Subbuteo ever made is in the shop, some of them in multiples, and that everything is stacked inthe correct orderthat should make life a bit easier! Just waiting for the whistle now.thats it, here we go!!!!

My legs almost turn to jelly as I set off but this is instantly overcome by the adrenaline rush.

A quick sprint to my right and then up the 60s row where I try to remain calm as I seek my main wants.

I think I got most of them but no more time to lose. Luckily, the flats are directly opposite so no detour requiredas I sweep them on board. Oh, no!!! The small cellophane packs are spilling out through the holes in the grid ofmy trolley but I cant stop because the first minute is almost up! Turning left, I can now see the Boxed Sets onthe horizon. Aagghh, the Munichs right at the far end so Im almost in the top left corner as you look at thediagram, but still ahead of the clock with about 40 seconds remaining. But waitchange of plan! Ive just seen

the EPNS Cups in the Soccer Accessories section and make a split-second decision to go for these instead!

I now double back and with 15 seconds left Im right by the Finishing Line, next to the 80s sets. Hey, is that a

Sport Billy over there? Yes, Ill have that, along with an Indoor Edition to fill up my trolley. Oof! Just made itin time and there goes the final whistle, barely 3 seconds after I cross the line. Voices in my head are sayingshould I have gone for the World of Sport? and that was a nice-looking Cricket Floodlight set etc... etc..,

but overall Im extremely pleased with my run which went almost exactly to plan - what a fantastic day!!!

S

F Boxed Sets 1947 to 1979 Boxed Sets 1980 onwards

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Newfooty

Welcome to theRoss Hateley Subbuteo Sweep

I went into my attic to fetch some Subbuteo in July of this year and to light the place up I have a lamp whichis basically a 100W bulb with a plastic grid around it. I then came down, leaving the lamp on top of afolded-up 70s felt pitch and went about my business as usual. Approximately 20 minutes later I could smella vague scorched sort of odour but thought no more of it, and then became aware of it again whenreturning to the bedroom maybe 10 minutes afterwards. This time the scorching smell was stronger butonce more I could find no source and so left again, but only to return when the smell (which by this time

could be smelt in the next room) got too strong to ignore and was accompanied by a faint crackling sound.Furthermore, upon my return to the trapdoor in the bedroom I could see signs of smoke seeping out andknew instantly what had happened....there was a fire in the attic!!!

I poked my head up through the open trapdoor and immediately saw a pitch on fire. The worrying thing wasthat if it spread to all those boxed sets the whole lot would go up within seconds so there was no time tolose. I shouted to my wife to bring a bucket of water but then realised we had electricity involved so Iinstead grabbed the bedspread and smothered the pitch which was giving off a hell of a lot of smoke andflames by now. I thought either this would contain the flames or make things worse by the bedspread alsocatching fire, but luckily by repeatedly thumping the padded quilt I was able to stifle the fire beforedragging it out of the attic and stamping on it several times. By this time my wife had arrived with abucketful of water which she threw on it just for good measure.

There was a fair bit of mess to clear up afterwards and a bit of expense involved too but this was nothingcompared to what the cost might have been had my Subbuteo collection gone up in smoke and taken thehouse with it! There was some damage to the boards Id laid in the attic just a few weeks beforehand, but

apart from this we're only talking about the (minimal) price of a pitch, a new bedspread and a replacementlamp because the old one had black melted plastic all over the bulb where the outer plastic case meltedonto it. To be honest I was surprised how much heat was generated by these things, but shouldn't havebeen because if you ever touch a lightbulb you'll know how hot these things get! Looking back it was prettydaft of me to have left it for so long on top of something as combustible as a felt pitch when I usually hang itup to the ceiling via a hook. The problem was that I was too engrossed in what I was doing with mySubbuteo to think of this at the time.

During the incident I sustained some light burns to the wrist when tackling the pitch fire and then touchedthe lamp with the same hand for good measure, burning a couple of fingers on the naked bulb, so my righthand was in the wars a bit. You tend to do clumsy things on the spur of the moment when you have toreact instinctively, but I dread to think what would have happened if I'd have stopped to think for even just10 seconds. I'm sure that the flames, which were quite high and easily capable of reaching the cardboardsets in close proximity, would have triggered off a chain reaction beginning with the nearbyStadium Edition. After this there were another 20 or so large cardboard boxes to feed the fire which wouldhave been out of control in no time! Fortunately, my burns turned out to be superficial and have to allintents now disappeared - a major relief!

