There will be 80 new Subbuteo teams launched from this month (August) based on the best national teams in history.
A new Subbuteo team launch is an exciting thing for fans of the game across the world but the latest announcement is particularly exciting for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, the teams are being released by the Italian company behind the excellent La Leggenda range, which focuses on historic teams from the world of football. The teams this time will include some of the best modern teams from the 2018 World Cup, as well as classic international sides such as Argentina 1978, Holland 1974 and England’s World Cup winners in 1966.
The sets will also mimic the popular heavyweight style of the 1970s, the iconic shape of Subbuteo figure when the game was at its peak. Even the boxes mimic the classic style of the Subbuteo heavyweight range and the sets are sure to be a massive hit with fans of the game.
The downside for UK fans and those outside of Italy is that there is no clear way of buying the sets, which will be released once a week from 22 August. Priced at an affordable €6.99 initially, the 80 teams will be sold only in Italy and won’t be available abroad apart from resale.
The sets are produced by Centauria s.r.l. and are similar to the previous 150 La Leggenda teams made by Fabbri Editori and licensed by Subbuteo. The sets are partwork, meaning they are sold with a small magazine about the team with prices increasing for the second and third editions once people are hooked. The second and third sets are €8.99 and €12.99 respectively.
Details of the first four teams to be released are as follows:
Italy 1982 – 22/08/2018
Argentina 1978 – 01/09/2018
Spain 2010 – 08/09/2018
Brazil 1994 – 15/09/2018
After that, Germany 1974 comes with some corner flags, while Holland 1974 comes with a goal included. The final three corner flags and Uruguay 1950 are next, followed by England 1966 and a referee and linesman set – perhaps a dig about the controversal ‘ghost goal’ in the final at Wembley.
The England set is interesting because it also comes with a fourth official holding a scoreboard – a nice addition to the referee range.
Argentina 1986, USSR 1966 and Ronaldo’s Portugal 2006 also feature in the first 11 weeks.
Other accessories include a timer, pitch, scoreboard and personalised team. The maker says: “The collection is enriched with detailed cards with the history and the records of each team, plus many curiosities and insights. Everything is possible with the Subbuteo La Leggenda Platinum Edition. Except boredom!”
