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One of the most sought after items for many collectors, especially in the world of toys, is a shop display. The main appeal is the chance to recreate the joy of a probably long lost local toyshop (or sports shop, as was often the case with Subbuteo).  That's surely better than recreating the squalid condition that old toys had to suffer in your bedroom....

There is obviously a rarity value to factor in as well. Subbuteo was mass produced, and even relatively poorly selling items were produced in sizable numbers. On the other hand, the shop display was limited to one per store, and many stores did not use the official stands anyway. I cannot think of too many in my area that did.

So this page is a celebration of trade stands and displays. Obviously, it needs a bit more detail, so if anyone has pictures of their local shop, or other stands, then please send them in.

1970s: Single Figure Team Displays.

What is cooler than having a wall chart with pictures of all the available teams on it? How about owning the real thing?

The team boxes from the 1970s were ideally designed for simply stacking on a toy shop shelf, with the numbered ends outward. So no real display stand was needed. However, this did not show off the actual teams, and often a shop would not be able to stock the whole range anyway. So what better way to produce extra sales than one of these beauties for little boys to gape at? The cards parts of the display were similar to the usual Subbuteo output of the time, but actually unique. Firstly, there was a beautiful long green tray with Subbuteo Table Soccer, and the 1970s "ball" logo running down the sides. The inserts were green versions of the fifteen man rugby box. These slotted into the tray leaving the top figure projecting rather oddly over the ledge that held the trays in place. Each team was identified by one of the little number circles from the box ends, except for the World Cup teams. these were identified by name, typed onto either the green insert or a white label. There were sixteen World Cup 1970 teams, but luckily, Brazil were already in the normal range, and this allowed the use of a single tray for this range.

The display above shows the classic 1-81 plus World Cup range, which ties to the 1971-72 range. The figures mostly match this, with the original white shorts version of ref. 79 (West Ham 2nd) and the second, version of 74 (Aston Villa). Ref 61 is also the correct early red and yellow version. The more striking variants to the 1972 range though are 59 (River Plate), and 20 (Hamilton). Ref. 59 is the common horizontal band version. This doesn't arrive in the catalogues until 1973-74, although the general opinion is that the change was much earlier than that (and the diagonal stripe is very rarely seen). Looking the other way, ref 20 Hamilton has black shorts, although that disappeared from the catalogues in 1970. Ref. 20s with black shorts have always seemed more common than their short life in the catalogues would indicate, so perhaps they did sell into the 1970s.

Other than that, the range is notable for the absence of the strange anomalies found in early 1970s catalogues. Quirky versions like amber shorts on 46, the tangerine 47, and black shorts on 32 all appear in the 1972 catalogue, but all are absent here. This might help to explain why these sides go back to the classic versions once the illustrated catalogues start in 1973. Perhaps the quirks were errors in the catalogue, or simply never established themselves across the whole figure painting business.

Subbuteo continued to make these displays as the range increased. I've seen the 1-106 (+ World Cup sides) range of 1972-73, and I believe that 1-190 was also done, although I don't seem to be able to find a picture of one (if you own one, send a picture in).

Moving rapidly into the 1980s, and we find that Subbuteo Sports Games obvious love of paperwork once again provides useful information. These display stands were offered in Subbuteo's trade catalogues, produced at a time when retail customers had to make do with posters.

1982-83 Display Stands.

This was a large free standing black metal unit, which held an impressive amount of Subbuteo. As the trade catalogue put it, this "carries boxes of all sizes, even the awkward ones for goalkeepers and astropitch" both of which hang off the sides.

Almost as interesting as the display is the chance to see the shop range for these years in the monochrome accessory boxes. I liked these boxes as a kid, but they had quite a short life, and do not turn up as often as other ranges. It's certainly interesting to note that both the floodlights and Grandstand moved from their attractive colour boxes into monochrome in 1983, and the pitch also started to be boxed at that time. Note also that the colour of the illustration on the corner stand box changed from black to white. The FA Cup and League Cup also switched from Hobby Crest boxes in 1982 to monochrome logos in 1983.

1982-83 Counter Spinner.

The lovely counter displays for blister packs show the change from hobby crest to monochrome logo even more clearly. The backing picture also changes on the cards, matched to the picture on the club edition.

1985 Stands.

The two stands for 1985 show bold changes in design. There are now more teams shown on the big stand, and also room for hangers. This made sense, as the accessory range was shrinking, and more items had moved onto the blister cards. This also affected the smaller blister pack display, which no longer rotated. The new flat version also saw the arrival of the goalkeepers and even the cups onto card. Of course, all the boxes had changed once more (and the number range moved to the 63xxx version). The blisters were colour coded, with yellow for balls, red for playing accessories, blue for stadium accessories and lilac for the cups. I never noticed this at the time, and I guess it was because all the items were very self-evident. If you wanted a pack of balls, it wasn't difficult to pick them out whatever the colour. Still, they look nice on display don't they?

1990s: The Goal Stand.

Alas, no picture for this one as yet. I'm sure I remember one of these by the door at one of my favourite toy shops (in Horsham, West Sussex), and amazingly, a fully loaded one did turn up on ebay a year or so ago. Alas, I seem to have lost the picture in my computer crash last year. The thing was absolutely huge though - imagine a goal shape around the 1985 stand. Obviously, the ebay one was not travelling by post (airmail to Italy sir?) Of course, even the teams were on hangers by then. Who remembers having to tilt their body/head at ridiculous angles to read the names on teams at the back of the display? No wonder the boxes got damaged.

2000s Parodi Team Stand.

I've been sent pictures of this stand twice, but I don't know whether its use was widespread (the pictures could even be of the same one....) This is an Italian stand that harps back to the glory days of the 1970s with one player from each team currently available displayed on thin shelves. The range here is the Hasbro teams Parodi offered in their re-launched catalogue circa 2001. Essentially, this was the unsold stock from the 1990s "European range". It's such a lovely wooden case, that it does look more like something a collector would build rather than a manufacturer.

Sadly, that's all the information I've got at present. So it's time to pick another destination.