I suppose the moral of the story is that fire alarms save lives and property (including Subbuteo collections!)and in the 2 months since this incident I've had some installed. It was a sobering experience to be honestand every time I go up into the attic now I appreciate my collection that little bit more. I realise I'm lucky notonly to have found some of this stuff in the first place but to have managed to keep it intact because muchof it would have been irreplaceable. I think it may also be time to add the Subbuteo collection onto thehouse insurance, which is something I'm looking into at present.

I have never heard of anyone else getting into a similar predicament but hope this tale will serve as anadvanced warning, plus maybe provide some entertainment to r eaders. I'm just glad they can all readabout it in this magazine r ather than in some local/national newspaper under the headline"Subbuteo collector sets fire to house".phew!!!

FIRE!!!

Mark Bannock


5/6

Whenever I have a HW base that doesnt go with the other 9 in the team I change it and swap the player into the new b ase.This can be done for several reasons.

*The base lettering is not the same

*The base is damaged in some way (this i ncludes serious warping, which often happened with certain co lours!)*The player is not glued in straight - this will not require a new base, just a removal and reglue*The flat area on the bottom i s noticeably different to the others in the team*There is a rattling washer - often remedied by removing the player and squirting a decent amount o f glue into the slot

.and for many other reasons Im sure, but those above are the most common ones I encounter.

Sometimes you have to weigh up the situation and decide if its wo rth doing though. For example dont even think about

trying to remove a late 70s player from a base if that ultra-strong Superglue has been used. You will not be able to removethese players from their bases no matter what you do! On the other hand, 60s HWs are a d oddle with that brown g lue thatwas usually used and many of the early 70s teams still used it. Most y ou will find are somewhere between the two extremes.

So, having decided to go for it the first task is to remove the p layer. Boiling water will normally loosen the g lue, and thenyou can sometimes just lift the player out. On other occasions you will have to remove the glue around the players feet ifits been used liberally, and for this I use a very sharp blade and slide i t under the glue. It will then come off in one piece.

If the bases future is unimportant and you can afford to write it off, putting a Stanley kn ife into the slot and levering the barout is an option.

Whichever method you use, removing the p layer often entails removing the paint from a players boots (due to t he originalglue being applied over the boot) so before reinserting these its best to repaint them, not forgetting to do so underneath t he

boot as well! This means a delay but it is well worth it. If you are going to replace the player into the same base then youmay be able to put it back into exactly the same holes left by its removal (assuming all the glue didnt come away, there willstill be a couple of indents where the feet were) One thing for sure is that it will slide back into the original slot however, asit has already been in th ere once.

But now we come onto how to replace the player into anotherbase. Well for a start you need t o check that the bar wil lactually fit as not all b ases are the same size, undergoing a change in d iameter during the seventies. Having found some thatthe bars will go into without too much difficulty I then fetch the polystyrene cement, which is as close as Ive found to 70sglue and the main advantage is that if youre unhappy with the result you can remove it again due to it not being too strong.I would advise against using Superglue because if you get any on the base inners it literally burns the paint and leaves a

white mark before very long which you w ill never get rid of. You might get away with it if the inner is white but for othercolours youre taking a big risk!

As for applying the glue, my own personal method is to squirt it into the slot on the base, going along the full length.You can get some tubes with a very fine nozzle which are ideal for doin g this and it will leave less surplus glue on the baseinner by ensuring that most of the glue goes downwardswhen the players bar is inserted. Y ou can apply it as generously as

you like as long as its going into the base, and this is also a good method for curing rattling washers without removing theinner! I dont usually put glue o nto the players bar because it can come squelching up out of the slot again, especially ifapplied too heavily and in my opinion polystyrene cement does NOT look like 70s glue when its all over the base inner

after drying.

I then press down on the p layers head and shoulders which distributes the pressure and often suffices to get him in. If more

pressure is required you can press on both sides of the bar at the same time but this can get glue on your fingers. If one sideof the bar is still being difficult the maybe youll have to use a tool of some kind to press it in, but be careful! By pressingonto the sides of a bar y ou can make them slope down towards the ends, especially as a certain amount of force is usually

required, and this is a sure sign that the bar has been reglued into the slot! Never press onto the part of the bar between theplayers legs though because this will make it snap in the middle!

