A Subbuteo fan has finally landed his Holy Grail Subbuteo set 16 years after it was first released.
Cameron Murray bagged himself a rare RBS Road to Germany World Cup set which looks like a standard Subbuteo team box but actually features detailed players depicting some of the most famous World Cup winners in history.
The box set itself was created in December 2005 as a promotional set for RBS bank and was never sold to the general public. Featuring the likes of Bobby Moore in his iconic red England kit from 1966, 1990 West Germany and 2002 Brazil, the set also had a spare slot for the eventual winners of the 2006 World Cup. The Italian player complete with gold base was added once they listed the trophy.
The beauty of the set is not only in the detail of the 11 players but also the fact the box mimics the famous Subbuteo team boxes of the heavyweight era. For Cameron, it has taken 16 years to track down the set.
Cameron says: “It’s only the 2nd one I’ve seen. Found out about it from an RBS employee at the time who refused to sell. I do wonder how many other companies have done similar things for their higher ranking staff!”
The figures in the set are actually Soccer3D figures and were created by Pete at Subbuteoworld for RBS to give out to shareholders, with the final Italy figure being added in July after the final. It is not clear how many were made.
It is not the first time Subbuteo has been used as a corporate gift. Vauxhall produced an England Subbuteo team using Zeugo figures and sent it to dealerships during their sponsorship of the England national side for the 2012 World Cup. These sets are rare and only a couple have ever appeared for sale on auction websites.
