Any Subbuteo players out there?

[BYU 14]

I saw mention of this game on the OOTP Forums and gave it a look. Basically it is flick Football (as in Soccer) There are a few hardcore clubs in the US but it looks like England and Italy are the main places it is popular. Still looks like it might as an occasional poker night replacement with a few friends and some Beers, takes like 20 minutes for an entire game, and I am thinking about getting it off of eBay.

A club in England actually records all their Matches.....here is a link for those who have never heard of the game.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3489124817479734110

I hope my intrigue with this is not a sign I am aging badly.

[lighthousekeeper]

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=34078&highlight=subbuteo

i got my set in the basement if anyone's up for a game.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Wow. Haven't heard of that it in awhile. Used to play it a ton over two summers back when I was in college many, many years ago. Had a blast. Computer/console games pretty much made it extinct. Believe it or not, they actually came out with a subbuteo computer game ages ago, where you actually used a computerized finger to flick the players -- it sucked.

[Emiliano]

Subbuteo, wow! I used to play a lot when I was 9/10 years old, I think. I still have my "Italia '90" (world soccer cup) special edition box, with Italy and Argentina with a 22-men rosters, Italia 90 field, balls, etc. etc. What a great game. We used to have tournaments at my friend's house on Christmas, a lot of fun. I think I still have 15/20 teams. I recently searched the Italian eBay to get an idea for a selling price, and apparently there are still a ton of players/collectors out there.

Hey BYU, if you're interested I'll send you something. PM me if you want. I don't know exactly what I got, I have to check, but I'm sure I got some stuff.

[Icy]

It was pretty popular in Spain in the 90's, i played hours and hours. We had a league in my neighbourhood, with 20 teams, playing some games per day and publishing the standings etc etc like a real league. It was really fun but PC's first and consoles later killed it. Now all the kids play EA sports FIFA XX sitting in home, not subbuteo in the street anymore.

[AlexB]

When I was a kid I made a wooden board, with cross struts, advertising hoardings, the works to give a flat, perfect roll on the pitch (put it on top of the 6x3 mini pool table we had): I couldn't express my Subbuteo flair on a crease pitch laid on a carpet or dinner table!

The best thing about the game was ending up playing with players with both legs 'amputated' as they got trodden on or broken - body stumps glued onto the bases :D

Now they have little picture cards that slot into the bases - not old skool anymore :p

[Vinatieri for Prez]

I had my pitch mounted on plywood, but that warped a little bit, so I found by far the best layout was putting the pitch directly on the felt of our pool table (we had a nice medium size slate table). Would pull out a slightly warm iron in between games (like the zamboni in hockey) to smooth it out. Very true roll -- better than the plywood.

[BYU 14]

I think I am going to use the Pool Table as well and probably order one of the astro Pitch surfaces with the Rubber backing.........less than a week since I discovered this game and I am already a Subbuteo geek......geez.

What bases do you recommend? I am thinking sureshot....

[BYU 14]

Jesus I have already spent over $200.00 on this game getting a new pitch, 5 teams, new bases, polishing supplies and stuff from Home Depot to build a custom table, amazingly I have 6 people who want to start a club. Think I may have a budding dynasty here. :)

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Shocking. Absolutely shocking. But I am impressed.

[Marc Vaughan]

Used to love it (heck as a kid I even used to read the stuff about the 'Subbuteo world cup' with avid interest ;) ) ....

PS> My first management game was largely using RPG rules, my subbuteo pitch rulers and dice :D