I have now done around 50 players in this way and can vouch for the success of this method. You just have to weigh upwhether its worth doing or not, and may decide that if its an ultra-rare team the risk isnt worth it. You CAN mess upbecause theres always an element of risk and it only takes one slip of the scalpel, but I just feel better knowing that all my

teams have identical bases, even at the expense of them not allbeing the original ones.

So we then enter a grey area because yo u could say a team which has been improved in this way has been restored.

For me, restoring HWs just involves the players themselves but I can accept this viewpoint. You could maintain (quitehonestly) that the player himself has not b een restored, but most would consider the player to be t he whole lot including

the base. Its another of those controversial issues which HWs in particular seem to attract, but thats all p art of their charm.But would I buy a 70s HW which I knew had been enhanced by replacing a base or two?Now, that really is a tough one!!!

RE-BASING HEAVYWEIGHT PLAYERS (The Geoff Sibbald way)

Whenever I play Subbuteo these days I do so with my retro Leeds teams. I have 6 of them altogether, these are :-(1) 1961-65 seasonsAn OHW ref. 21 (2) 1965-71 seasonsA HW ref. 21 with a little blue dot for the badge

(3) 1971-73, a HW #21 with a blue diagonal line as a badge (4) 1973-76, a HW #21 with a yellow dot. With ref. 21sbeing so cheap I can afford loads, and for the Away kits I keep it simple, using either an OHW or HW ref. 47,depending on the season, which are teams (5) & (6). I then pit them against other famous teams from the same era.

My favourite period was the early 1970s and here is the 4-4-2 line-up which I prefer to play with.

SPRAKE

REANEY - CHARLTON - HUNTER - COOPER

LORIMER - BREMNER - GILES - GRAY

JONES - CLARKE

Gary Sprake the keeper wears a green shirt in the 70s tradition when all keepers wore green, and after sliding his

rod into the goal I prepare my outfield players. They look a great sight as I line them all up on the baize, neatlyspacing them in 3 rows for the kick-off. Over the years I have built up squads of all the teams mentioned above toallow for breakages and substitutes, even including 14 ref. 47 OHWs, and I have put the official black Subbuteo

numbers onto their backs. Because these can be difficult to see I have also used the Subbuteo gummed labels withthe round red numbers on them and added these to the backs of the base inners, but neither version will do anydamage to the player and can be easily removed.

So what happens when I play? Well, Im not a great player but I know what my aim is and thats to play like LeedsUnited circa 1973. I try and recreate the real-life moves we used to see at Elland Road back in the glory era when

my Dad took me to see my boyhood heroes! As soon as the game kicks off I focus not so much on my opponent buton my own game, knowing in advance what I am trying to achieve and striving to achieve it regardless of anythingelse. For me, thats the beauty of Subbuteo as opposed to what they call Table Soccer these days. With Subbuteoyou can play your players in positions which correspond(ed) to their true role and thus recreate real situations.

If my #3 Terry Cooper gets the ball for example hell go off on a bit of a dribble up the wing, and my #11 will bespinning all over the place as well in true Eddie Gray fashion. My two centre-backs #s 5 and 6, Charlton & Hunter,

are no-nonsense defenders who will stop attacks by any means. Then they hoof the ball upfield - nothing fancy -aiming for Mick Jones, my traditional #9 target man whilst #8 Allan Sniffer Clarke plays just alongside him,always in the business zone looking for a half-chance and hes my top goalscorer as Subbuteo replicates real life!On the other hand, if its my #7 Peter Lorimer who gets the ball hell just launch rockets at goal from any angle as

only he could! Then theres my Bremner/Giles midfield combo, constantly harassing opponents and getting in thoseblocking flicks as soon as danger approaches, and if it gets serious theres always Paul Reaney at #2 to save the day- he had the reputation of clearing balls off the line and so I always stick him on the post for corners and other

dangerous setpieces.

