After several years of neglect at the end of the 1990s, the new century has seen renewed interest in Subbuteo. New rumours seem to be forever flying around regarding production of the game. 

There have been a couple of false starts already. Hasbro's new range of 2001 was small, exclusive to Toys-R-Us, and seemed to lack any support at all. In 2002-03 it was the turn of Subbuteo's old Italian importers Edilio Parodi. They produced an attractive box set, backed by a large range of teams and some interesting accessories. However, the production seemed relatively small-scale, perhaps inevitably based on the fact that the teams were hand-painted. My Italian friends tell me that the box sets sold out pretty quickly in Italian toy shops. Trouble was, they were not seen very often. 

This page is designed to list the new box sets, teams and accessories to be released by  Hasbro, Edilio Parodi,or anyone else. 

Hasbro.

As mentioned in my Subbuteo history, large US games company Hasbro became the producers of Subbuteo when they acquired previous manufacturers Waddingtons in 1995. Sadly Subbuteo was already under pressure at this time and Hasbro's initial period in charge of the game saw a steady fall in the number of products and teams produced. 

Hasbro finally announced that it was pulling the plug on production in January 2000. This created a backlash that seemed to catch Hasbro by surprise, and also kick started Subbuteo as a collectable item. Hasbro reversed their decision, and eventually produced a new range of three box sets and ten teams. This range was sold exclusively through Toys-R-Us (and Hasbro's own website). This small scale distribution, coupled with bad timing (arriving in some Toys-R-Us on Xmas Eve 2000) and a lack of decent advertising, meant that the new range didn't set the world on fire and was quietly dropped. 

However, 2002-03 saw Hasbro become interested in Subbuteo as a brand. It is after all, a recognizable and well loved football related "name" especially among the high income thirty-something bracket. So far, they've been content to use the logo on a diverse range of products such as clothing from Next, mobile phone games, pub quiz games and suchlike. They even licensed the name to another football game - a very slight affair where the player dressed his or her hand up in a little football kit. They also allowed Budweiser to produce a five-a-side version for a World Cup promotion in 2002.

The 2005 "photo-real" Subbuteo Range by Hasbro.

Hasbro's new game has now reached the shops, and is very much a new spin on the old game. It has to be said that the view within the playing and collecting communities has been luke-warm at best, and mostly down-right dismissive, which I'll deal with elsewhere.

The main innovation is the "photo-real" players. Supplied on cards, the flat players feature the names and faces of modern football stars. These can be collected and swapped like football stickers, the idea being that you can assemble a dream team of top players. Perhaps in keeping with real life, Subbuteo has joined the cult of celebrity, where individual players are more important than the clubs they play for.

The range consists of a full box set called "the dream team stadium" priced at £29.99, plus extra skills academy packs at £4.99 each. The stadium edition features a random selection of players, with more being available in the skills sets. The eight teams involved are Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Valencia. There were rumours during the last year that Hasbro were having trouble getting a licence from Real Madrid, and they are a notable absense. The game is using the appeal of the Champions League. Partly because the Premiership licence was too expensive, but also because of European coverage on terrestrial TV (and the fact that the game can therefore also be sold in Italy and Spain). Liverpool winning the European Cup, and the appearance of Chelsea and the Milan sides in the semi-finals must have been a bonus for Hasbro. 

The  full edition features on a "Focus On... Photo-Real Subbuteo page,

2006 Developments.

I'll start with the new box sets. It's immediately obviously that Hasbro/MB Games are trying something a little different here. It shows that they are not confident in Subbuteo selling itself as a simple football game. (unlike all the other manufacturers on this page then). The Urban Arena is an attempt to cash in on the whole Street Football thing. Whilst poor kids the world over have always played football in the street, or in small urban venues, the whole skate park look always seems a bit contrived when applied to football games (electronic or otherwise). There was a Street football event at the World Cup, but that didn't look convincing either. Perhaps it is all a bit too American, when football is really anything but American. Meanwhile, the "Trivia Shoot Out" has a bigger box, but a cheaper price tag. The game involves questions on cards, and a narrow skills course to work through.

