Peter Upton's |
Subbuteo Tribute Website. |
Catalogues and Price Lists: Part 3. |
Flyers and Advertising Brochures. |
This page looks at all the pieces
of Subbuteo marketing material that don't fit nicely into the range shown on the
previous pages.
A big thank you goes to Norman Walker and Ashley Hemming who provided many of the items shown here.
Brochures.
The 1946-47 Flyer.
This advertising sheet was on display at Tunbridge Wells museum alongside an original box set. It is a significant piece of promotional material, because the word "Subbuteo" is not used anywhere on the document. At this stage, the game was just "Table Soccer", and even the little oval circle at the bottom of the page says "It's a 'sports game'!!". I have to assume that this was the piece of paperwork sent out to potential customers who responded to Peter Adolph's original advert in The Boy's Own Paper in August 1946. As usual with Subbuteo advertising, the blurb doesn't really tell you anything useful. Except that the game cost 7s 6d, and was supplied as self-assembly.
The 1950s Range.
In the 1950s, nearly all Peter Adolph's sales
were mail order. His advertisements in magazines and comics of the time advised
potential buyers to "send stamp for full details and order form." The selection
of leaflets below are the paperwork customers would receive if they sent in that
stamp. The detachable order form is visible on both the cricket and Journey into
Space flyers.
This
is the earliest advertising brochure that I have seen. Experienced Subbuteo
collectors will recognise the style/colour match with the 1949-50 catalogue.
The brochure was designed to be folded up and sent through the post to
prospective buyers and although undated, the version shown here was post-marked
25th February 1949. The leaflet was three double-sided A5 pages in size, and had
two pages of comments from owners ("I have never had such a thrilling game as
this" - etc.) It is mostly text, and I've shown the most exciting pages above.
The late 1940s-early 1950s advertising brochures had a detachable order form,
and this is an early "Table Soccer" version, with the address still at "The
Lodge" in Langton Green. The order form only offered the Assembly Outfit at this
stage, at the increased price of 10s 7d including postage. The cost of the set
had risen to this figure for the 1948-49 season, with 1s 10d Purchase Tax and 6d
postage included in the cost. Subscription to the Players' Association at 2s was
the only other item offered here.
Best blurb - "To make sure of receiving SUBBUTEO
"TABLE SOCCER" it is advisable to post this form now. Present day shortages
of materials are sure to limit - for the time being - the number of games
for sale." Although I also like "Please write any remarks you may
wish to make on the back of this Order Form as a separate letter is apt to
confuse our dispatch department." This
was a more straightforward double-sided A5 leaflet from the early 1950s, showing
the three "presentations" as Peter Adolph called them. The Assembly
outfit was still
shown with the 1949-50 style of box lid.
This one was a mid-1950s brochure. Although it is essentially a
retread of the previous brochure, it is important because it included the
"Super Seniors" set. This edition (not illustrated) was a deluxe set featuring
most of the accessories of the day, as well as the standard Super Assembled set
contents. This edition never featured in the catalogues, and possibly made its
only appearance in this leaflet. It is also worth noting that the standard box sets are updated
on this brochure. The Assembly Outfit has become The Standard Outfit, and all
the boxes have the later blue lids. This means that the Combination Edition is
now in the larger box. Using a similar format to the football flyer, Peter Adolph also
issued this cricket flyer, with the three editions laid out within in. At this
time, the "Super Assembled" set was "Specially manufactured for export, youth
clubs, cricket clubs, school and other Educational purposes. And those who
prefer the best." When Speedway was introduced it meant another of Peter Adolph's
familiar promotional flyers. With football in red and Cricket in blue, Speedway
was printed in green. The Speedway leaflet is obviously at the start of its
production, so the quotes from happy owners are rather thin on the ground, and
very bland. Despite the leaflet saying "The first few games of Subbuteo Table
Speedway which came off the assembly lines were presented to "Table Soccer"
owners, and this is what they say:-" there are only three quotes like
this. The box on the front of the leaflet had been signed with a quote
from two team mates of the Wembley Lions. Peter Adolph had taken the game to his
usual schoolboy exhibitions throughout the 1950s, so perhaps he met them there.