So as you can see, each of my 00 scale replicas has his unique style of play just like his real-life 70s counterpart.Do I care if I win lose or draw? Not one jot!! Im trying to win but as long as I can get in all my moves Im thrilledto bits and will judge the games quality on this alone. To me, the fun is in the nostalgia/escapism aspect of it all soan ideal game is one where my #2 clears one off the line, my #7 scores with a cannon shot and #6 Norman Hunter

gets booked just like in th e good old days!! And if Gary Sprake (brilliant Welsh International keeper, but ratheraccident-prone:-) drags the ball into his net for an own goal then no problem. thats an authentic bonus!

I have recently taken to studying all of the Leeds formations from 1961 to 1976, mainly on the Internet, and- depending on the year of the team Im playing with - will vary my approach accordingly. Its become quite ascience in fact, requiring a lot of research before going into each match in order to get the tactics just right. My sons(8 and 10) both indulge me and Im grateful to them for that, although Ive been told numerous times to tone downthe commentary. Poor lads, theyve never seen a Leeds team to rival the one above so they cant understand theexcitement they generate. Maybe when weve rejoined the Premiership elite next season

Formations of the past

Jim

Headley


6/6

Dark-skinned H/W Goalkeepers restorationOne of the most common problems when buying bulks of spare players or j ob lots of teams is replacing boxes and goalkeepers.

Fixing the first problem is now easy thanks to the H/W replica boxes, and for those of us who cannot (or do not want) afford the

expense for repro boxes there are many good suggestions on how creating them in the wonderful Replica Box Project arti cle by

Pete Marshall in Issue #8 of this magazine. The latter problem has a more difficult resolution, since it cannot be handled by repro

GKs, at least if you are trying to seriously collect H/W teams!

I think everyone of us has some spare H/W original GKs to complete teams that need their Dino Zoff or Gordon Banks

(or whatever name you like :-) defending the net. It is possible acquiring some of these rodded GKs both from double teams and

directly on the Internet (mainly via eBay auctions). As a last resort, you can also borrow one of those old-looking Zeugo GKs and

use it in play, but this isnt a good idea if youre trying to amass a serious H/W collection.

However, the true problem seems to surface when the missing GK is one from the dark-skinned teams that we all love and own I

mean the quite common ones like exquisite Brazil, classic Uruguay, Argentina and Chile (or even Haiti and Zaire, if you love

World Cup teams like myself), and also more rare refs like Penarol, Fluminense, Cruzeiro, or any other kit from the attractive

294 302 range.

It is nearly impossible to find spare dark-skinned GKs, since the african/south american teams are just a fraction of the complete

Subbuteo list and many of them are amongst the rarest kits to find I recently managed to get a wonderful Penarol side, and will

love many others of the range, but they are extremely difficult to find and fetches very high prices. For the lucky guys out there

who have a box full of H/W Brazil sides, the problem will never surface, since they can obtain GKs from double teams, but for the

majority of others including myself this is a quite annoying question.

Having recently obtained a job lot of spares H/W GKs, Ive used them to replace broken and/or repainted GKs from my own H/W

collection. Amongst the others, I needed 5 dark-skinned GKs and I had only one in the lot, so I found myself in a big trouble. All

my teams were now completely OK, with no reglued players nor GKs, but four sides were still without their No. 1 players. After a

quick check, I found that 2 GKs were dark-skinned players but badly shattered at the ankles, while the other 2 sides had standard

white-skinned H/W GKs.

As a rule of thumb, Ive decided to do not waste or throw away any broken dark-skinned GK, since they are too difficult to replace.

Preferring to complete the team with an original reglued GK rather than a repainted one, I patiently cleaned off all the excess glue

and then fixed both GKs in a neat manner, so they can at least take their place in the box without being too unpleasant at first sight.

But what happens when you dont ever have an original GK along with the team? After a long thought, Ive decided (again due to

pure aesthetic reasons) to take my already repainted GKs and transform them in suitable replacements until I can find some

original dark-skinned GKs. I understand that this is quite questionable from a pure collecting point of view, but try to consider my

suggestion as a temporary emergency replacement until you can find a suitable GK. After all, I think that sides with no GK at all or

with a repainted one are on the same level on a pure collectable scale. I strongly suggest using only original H/W GKs that have

been already repainted by someone else (I hope you wont ruin them repainting original ones!), that often are found in team boxes.

You do not ever need to strip them blank, just go along and paint them over old colours and I assure you wont have problems.

