There are many excellent Subbuteo reference and tribute sites on the net, two of the most comprehensive being
Little Plastic Men and
Peter Upton's tribute site. The following information is taken from these (and other) sources.
The Name 'Subbuteo'
Originally it was to be called 'The Hobby', but for legal reasons this name could not be registered. It was found however, that the Latin name for the 'Hobby' bird is Falco Subbuteo… and from there onwards, 'Subbuteo' was born..
Player Types
There have been many player developments since Subbuteo was introduced in the 1940s. Below is a brief summary of the player types.
The flat teams were the first teams to be produced, in four different forms using card and celluloid from the 1947 first sets and were the form Subbuteo took throughout the 1950s. The players are taller than the later OO scale teams, and the bases are smaller. This results in a playing piece that has lovely balance and touch. The figures continued to be sold into the OO scale era until the early 1970s, and were the preferred playing pieces of the serious tournament players up to the mid 1980s.
Early or short sleeved heavyweight figures were the first OO scale figures to be produced, and are poorly detailed with a strange posture, and a rather flat appearance. They fit to the base with a bar and slot fitting (copying the flats). Only available from 1961 to sometime around 1967-68, they had been superceded by the mid 1960s, and don't go any higher than 55 in the number chart (although the named 1966 World Cup teams were also produced in this figure).
The classic heavyweight (HW) figure was designed by Charles Stadden. This improved HW figure arrived around 1967, and was the standard Subbuteo footballer until the end of the 1970s. Like the short sleeved heavyweight, this figure was attached to the base by a thin bar. Both HW versions were hand painted by Subbuteo outworkers in the Tunbridge Wells area. The figure was phased out in 1980 and 1981, and the old stock used up at that time. This means that teams up to 322 were in the heavyweight era, but teams to 359, plus 501-509 can also turn up in this figure.
Zombies were a derogatory term for these unloved figures - so called because they are so lifeless and lacking in detail. The figures are fitted to the base on a peg, and can be machine, or hand painted. They were produced between 1977 and 80, which was the end of the HW era, and they never quite managed to replace that figure. With the Zombie conceded as a near fatal mistake for the game, 1980 saw a hastily redesigned new figure.
Lightweights were test marketed in various regions of the UK in 1980 and the lightweight was introduced to the public at large in the 1981 catalogue. Once again, they are on a peg, but this time the figure is much more detailed with bent knees like a heavyweight, but in a much finer, lighter design. These figures are usually machine painted, but hand-painted ones appeared for the first year or two of production. The figure is the only one produced from 1981 to 1996, and the player itself is still used on Hasbro teams.
After much speculation and anticipation, Hasbro released a new figure and two base designs in early 2005. They say things go round in circles and it seems that the Subbuteo footballer is no exception with this latest offering, which has reverted back to a flat two dimensional style similar to the early celluloid 1960's figures. The photo real players are no longer sold in single teams and are now sold in sealed packets containing a random selection of players from different clubs, which means there is the extra enjoyment of 'swapping your doubles' during lunch break to make up complete squads so that you can eventually play a game.
A reprieve for 'Subbuteo'
There were rumours in December 1999 that Hasbro would wield the axe on the Subbuteo brand following that Christmas, and indeed Hasbro announced a ceasing of production in January 2000. Perhaps surprisingly, Subbuteo's sad demise made it big in the news, being featured on all major TV channels in Britain. Whether this was intended by Hasbro as a publicity stunt remains open to debate, but it did create a large backlash, and Hasbro were so overwhelmed by the response that they reversed their decision and granted Subbuteo a stay of execution. Their new Subbuteo game was released early in 2005. The new version is called "photo-real" Subbuteo and features flat plastic players with the faces of real footballers. The players are from eight top European sides, and feature in their club kits. You don't buy full teams, but instead receive a random assortment of players. The colour of the base differentiates the two teams (red or blue). It is a radical redesign, but will it succed?.
