When Waddingtons was taken over in by Hasbro in 1994 they originally allowed the SSG to continue own on there own as they were before until the final Ref number of 830… So to many its correctly seen as the continuation LW era and why the later end of range are generally only found on the Mono Bloc Bases… Hasbro didn’t takeover running Subbuteo until 1996…

The “Hasbro range” had a new Mono Bloc base is commonly refered as the “Hasbro” base due to the common belief it was pretty much simultaneously released around the same time as when Hasbro Truly took over the running of Subbuteo in 1996 when it was around a tad before them and was around in the tail end of the LW era… This has led to the collectors calling the base the Hasbro base (a term that sometimes annoys Trevor Spencer who ran Subbuteo at the time his preffered team is Mono Bases or Mono Bloc Bases). This is because the base was in the design and testing phases long before Hasbro acquired Waddingtons and that fact is why they should really be called the Mono Bloc bases…

The Base redesigned was commonly believed to have been conceived as response to the emergence of flat bases favored by professional players. BUT that really is a sub plot to why a this base came into being… Trevor told me that it was first and foremost a exercise to reduce costs (as was most of the decisions during that era of Subbuteo (For example the discontinuation of the Astropitch favoured by all pro players…despite it still selling about 10,000 a year)…

The previous Lw base required 3 parts (Inner Disc, washer and Outer Disc) which where as the Mono bloc was just one solid peice saving time and money in the process… It also ment that it could be sold as self assembly again shaving more time it took to produce and againd therefore saving money… BUT and this was crucial it wasn’t done in a way to compromise the playability and base function… In many ways this base improved the function and playability for there target audience compared to the LW base as the flat bottom had got narrower compared to the HW base of the 60’s and 70’s so the Mono Bloc Bottom was designed to be closer than that but also with the rounded edge to help kids Chip… To be fair on reflection this was a great idea as the LW Bases where far from beginner friendly looking back with the players easily toppling (Its Why Zeugo was smart to have there bases as they are far more beginner friendly)

The design had a few attempts and we’re all tested by players so hence why it became a lot closer to what the Pro Players were preferring in there non Subbuteo playing Products. This new base heavily embraced the sliding game that was gaining popularity in the professional scene at the time, influencing how the game is played today.

One of the main helpers was Tom Taylor who was involved from the beginning. Interestingly I got and email from Tom Taylor’s son Algy in which he added an important part of the story from Outside SSG/Hasbro walls… His Dad’s Club Lichfield stayed a Subbuteo only Club for the most part (Im not going into the Split in the game ill be here forever haha) The main reason was was mainly because the “Pro Equipment” was out of reach for a lot of his younger members (a problem that still exists today in many ways) and thus they stuck with Subbuteo in the most part… So was were Keen on helping out with the development of a base that was closer to the “Pro Base” But Like Everything in that Era of Subbuteo it wasn’t all a bit murky… There is Contention who made/influenced what… According to the Algy’s email.. A Bloke called Nick Lampitt, who was a member of Tom Taylors club in Lichfield, spent ages working on a new base at his work, and milled a set of bases on a lathe. They were really good.  He sent a set off to Trevor Spencer and a And a year or so later, they received 4 sets of a new “prototype” injection moulded bases that were remarkably similar to what was sent by Nick… At that stage the Prototype had Straight edges and looked the same as what NIck had sent a year or so before rather than what was eventually produced… IN Algy’s own words ” I guess it’s theoretically possible that Trevor Spencer could’ve been working on those bases all along, and it was just a coincidence that Nick Lampitt had sent in something that looked almost exactly the same a year before it went in to prototype production .  But certainly anyone who saw the Lampitt base is convinced that he was the designer behind the  “Hasbro” base, not anyone at Waddingtons.” This bit of info adds a layer to the story… He did also add that he wasn’t accusing the Trevor and the Team of any wrongdoing its all just coincidences…

Although the base should be called the Mono Bloc base Trevor also said to me “I don’t mind it being termed hasbro as at the end of the day they paid my wages and funded it and help keep subbuteo alive a bit longer as profit and sales numbers were king. Reduce costs increase profit” We Forget Subbuteo was a product at the end of the day and things change to keep things profitable…

The introduction of the Hasbro range complicated matters with a new numbering system, creating challenges for cataloging. Many references retained their old numbers but had “63” added to the front, while new teams were assigned numbers starting with “631.” For instance, Arsenal’s home kit, previously reference 774, retained the last three digits, becoming 63774, while the new kit released in 1996/97 became 63131. However, there were instances where this system was not consistently applied, such as Wimbledon’s Elonex kit remaining as reference 63749.

In the 1997/1998 season, new kits/refs were assigned numbers beginning with “633.” However, teams were occasionally sold with incorrect or old reference numbers, particularly prevalent in the Premier League range.

Anomalies include Newcastle’s reference 63277 (Newcastle Brown Ale kit) and the special edition England kit with reference 61246, which will be added to the uncatalogued section. Wimbledon will be included in the 631 page, possibly also on the old numbers 63xxx page.

Finally, after the attempted cancellation of Subbuteo in 1999, one final range of teams was released in 2000, covering the top clubs in the league at the time (and Tottenham;)). Unfortunately, the quality was not up to par. Subbuteo ceased production after this range in 2000, bringing an end to the original run of Subbuteo and for many Subbuteo hasn’t come close to reviving since… To be fair the writing was on the wall years before its final ending with Trevor Spencer himself advising the discontinuation of Subbuteo as early as 1998 and was generally going to be acted upon until backlash kicked the can along the road till 2000 with the final few teams based on

For a more detail look and info on the Hasbro Range http://www.peter-upton.co.uk/sub24.htm