Where to find Subbuteo?

[Deman]

Does anybody know where I can find Subbuteo in Finland? I haven't seen it around.

[MagicJ]

Probably because they all play this:



I was looking for an avatar during the world cup and came across loads of subbuteo stuff online (retro teams, stadia etc) Probably just as easy to buy a basic set from amazon.



Or try these guys if you can read finnish

[sammy]

Subbuteo used to be advertised here in comics, at least in the 70's so it has been available. But can't remember that any of my friends would actually have had one, so I never came across a set. I thought the whole thing was very 70's - do they still make those games? Seems so, the association that MagicJ linked to should know... I'm sure you can email to them in English - info@subu.fi

But there used to be a soccer version of that Stiga game as you may know...

[otyikondo]

I haven't followed this so very closely, but if I understood things correctly, the current version of Subbuteo uses "photo-realistic" cards instead of the small plastic figurines, and is frowned upon by purists. I thought they actually stopped making the game years ago, but there do seem to be some sets (new, and not the figurines) for sale on Amazon. You are more likely to find Subbuteo bits and pieces from the old days on eBay.

I do have a set from way back when, and about half a dozen teams, including a very handsome Norwich City, and Coventry City in the strip they wore to win the 1987 Cup final, and I bought a set of goals off eBay (the old ones had a) been customised with a Stanley knife to make them slightly lower, and b) had eventually been trodden on once too often) a couple of years back.

Some Subbuteo items are now quite collectable, and are priced accordingly.

Most people probably buy from here:
http://www.subbuteoworld.co.uk/



Alternatively, you might ask these guys:



Song brings back some memories.

[MagicJ]

brings back some memories.

I had a few minutes to kill so i've indulged myself

including a very handsome.....Coventry City strip they wore to win the 1987 Cup final

The first team i ever played for used to play in this kit, we loved it

had eventually been trodden on once too often

obviously part of this guy's top 10 worst things about subutteo

Some Subbuteo items are now quite collectable, and are priced accordingly.

My original set would've been mid to late 70's i suppose but i also grabbed a job lot from a jumble sale and had loads of 60's stuff too
i definitely had the old pitch

none of this rubbish

Wire keepers

Old floodlights (which were sh!t and barely worked but most importantly they looked good)


Basically, i had most of the stuff on this page

For a while i'd iron the pitch and tape it to the kitchen table but later on my dad gave in to my pleading and fixed it to a large piece of plywood for me, large enough to put the fences, old skool tv towers and grandstands up. Happy days!

[otyikondo]

Goodness me, you DID go down Nostalgia Lane. The tribute page was a hoot.

I never had much by way of accessories, since me and my mate (who was annoyingly a bit better than me, which meant our leagues - yes, the entire 1st Division, home and away - were always won by Spurs, and he managed to ensure that Jimmy Greaves ended up as top scorer) were of a mind that they only got in the way. I imagine leaning eagerly over the grandstand to latch onto a through-ball and volley it home (we were quite advanced at one stage) would have ended up breaking things. We did put up the fence usually, but since the pitch wasn't "permanent", it only added to the hassle of setting up beforehand. I think when I played much later with my son (yeah, I thrashed the poor little bugger) we used drawing pins to keep the fancy "World Cup" goals in place, but the early goals had stubby little legs so you could slide the goalie's wire underneath. We thought they looked naff, and it was too easy to score anyway, especially when we learnt to put loft on shots, so we took half a centimetre off them with a carpet knife.

I had a very large sheet of chipboard, and then you could put the pitch straight down on it and it would stick well and stay flat. A normal varnished table top - if you could find one big enough - was usually too shiny, and so you had to use a thin blanket or a tablcloth underneath the baize to get the same effect. Of course plonking a bloody great sheet of chipboard down on the dining table had certain drawbacks. After the first time (serious scratches) I was ordered to use the blanket UNDER the chipboard. We never played on the floor - altogether too dangerous and hell on your knees. We never ironed the pitch, either, because we never folded it - just rolled it up like a poster. Worked a treat.

