Tips on Collecting | Team Boxes | Players | Zeugo | Catalogues

Tips on Collecting

This page is designed to help answer some of your questions and for me to pass on what I know about Subbuteo and its products.
THE FLAT PLAYER
Most collectors know the first players were made of card and were available from1947 when the game was invented. Waddingtons still had hundreds of these card teams in strips of 11 at their offices in Leeds right up to selling out to Hasbro just a few years ago. Waddingtons also had hundreds of the celluloid teams still in there original packs. Some of this stock was given to the Subbuteo Collectors Club, the rest were destroyed! There seem to be at least three variations of base. The first type and the original either have no writing on the bases or have the words Subbuteo and the patient number "R.D.851000" printed around the top of the base. There is also a later type without the patient number just the name, and finally, the recent re-issues. The bases were done in 11 different colours and are collectable. The harder to find colours are: black, old gold, tangerine, maroon, yellow, sliver and grey. Arguable one of the rarest team references is number 19. We all know that as Barcelona with the red & blue stripes and blue shorts. But back in the 50's it was Bradford Park Avenue, with red, amber & black hoops and white shorts. I have heard stories that the Bradford strip was not only available in card and celluloid but also in heavyweight, good hunting!
THE HEAVYWEIGHT
Then in September 1961 came the original heavyweight player. The very first 'Continental' style players came in white boxes, possibly for one year only. Then came the green box with the wide white rim. There were about 60 original heavyweight teams, numbers 1 to 52, possibly to 55 and a few higher reference 'World Cup' teams in named boxes, numbers 157 Mexico,163 Uruguay, 68 Chile and 67 Argentina There are also some rare variations on the “classic“ HW teams that were produced from the mid 60‘s until 1981. For instance, ref 20 Hamilton, 24 Queens Park and ref 28 Norwich all came with black shorts in the original HW figure. As we said, some of the 'World Cup' teams came in named box's and this continued through the 70's and included some league teams to. Subbuteo collectors are split over which player type came in which set. All I can do is tell you what I think. Up to the birth of the 'Zombie' in 1978 there were 8 types of player. The flat card player who came in a press out strip and flat celluloid player who came in a small packet, were both found in the box sets of the 50's. The big chested 'Walker figure' was only found in box sets of the 60's. In our opinion he was never issued in a 'C100' box.. Most of the 'Walker figures' came in the standard red & white and blue & white, ref. nos. 1 & 2, which are the standard colours for the box sets. We have also seen him with white shirt black shorts ref 10 and in all white ref 21. The 'Bandy-legged' scarecrow figure came in box sets and boxed 5-a-side teams. The two styles of 'Moulded base' type player appeared in box sets of the 70's and seem to have been done in a variety of colours. There were only two types of player that came in individual boxes up to the 'Zombie' and those are the “Original Heavyweight” and the “Classic Heavyweight”
OY JOHN , THAT'S A FAKE !
The one thing to remember about Subbuteo is nothing was written in stone. They mixed and matched player types especially if they were low on stock. It is not uncommon to see rugby and football players in the same rugby set and even in the same team. The team charts of the late 70's don't tell the whole story about team colours either. Some of the kits would have stripes when there shouldn't and vice versa, and shorts painted in a totally different colour. For instance we had a number 123 ( with the number on the box ) with mauve shorts instead of white. One thing to watch for is forgeries. It's very easy to turn a 15 pound team into a 50 pound team just with the flick of a brush. You can turn a no.21 Leeds into a 113 Israel, or a no.5 Man City into a 97 Brescia, without any trouble at all. If the team comes in a named box or has its reference number on the side and it's a rare reference then you can be fairly confident that it's genuine. A team that's been painted too well or has been painted in gloss is usually a giveaway of a repaint job. Having said that some of the teams being purchased new in the 70's were painted in gloss. An example of this is no.151 Belgium. Quite simply if you are a perfectionist and want the genuine article then it's a bit of a minefield.
SO WHAT'S RARE?
There is no doubt that some heavyweight teams are more rare than others. Numbers: 1,2,5,7,8,13,16,41,42,50 and 100 turn up more than most. Where as numbers: 29,32,62,69,70,71,97,98,122 and 123 to name but a few hardly ever turn up. As a general rule those team colours that by the mid 70's were not a listed team are the hardest to find. Also most of the teams with references from the mid hundreds onwards are also very rare. It's logical if you think about it. As a collector in the 70's most people brought the top league and World Cup teams of the day and that was it. If a team didn't sell it wasn't painted. Base colour is also an important factor to the 'Hard Core' collector. A more common reference can increase in value just by its base colouring and combination. Finally location. It stands to reason that certain teams will be more common in certain parts of the country than others. For instance, no.23 Partick Thistle and no.73 Clydebank are quite hard teams to find but have been turned up in Scotland more often than in most other parts of the UK.
WHAT'S IT WORTH?
Without doubt the most heated debate is value. We have all seen Subbuteo prices rocket thanks to the internet. What is a 'Heavyweight' team worth? We've seen common heavyweights sell for 30-40 pound, yet teams we've never seen don't make £10. I guess if you live at the North Pole and love Subbuteo then a no.5 Man City will be very rare to you, It's all a matter of opinion and location. But there are certain items that are rare. Without doubt the 'Munich Box Set' is the rarest and most sought after set made and can sell for £500+, but the most important question is "what is something worth to you?" In general most of the larger 70's box sets are hard to find in mint condition. They usually have bits missing and bashed boxes. We don't think these set sold in great numbers either. Most kids in the 70's would start collecting Subbuteo by purchasing individual items, I.e. a pitch, goals, a couple of teams and balls. By the time they got to check out a Munich or a World Cup box set they would already have everything that was in there. Probably the best period for collecting Subbuteo is around 1981. If you don't have the catalogue from that year then try and get one. It has some great pictures of some rare sets and accessories. Like Hockey, Cricket Floodlighting box set, The World of Sport box set, Rugby 7's, Sport Billy, European Cup Winners pack and the FA Cup winners pack, all these sets are now very rare. Other items to watch out for are the Subbuteo World Cup, available for the first time in 1979 and withdrawn in 1981. Also the League Cup, especially the boxed version, and the "World of Sport" compendium which can sell for over £500 in mint condition. This set is as rare as the "Munich" and was only available in 1981 for one year and It retailed at around £75. At the time this was a lot of money and didn't sell well. Subbuteoworld spoke to a woman who worked at the factory in Leeds and she said when the staff were made redundant they were each given a "World of Sport" set as a leaving present. The set came in a large case with a handle on the top. Inside were 8 separate sections made of polystyrene. There were two sections for the Cricket Test Match, one section for the Rugby International Edition and five sections for the Soccer Stadium Edition. We have only really touched the surface as far as the rare and unusual items are concerned. Subbuteoworld are discovering rare teams and sets all the time and we are sure more items will surface in the future.
FINAL THOUGHT
There is no question that Subbuteo has become collectable and has followed in the footsteps of Action Man and Star Wars figures. We at Subbuteoworld believe that the sets and teams in near mint to mint condition are the best items to look out for and will be the items to increase the most in value as time goes on. If you are looking to build up your collection and want items complete and in their original boxes and in nice condition then you will always be better buying off a reputable dealer.