Subbuteo West Ham Replica Table Football Players
Subbuteo is a game that simulates football. The 'Subbuteo' name is derived from the Latin Falco subbuteo, a bird of prey commonly known as the Eurasian Hobby, after a trademark was not granted to its creator Peter Adolph (1916-1994) to call the game "Hobby". The availability of Subbuteo was first announced in the August 1946 edition of The Boy's Own Paper. The advert was vague and didn't provide any detail about what was actually on offer. The same month Peter Adolph lodged a patent application for the game. Once orders started to pour in Adolph set about converting his patent idea into a deliverable product. The first Subbuteo sets consisted of goals made with wire and paper nets, a cellulose acetate ball, cardboard playing figures in two basic kits (red shirts with white shorts, and blue shirts with white shorts) and bases made from buttons weighed down with lead washers. No pitch was provided: instead, the purchaser was given instructions on how to mark out (with chalk, provided) a playing area onto a blanket (an old army blanket was recommended). The first sets were eventually available about 6 months after the original advertisement appeared. An early innovation was to replace the early cardboard figures with two-dimensional celluloid figures, known to collectors as 'flats'. Early production of Subbuteo was centred near Tunbridge Wells, in Kent. Playing Subbuteo is a physical simulation of the sport, involving dexterity and skill in flicking the playing pieces, which stand on weighted bases, across the tabletop mat towards the ball. Note that the ball is in fact hugely out of scale in comparison to the figures for ease of use. In fact, the Subbuteo football stands almost as tall as the players!
Size: 5020px × 3347px
Photo credit: © nidpor / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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