Their quote is not much better than the punters, but it does sound very much
like the 1950s. These days I can't imagine a pair of rough and tumble speedway
riders writing this.
The Companion games generally had their own catalogues, and these are shown on
the Companion Game catalogues page. However, a
one-sheet black and white flyer "Introducing Companion Games" has been
sighted. This page was constructed from the small black and white adverts that
Peter Adolph placed in magazines of the time. Subbuteo
magazine adverts has further details.
We've yet to see a full Motor Racing promotional Flyer, but it did get this
rather lovely colour Motor Racing advertising sheet.
Journey into Space Promotional Leaflet. As shown on the Peter Adolph's space
games page, Journey into Space was another 1950s game to get a full
promotional flyer with
attached order form. Pulling the adverts from other pages on the site reminded me that Subbuteo's non-Sports Games stock also had plain one page flyers that would find
their way into Subbuteo sets from time to time. The 1950s-60s Double-Sided Box Set Cricket Flyer. These double sided sheets were part of the cricket set paperwork
from 1949 all the way to the beginning of the OO scale era in 1966, and included a "Table Soccer" advertisement on
the flip side. I am fairly sure I have seen them in the odd football set as
well. The football side is essentially the
familiar wording from the Subbuteo magazine adverts of the time, whereas the
cricket side has suggestions for alternate rules that would allow for faster
play, a request for "queries, criticisms and suggestions", mention that the
cricket game has an accessory range (unnecessary really, as the price list was
always included in the sets), and identification of the customer as an "owner
player". Schoolboys' Own Exhibition Flyer 1951. This flyer was seen at an exhibition at Tunbridge Wells museum.
It is a single sided black and white sheet advertising a forthcoming
Schoolboys' Own Exhibition, which took place at the New Horticultural Hall in
London (this is not far from Victoria Station). I've included a bigger image of
the illustration, so that Peter Adolph's stall layout can be properly
appreciated. The blurb is as follows: "Subbuteo Sports Games
are being exhibited at the forthcoming Schoolboys' Own Exhibition at the New
Horticultural Hall, London December 31st 1951 to January 12th 1952. Mr P A
Adolph will be pleased to demonstrate to you, and all supplies of games and
accessories can be obtained at stand 28." FA Cup Flyer - 1952. This is another early single page flyer, and helpfully dated. Showing
Wembley and the FA Cup, the usual Table Soccer advertising blurb is added to by
explaining that the last eight of the 1952 Association Cup were available as Subbuteo
teams. The sides were Arsenal, Burnley, Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers, Luton
Town, Newcastle United, Portsmouth and Sheffield United. This
leaflet, with a familiar 1960s cover picture, came from the first ever
"Continental" box set, and so is dated circa 1961. The list of editions within had just the solitary OO
scale edition, which was the original "Floodlighting Set". This was priced at
89/6d, compared with 49/6d for the Super Assembled Set, and 10/6d for the
Assembly Outfit. Two years later, and this simple one page 1963-64 poster/flyer
had a trio of Continental sets available, with the Floodlighting set topping the
lot at 89/6d. However, the cardboard teams of the Popular Outfit was still
offered at 10/6d. The illustration is simple, but does show the appeal of the
red fence surround and floodlights. Interestingly, the contents of both the
Floodlighting, and Club edition included the red fence at this date, explaining
why bagged fences are often found in these early editions. This
mid 1960s brochure had an attractive front page, but the rest was a bit dull. A
pull out three-page A5 leaflet once more, it featured pictures of the six
editions of the mid 1960s, although on the copy I own they had also added the
International Edition to the descriptions page (this cost a massive 119/6d). The three
pages in the middle of the fold out consisted of some widely spaced quotes from
letters received from Subbuteo players (impressively aged from 9 to 61).There are even two quotes
from the same writer. World
Cup 1966 Leaflet.
It goes without saying that the 1966 World Cup bought interest in football in
England to new levels, and Subbuteo sales obviously climbed off the back of this
tournament. Although Peter Adolph was originally unconvinced, his sales manager
set about capitalising on this national event.
Subbuteo's 1966 World Cup leaflet was actually a very
simple four sided affair, advertising the named teams produced for the 1966
World Cup. Inside, there was a colour picture advertising the full range of
continental equipment of that time (C100-C112). A slightly different version of
this picture was included in the 1969 catalogue (shown here on the right, for comparison).