Whilst the new sets are definitely the headline act, there has been a few quiet changes to the original photo-real sets. Firstly, two new teams have been added to the range. These are Roma and Benfica. In addition to this, the whole range of cards has been updated with new players and kits. Admittedly, these are still running a bit behind the real thing (i.e. Arsenal are in their Highbury farewell strip) but it's a nice development nonetheless. Another welcome addition are the small packs of player cards. These feature twelve players (on  four cards) plus a ball and two special bases for £2.99. It's cheaper than having to keep buying the training packs.

The only place I found that had the full range of  photo-real Subbuteo is www.footieshop.co.uk. They also had the classic Subbuteo crackers for sale. Oh, and lots of other mad football related stuff as well. Sadly, stocks seem to be depleted, and it looks like Hasbro are not making any more booster packs. Has Subbuteo production ceased once again?

See Photoreal Subbuteo 2005-07 for more details.

The Italian Subbuteo Partwork.

Any visit to a newsagent in the UK will reveal a few magazine partworks. In the old days, these magazines would collect into a big reference book, but now the magazine is secondary to the cover mounts. They all follow a similar pattern. The first part is sold cheaply to generate interest. Then the next half dozen or more are offered to the news trade as "sale or return" and displayed prominently to obtain orders. After that, the partwork disappears from the shelves, but the magazine continues to be sold to those who have placed an order for it. In the UK, we have certainly seen a few "toy collectable" partworks, notably diecast vehicles, trains and model soldiers. The most recent examples have been tanks, tractors, and the James Bond car collection. However, the majority of UK partworks these days seem to be for young children or provide episodes of long running TV series on DVD.

Visiting toy collector fairs though, it is obvious that the collector partworks are much more popular in France and Italy. I'd often thought that Subbuteo would make a good partwork. The magazine could feature a different team every month, with the relevant Subbuteo side as a covermount. So it is no real surprise to see an Italian partwork do just that.

Licensed by Hasbro, this is a weekly partwork spread over 40 issues. The price is 9.90 euros for each one. The teams are national sides, and I've been told that the first fifteen released would be as follows:-

Brazil 1970, Italy 2006, Argentina 1986, France 1998, West Germany 1974, Uruguay 1950, England 1966, Denmark 1992, Italy 1934, Spain 2008, Holland 1974, Soviet Union 1960, Hungary 1954, Italy 1982 and Czechoslovakia 1976.

In some releases, as well as getting a team, there will be an accessories such as a goals, balls, benches etc. There is a coupon with each release and if you collect 30 coupons you will get a professional pitch for free, thus allowing the collector to build up a fully functioning Subbuteo set as well as a team collection. The teams are based on the lightweight figure of the 1980s, and the boxes are also similar to the 1980s display box design (except with plastic inners).

The official website is http://www.edicolafabbri.it/Opere/Minisiti/60190/opera.html

Marks and Spencer 2009.

I will admit that this range was a welcome surprise, when it arrived for Christmas 2009. Using items originally produced for the Italian partwork, in a lovely retro-style box, this brand new box set retailed at £30, and was backed up by a range of Subbuteo branded items, clearly aimed at adults and collectors. The sets sold out really quickly, and I am under the impression that Marks and Spencer had seriously underestimated demand.

See the Marks and Spencer Set page for more details.

Other Table Soccer Developments.

The renewed interest in Subbuteo/table soccer in both playing and collecting circles has meant that although Hasbro have the official licence, they are not the only company making Subbuteo compatible equipment. With the new Subbuteo clearly aimed at kids rather than current players or collectors, it allows amble room for other companies to share the market. See Subbuteo clones for more details of alternate table soccer sets.

