Flick to Kick: An Illustrated History of Subbuteo

I never knew until now that there was a Subbuteo Space Game!


Nostalgia is not always discarded   January 9, 2005
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

For a true subbuteo enthusiast, this one comes as a "holy book" of faith. Packed with information about the origins and the evolution of the game, guides the reader form the early years when we really played the game on our knees to the glorious era of the 80's when hundreds of players attended every major local or international event, sometimes in front of hundreds of spectators like it happened in Athens 1986 Subbuteo World Cup. Recalling rhousands of memories with the help of splendid coloured photos, showing old and rare equipment or advertisements and catalogs of the game through the years, this book can't go without notice by any devoted subbuteo fan. Perhaps not useful to people who would wish to improve their technique, this book is definitely NOT a training manual for table football players, but it certainly helps discovering (or remembering) a magic that no longer exists around modern football tables. If "Roy of the Rovers" used to be your favourite read, if you ever tried the "long swerve" successfully, if you ever felt your heart beating out of control before you flick for a penalty kick, if you still have a laugh talking about that match you lost in extra time with some old friends, DON'T MISS this one!!


Missed opportunity   January 2, 2005
3 out of 14 found this review helpful

This is a competent history of the company, i.e. rather than the game of table soccer. It's basically a coffee table book, full of nostalgia-inducing photographs. The author gives himself away here and there as not a serious player. For example, he says in the Introduction that he knew very few people who played the game on the table, which only shows that he didn't take it up at club level. I also don't believe for a minute that he and his brother had 'special Subbuteo cushions' to kneel on. And it's complete nonsense to claim that he had to limit the number of people who simply wanted to watch him and his friends play. I played for years in leagues with friends, and don't recall a single specator, including our parents. He gets very confused when making commentary on Subbuteo's skills instructions for spin flicking. For a start, he neglects to mention that these shots are only remotely possible with the old-style flat figures. He also refers to the 'reverse turn' as being very useful when in 'your opponent's penalty box' - another example that he doesn't play the game at any decent level, i.e. because virtually no play ever takes place in the opponent's penalty box (it concentrates along the shooting line). He even reproduces the ridiculous and impossible 'long left swerve' (look at the shape of curve the figure is meant to take) and 'boomerang shot', claiming they are only possible with 'the proper Subbuteo bases', whatever they are - in fact, they are only possible if you cover your opponent's eyes then smash through his players while he's blinded. To be fair, he touches on the huge split that occured in the 1970s between the players and Subbuteo, the former abandoning what was inferior equipment and making their own, as well as organising much higher quality tournaments than the company. But he misses the story of Subbuteo offering a huge sum of money in the mid-1970s to the European Federation, to swing the players back to their product, and the fact the players turned them down.

So, all in all, it does what it says on the tin, in that it is indeed an 'illustrated history of Subbuteo', and as long as you appreciate that he means as in the company, rather than the sport, then you'll probably enjoy it. But let's hope someone someday tells the full and fascinating story behind this iconic game.


Flick to Kick: An Illustrated History of Subbuteo   June 2, 2004
Trevor Smith (Subbuteo Club, http://www.subbuteoclub.tk/) (Leicester, England)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I have just obtained my review copy of Daniel Tatarsky's "Flick to Kick - An Illustrated History of Subbuteo".

Though I do not have the entire finished version, I can reveal that it comprises 7 main chapters (average 15 pages in length) under the headings..."The glory of Subbuteo". "Life before Subbuteo" "The father of Subbuteo" "Up for the Cup" "The peak years" "Collecting" and "It's not Football but it is Subbuteo"

The most striking feature of the book for me was the fine picture quality. It contains 100 illustrations altogether, mainly in colour apart from some old archive material, and these are nicely interspersed with the text as each chapter unfolds. How much hard information you derive from it depends on your level of Subbuteo knowledge, but it's certainly written in a lively, often humourous style which holds the reader's attention throughout.

This is clearly a well-researched piece of work at least on a par with "50 years of flicking football" (which I thought was excellent) released back in 1996. The two are actually quite similar in some respects, but due to being more up-to-date and in full colour, "Flick To Kick" could be deemed a successful (and long overdue!) upgrade of its predecessor. I'm sure it will be the new Subbuteo reference book for a good while....at least until book 2 comes along, as briefly alluded to by the author.

I'm looking forward to this already!