Still, this was probably the first ever full colour illustration of Subbuteo
products outside of the box sets. Late 1960s Cricket Flyers.
These were one sided flyers advertising
the new OO scale cricket, which could be displayed on the retailer's wall or
window. The early versions only offered the Club and Display Editions, while the
later version (from 1969) also offered the Test Match Edition. World Cup 1970 leaflet. After the success of the 1966 World Cup, Subbuteo were obviously
keen to use the next tournament in the same way. This simple two-colour flyer
was both a chart for customers to follow the World Cup, and to fill in the
results, and a sales leaflet to advertise Subbuteo's World Cup range.
It stressed that the World Cup sides were available as both teams and
statuettes, and also advertised the expensive World Cup edition for the first
time. A "stop press" item on the back page listed a number of new teams to be
added to the range. This was the first really big increase in team colours, and
saw teams 62 to 74 added.
By the late 1960s Peter Adolph had sold out to Waddingtons, and
a few really nice full colour flyers were produced with this new arrangement.
This one is from the early 1970s. The football sets still had the full flat set
range, and there was no
World Cup edition. This seems to suggest a late 1960s date. However, The
International Edition had increased in price to 128/-, and the Test Match
Edition was 74/- and these match to the 1970-71 catalogue prices. This leaflet
was a smaller size, with a unique narrow format. However, it folded out, and
was much more colourful than usual. The blurb repeated some
of the best quotes from the mid-1960s box set flyer. This attractive flyer continued the full colour, illustrated
design of the previous leaflet, but returned to A5 size. The extra space was
needed too, as the range of games had suddenly increased. Again matching to the range
on the
1970-71 price list, this new flyer featured the football sets, the cricket, the
new rugby international edition, the Subbuteo dicer, and the legendary Subbuteo
Angling board game. There were actually two versions of this flyer, in old and
new money. My own copy has Subbuteo Angling priced at 49/11, whereas the one
illustrated here has it priced at £2.70. 1970s Currency/Inflation Advise. The UK currency switched to the decimal currency system in 1971,
and that meant new paperwork had to be issued. In addition to the above
mentioned brochure, which was reissued in the new currency, Subbuteo also
produced an A5 flyer with the new prices as of 1st July 1971. The period of adjustment to the new coinage coincided with a
period of unprecedented inflation in the UK. Subbuteo price lists could no
longer be guaranteed to last a whole season. The tiny "Recommended Selling
Prices" advice note from April 1974 is evidence of this period of uncertainty. By an odd coincidence, helper Ashley Hemming and I both
found one of the "Recommended Selling Prices" notes in Rugby International
Editions in the same week. His was a new set, while I was tidying up my
collection. We both photographed it to send to the other! Subbuteo Sports Club. This leaflet was doing something different. It was essentially
paperwork to allow a stockist to run a "Christmas Club", so that parents could
pay for expensive Subbuteo sets (or accessories) in instalments. The attractive colour
side shown featured a nice illustration of old Subbuteo favourite, Ken Baily.