Edilio Parodi snc

Edilio Parodi snc, are an Italian toy and game company based in Genova. They were responsible for importing Subbuteo into Italy from the 1970s. Towards the end of the 1990s, Hasbro stopped supplying Parodi, who then continued to cater for the large Italian Table Soccer fan base by producing their own version of the game called Zëugo. This table soccer set used hand painted teams based on the classic heavyweight figure that had proved so popular in Italy in the 1970s. In 2002 Edilio Parodi received a licence to produce new Subbuteo items, once again for the Italian market. This resulted in a new box set,  accessory range, and a large number of teams. In December 2003 it was announced that Hasbro were not renewing the Parodi licence for 2004, but the licence was extended first to June, and then December 2004 as the launch date for Hasbro's new game was adjusted.

With the ending of their agreement with Hasbro, Parodi shifted their Chinese workforce back to Zëugo production, and a new range of teams was produced for that game. When it was first announced, this range was to feature some previously unseen teams such as Arsenal 2nd (illustrated with the lovely, but dated two-tone blue kit from 2003), Valencia 2nd (orange with black trim), Vasco de Gama, and Werder Bremen (their odd orange and green strip), along with more familiar fare. However, as the Subbuteo licence survived into 2004, some of these teams were added to the Subbuteo range instead (with a more up-to-date Arsenal 2nd), and others dropped from the plans. 

The first wave of new Zeugo arrived in Spring 2005, and featured 44 teams taken from Parodi's old Subbuteo line-up. Furthermore, the team colours were not updated, and were mostly "big" clubs. i.e. team colours that Subbuteo collectors would already have in several other lines. The teams were available on "classic" Zeugo bases, or on the new outers used by the Parodi Subbuteo range.

2006-09 Developments.

2006 saw the range amended slightly. Firstly, the teams were rehoused in an attractive blue box, which was more compact than the original design, but allowed room for a spare outfield player. Although the above illustration suggests a similar sized box to the Hasbro/Soccer 3D window boxes, these are actually quite a bit larger, and allow the players to be comfortably displayed and protected (as you can see with the Juventus player shown).  A couple of new kits were added including the Juventus away kit from their ill-fated 2005-06 campaign. The biggest change however was in the bases. With the Enrico Techiatti designed "Subbuteo" base moving to Soccer 3D production (see below), Zeugo switched to Profibases.

October 2006: Surprisingly perhaps, the Zeugo box set features in the catalogue (and website) of my local toy shop - Gamleys. In addition, the Freemans Christmas gifts catalogue of that year featured not only the set, but a range of Premiership kits to go with it. These teams are in the numbered Zeugo range, mostly between 50 and 75.
April 2009: The team range continues to grow. Astrobase have the range standing at 122, and it does look as if teams drop from the range as they sell out. Unlike the old Zeugo team range, newer versions of the same clubs do not get the same number in the range.

Santiago Table Soccer.

Whilst many of the products on this page are designed for the 21st Century player, Santiago Table Soccer unashamedly looks backwards at the history of Subbuteo, and is none the worst for that.

Santiago football teams are based on the classic heavyweights of the 1960s and 1970s, both in style of player and in base type. There are figures based on both the short-sleeved, v-necked figure of the early 1960s, and the round-necked long-sleeved classic of the 1970s. The figures come in either white or flesh coloured plastic, and can be bought both painted and unpainted. There are diving and crouching goalkeepers, and a fine selection of base colours for every occasion. These figures paint up really well, and kits from the 1950s to the 1970s rarely look better on anything else.

In 2009, the production of the Santiago football teams was taken over by Mark Parker from his Santiago Website. His teams are in a new green box, and the goalkeeper rods now come in a selection of different colours. The design of the box is the same as previous boxes though, and the box is the same size as the classic Subbuteo "long box".

Santiago was originally created by Chris Stapleton, a fellow member of the Worthing Five-Star football club. Beyond the successful football figure, Chris also trialled a few other Santiago products. There were pitches in various colours, a base for pegged figures, which was nearly identical to the 1990s Hasbro base (but with a better range of colours) and also a reproduction rugby base. These again seemed popular, and Santiago rugby teams were a popular feature of ebay for a while.