I remember the wire goalies, but I also seem to recall an interim phase where the handle was plastic but had a springy bit just behind the player. Boinggggg! I always preferred the wire ones, not only because they had more reach, but because with them you could - in extremis, with your defence in tatters - actually take the player off the wire and use him to blast the ball over the touchline. Missing the ball with the rather wobbly goalie (quite easily done) meant you ended up with an open goal.

I just dug around in the cupboard and found a mint condition Brazil 410 that must date from the "thrashing the offspring" phase of the mid-80s. Springy goalkeeper, too.

Saddo thing, I'm sure, but it was a damned good game on a rainy afternoon.

[sammy]

This thread calls for a clip from the "Black Books" comedy series. Manny is momentarily distracted when he spots a Subbuteo figurine lodged in the security guy's mullet.



I'll have to check if I have ANY Finnish Subbuteo ads that I could scan for you guys. Rather depends on how many early 70's Tarzan/Markos/what have you comics mags I may have stashed away somewhere... could well be that the answer is "none"

[Pursuivant]

but if I understood things correctly, the current version of Subbuteo uses "photo-realistic" cards instead of the small plastic figurines, and is frowned upon by purists.

I thought the plastic figurines was a 1970's thing and it was cardboard before that...

[otyikondo]

It was. We've come full circle. That's progress for you.

[Pursuivant]

You can get green US army blankets from varusteleka for a fiver, add some chalk and go retro

[sammy]

Just found this piece of news... http://yle.fi/alueet/hame/2010/06/isi_l ... 61544.html



Crikey, they've even got a computer game version.

http://wii.nowgamer.com/reviews/ds/6165/subbuteo

Flicking good fun for all the family

Subbuteo is what football fans did for fun before the advent of footy games on computers and videogames consoles. To remake the original board game on something that effectively killed it seems cruelly incestuous. The quality of the remake is the question here, though, and while we used our childhoods shunning the saddos who spent their lunchtimes flicking little plastic men around a football pitch, we were pleasantly surprised by the gameplay on offer...

Maybe in this day and age we should next get the interactive WiiSubbuteo - go one step further, take up thy balance board and be that Subbuteo figurine yourself!

[hönkki]

Does anybody know where I can find Subbuteo in Finland? I haven't seen it around.

YES

Lucky you that my friend found this forum. Anyone who wants to play just contact me

kari.hakkarainen(at)subu.fi

also check these

http://forum.subu.fi/index.php
http://www.subu.fi/

and notice this

http://forum.subu.fi/index.php?board=20.0

[hönkki]

The finnish championship tournament in table football (subbuteo) will be held in Helsinki on 30-31.10.2010.

Address: Helsingin Rudolf Steiner -koulu, Paraistentie 3

[sammy]

Hi Hönkki,

I'd wager that some of the Subbuteo enthusiasts here would be interested to see pictures of possible old Subbuteo sets, advertisements, etc from Finland... as mentioned in an earlier message I distinctly remember that Subbuteo was advertised in Finnish comics at least in the early/mid 70's - I wonder if any of your association members should have copies left; I did not manage to find any of my old Tarzan mags - although it must be added I still have my Tarzan club membership pass ("viidakkopassi") somewhere...

At least I would be interested in those old ads, for the sense of nostalgia

[hönkki]

I'd wager that some of the Subbuteo enthusiasts here would be interested to see pictures of possible old Subbuteo sets, advertisements, etc from Finland... as mentioned in an earlier message I distinctly remember that Subbuteo was advertised in Finnish comics at least in the early/mid 70's - I wonder if any of your association members should have copies left; I did not manage to find any of my old Tarzan mags - although it must be added I still have my Tarzan club membership pass ("viidakkopassi") somewhere...

At least I would be interested in those old ads, for the sense of nostalgia

Hi Sammy,

I was born in 1966 and started to play in 1976, but I have to say I don't remember any comics (I red them a lot) where would have been Subbuteo-advertisement. I remember Subbuteo-advertisement on TV and that's why I also started to play. I don't have old pictures in digitalised form, but here is something from our tournaments from last years http://gallery.subu.fi/main.php

I do have some papercopies of "Subbuteolehti" which was published in 1981-1996. It was a Subbuteo-magazine which included stories about both football and Subbuteo. The writer, Seppo Paakkinen was also the chairman of the Finnish Subbuteo association during that time.