The back featured the games available at that time, and as the World Cup is new,
and Angling is featured, it is again, probably from 1970-71. On the reverse was a simple
form allowing the "goods reserved" to be recorded along with dates of relevant
payments (in old money). Starting with 1972-73, the annual Subbuteo price list became a
full catalogue, with illustrations of accessories and box sets. This made the
separate brochures less necessary. However, if customers didn't need extra
paperwork, posters for retailers were still a useful tool. I hadn't really seen
any examples from this period until these two showed up in 2024. On the left is
"Andy",
one of the kids from the 1973-74 catalogue. As with his catalogue appearance,
Andy was celebrating the fact that Subbuteo now had 165 team colours to choose
from, and he was holding a sheet showing all the colours. Note that this sheet
isn't the actual catalogue that was produced, and looks more like a box of
players or a shop display. However, it may well be an illustration
"photo-shopped" into his hand (or whatever the equivalent was in 1973!). This
was a shop poster telling children to pick up the free catalogue. The poster on the right was from the following year, and showed all the sports
games then available, which included the arrival of Targetman. The
sports with multiple editions were showcased with their most expensive
alternative (So Munich and Test Match). The collage was completed with a few
familiar Subbuteo pieces, plus a Targetman goalkeeper and some snooker equipment. This poster was also one of the few Subbuteo
items to use the Warwick Park, Tunbridge Wells address (whereas the Andy poster
still referred to Langton Green). Ashley Hemming provided me with copies of these two brochures
advertising the "new stadium series", which was certainly a big enough event
in Subbuteo history to gain a brochure or two. Both these leaflets are the cover size of the poster catalogues
of the 1972-77 period (i.e. the size of the catalogues when folded). It's a
strange size really, between A4 and A5. The "green sheet" is the oldest, dating
to 1976. There's a list of accessories on the back of this sheet running to C138,
and this still included some lettered accessories, rosettes, EPNS cups, medals
and plaques. The front offered the three new accessories of the period C139
Bench Set, C140 the Grandstand, and C141 the spectator set. As with the Six of
the Best sheet, this one featured the Warwick Park address. The "Stadium Series" sheet was a single-sided shop poster, and had the
later Chiddingstone Causeway address. This advertised the new three tier Stadium
Edition in all its glory, and added the terrace and corner terrace to the
accessories shown on the "green sheet". "Start collecting today" it stated
optimistically.
In 1978, the big Subbuteo World catalogues were launched. These were placed in the accessory
range (C155), and needed to be purchased (for 10p). This meant that the small sales
brochure made a bit of a comeback. The one shown here is from 1978, and featured
all the box sets available when I was first playing. The early version of the
Stadium Edition looked very tempting in this one. Having the boxes of the
editions open was a lovely idea, and actually shows a period of changeover, with
the old 1974 World Cup layers and contents under the new lid; and the final
rugby lid on an orange card inner (with proper small case lettering). The
reverse of the leaflet showed some accessories, and had a coupon to send to
receive the full catalogue (stamps/postal order for 17p required).
Another leaflet encouraging customers to send off for the full catalogue, this
one had the attractive picture from the 1979 catalogue on the front (first
showing of the lightweight figures), and various
pictures from that publication inside. The duplication of catalogue pictures
makes this one less exciting than the 1978 version. Oddly, the Stadium Edition
is in the new box here, but the rugby set is back in the old box (hence the
version I owned as a kid with the old lid, and a polystyrene inner).
Into
the 1980s, and these leaflets were the larger A4 size, and could also be used as display material by shops. These sheets were produced for the final
years of
the Subbuteo World catalogue era (1980-81), and simply featured some of the new
items and accessories produced in each year. There were 1980 flyers for both the
box sets and the accessories. The box sets version gave pride of place to the
giant "World of Sport" set, but also included the new Hockey and Rugby Sevens.
The accessories version introduces the League Cup, which has become one of the
more sought after accessories of the period (partly due to being fragile). The "1982 World Cup" flyer had the
1981 price list printed on the reverse, and introduces the licensed FIFA
products, and the TV Tower kit.
This
flyer from 1981 is slightly different to the others on this page, in that it was
designed by Waddingtons International Ltd. As such, the blurb was written in
five languages (including English). Like the 1979 flyer, the full catalogue
cover is part of the design, but here there is a random (and unnumbered) page of
teams to show the selection of colours on offer, as well as the usual focus on
accessories. The Club Edition, and the licensed FIFA World Cup Edition are the
box sets to feature, perhaps indicating where the range was going in the 1980s.
World Cup/European Championship Posters.
These "Fill in" charts added value to the special box set releases from 1984 to
1990. There is a 1984 European Championship poster, and two World Cup charts:
one for 1986, and one for 1990. Wildly different styles for each it has to be
said. And Finally.... No look at catalogues would
be complete without these tiny flyers which were included with every team and
accessory of the early 1990s. They are nearly identical, except that the second
version had the new floodlights, a new picture of the Italia 90 balls, and
replaced the Italia 90 pitch with a normal one. They were well illustrated, and
the first one you own will probably prove useful. However, by the time you reach
double figures, you will be getting a little sick of them....
...as you may be getting sick of this list of catalogues. Never
mind, as you've reached the end. Follow the links to something else that takes your
fancy, or return to the main page for the full index.
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