The Stefan Corda Company.

Another small innovative UK company, Stefan Corda first came to attention for painting really high quality team colours on request (including advertising logos, badges, and even player names). In 2003-04 they gained a reputation for producing quality bases for league and tournament players with the Raptor. The LXPG Leukemia Research Charity Table Football event in Knutsford in October 2004 saw the debut of both a new playing figure, and a new base - The Image. This is a "retro" base designed to be able to curl like an old heavyweight, but also to be able to glide the way modern players expect. 

The Stefan Corda figure is called the 2K4 and is available unpainted from most of the online table soccer stores. It has a peg fitting, and so is compatible with most "professional" table soccer bases, as well as Subbuteo lightweights of course. The figure was designed using the latest CAD techniques, and is a completely different look to any other figure. They are quite small and thin, and seem well balanced in play. There also come with a choice of two different shaped heads, for black or white players. The scan (above left) shows the black player painted (by me!) as Zimbabwe away (African Nations Cup 2004) on Sureshot bases. This team has the misfortune of being used by me at Worthing Five-Star Table Soccer nights....

Stefan Corda have also modified the figure for their lovely "Beyond Retro" range. This features kits used from the earliest days of football until the 1930s, and the figure has been adjusted accordingly with long shorts, high waist bands, and an appropriate hair style. The Yorkshire teams from this range are also shown above. This figure is also available unpainted.

Soccer 3-D by Astrobase.

Astrobase are the leading Italian supplier of table soccer items, and are run by Enrico Techiatti. Techiatti's astrobases are regarded as the best quality pro bases, and come in a bewildering choice of sizes. Techiatti also designed Parodi's Subbuteo base and also his Subbuteo accessories such as the goals and fence.

With the ending of the Parodi/Hasbro agreement, Astrobase launched their own range of teams using the base and playing figure designed for Parodi, but obviously without the Subbuteo logos. This range was originally produced in conjunction with Subbuteoworld in the UK, but this agreement seems to have ended, with Subbuteoworld concentrating on heavyweight style Zeugo teams, whilst other UK sellers now have some 3D stock (for example Tornado Toys, Subbuteotablesoccer, and World Table Soccer).

Soccer 3-D also have a range of accessories which nearly match the teams for sheer choice of finish. You can have fences, referees and balls in just about any colour you fancy. In addition, the new Soccer 3D version of the Astropitch has been very well received by the table soccer community.

Super Footy - by World Table Soccer.

Another old friend of this site, World Table Soccer have now launched their own version of the beautiful game called SuperFooty. This looks like another well presented set, and will be backed up with a range of teams. As you can probably see, the figure is similar to the old heavyweight, but with the modern round base fitting. The figure is quite chunky, which makes it fairly easy to paint, and robust for younger players. They also sell a reasonably priced "pro" base, the GT Turbo, which I believe is based on (or in fact is) the old reliable Sureshot base.

In 2008 World Table Soccer relocated to the UK, which makes it easier for us to order from them!

Total Soccer.

A new product for 2009, and I'll add more details soon. These teams are made in China by a Spanish company, essentially for the Spanish market. The current team range is therefore solidly La Liga based. The most distinct thing about these teams is that they are made of a much more rubbery plastic than all the other products shown here. Hopefully this means less broken ankles. The player design is unique, (the closest likeness is Stefan Corda's 2K4). These have individual touches both in the moulds (like players with big hair) and in the painting. The kits have nice detail including badges, and a sheet of numbers/name stickers for the backs of the shirts is also provided. The bases look very much like Stefan Corda's Raptor design, and these have the club badge on top. On the downside, the round pin of the player does not fit inside the base, but sits up on top. In addition, the team I've handled had a problem with the dreaded "base rattle" - i.e. the weights had not been glued in properly.

UK table soccer fans can find the range at Total Soccer teams from footballfigure.co.uk

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