About the colours used, I try to recreate kits usually used also by Subbuteo in the 70s, so I limit myself to the following: blue, red,

green, yellow and white shirts and matching socks, with either black or white shorts. Since I use colours from the Citadel range

(produced by Games Workshop), I will include a list of exact paints I commonly utilize:

Blue shirt & socks = Regal Blue

Red shirt & socks = Scab Red

Green shirt & socks = Catachan Green

Yellow shirt & socks (*) = Golden Yellow

White shirt & socks (**) = Skull White

Black shorts = Chaos Black White shorts = Skull White

If you love try experimenting, you can also give a chance to these rather uncommon kits (Im unsure if those combos were actually

used by Subbuteo, so I avoid them even if I love the all black kit, like that worn by the legendary Lev Yashin):

Light Blue shirt & socks (*) = Ice Blue

Blac k s hi rt & so ck s (** *) = C ha os B lac k

(*) To achieve a brighter effect, when over painting dark colours is best to apply a layer of Skull White and then Golden

Yellow or Ice Blue.

(**) As far as Im aware, all white shirted GKs always have white shorts, so avoid painting black shorts when using this

kit.

(***) Use only black shorts when painting this kit. Well, this kit is now officially included in the official ones, since Ive

just discovered one original H/W GK in all-black suit in a new sealed Ref. 504 hybrid Monza recently bought, so no

more doubt this kit was also painted by Subbuteo workers.

As a rule of thumb, it is always better to repaint using a colour shade that is similar to or darker than the original one present on the

GK, to achieve a more neat result. Eventually, apply a layer of Skull White over the original paint and then apply the shade you

have chosen for new kit. If you apply a brighter colour over a darker one without first using white primer, you will obtain a messy

colour which seems dirt and unappealing.

For the skin tone, you can either use Dark Flesh or Scorched Brown (I prefer the latter, which has a darker tone more close to that

originally used by Subbuteo painters). The final retouches to hairs & boots are little more than just a splashy bit of Chaos Black.

Since GKs do not have any trim, you just need to paint plain shirts, shorts & socks, so is a rather simple task to achieve a decent

result. Also, you have the possibility to choose a shirt colour that matches the outfield players or the base colours I recently

painted in Scab Red a Brazil GK for a team in claret outer base, with a good overall looking.

If you prefer to use classic Humbrol Matt paints, you can check the comprehensive article by Paul Wilkinson in Issue #10 of this

magazine to find the info youll need about mixing colours to obtain accurate tints matching those of the 70s.

Obviously, this solution is to be considered temporary, until you manage to get some original H/W dark-skinned GKs to complete

your sides, but still this is a rather interesting and simple method to obtain decent results (with no collection value) and keep anoverall good-looking team while waiting for original stuff. Just a five minutes paint, about 15 minutes to let colours dry and youll

have a nice and quasi-original dark-skinned GK to complete your hardly-earned and beloved team!

By Joe Myhill

TYPE SLIDING SPINNING CHIPPING POWER BALANCE

Flat (64%) 2 5 3 2 3.5

Moulded (68%) 3.5 4 3 3 3.5

60s/70s HW (64%) 3 4 3 3 3

Zombie/LW (58%) 2.5 4 3 2.5 2.5

Hasbro 90s (70%) 5 1 5 2.5 5

Cobra (68%) 4 3 1 5 4

Sidewinder (44%) 1 5 1 2 2

I have now tested all types of bases used for Subbuteo teams over the years to see how they perform and recorded

my findings on the table below. Since Im not used to playing with some of them this could have influenced theoutcome so I must emphasize that the results refer only to mypersonal experiences. Still, Im sure youll find some

of the results surprising, such as the victory for 90s Hasbro teams which had the most playable bases in my opinion.

Teams which to all intents had identical bases have been bracketed together to prevent repetition and the marks are

given from 1 (poor) up to 5 (excellent) based on my 5 chosen criteria. I think Ive covered all the main ones, a nd byBALANCE I mean the ability of the players to remain upright when flicked - perhaps the most important feature!So, here are the stats .

By Gianmatteo Tonci ([email protected] http://it.geocities.com/tosattearp)

The Subbuteo Base Challenge

Subbuteo Club Magazine Mag15

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