Bad Boy Boxes Solo Keepers

This time I want to revisit a topic I touched on a couple of months ago Solo Goalkeeping. I watched the December edition of  Table Football Monthly  on YouTube, and saw a Solo Goalkeeper tested. I had already ordered a set of those Bad Boys, literally a couple of days before the December edition aired. Has they had not yet arrived, I was interested like many solo players to see them in action.

They duly arrived after Christmas, and once the box was opened I was a little underwhelmed, the description on eBay said some assembly required what it failed to mention was complete assembly and that glue would be necessary to complete this task, to give you an idea of the contents of the packet I’ve inserted a photo below.

 

The assembled Keeper is constructed from the component parts on the right

 

It would have been better in my opinion if the keepers could have some way clipped or snapped together to make them playable rather than glueing a rather loose fitting construction together, but saying that it is what it is, and gluing them together is not that hard to do with a little care. So those of you who are expecting these to come ready to play don't say I didn’t mention the fact. Now I brought these second-hand off eBay. They originally came from “The Wobbly Hobby Shop”, and branded as Bad Boy Boxes or BBB for short. If you purchase these from any other source and they come ready to play please let me know, because I'm unsure at this moment in time where they are made or who is distributing them.

 

How do they play

 

Once assembled with some poly cement and left to do it’s job for a few hours (I would have used Super Glue if I had any to hand), they were ready for a training session. I used the goalkeepers in the diving position of which there are 2 in the kit to play a couple of games. My impressions so far is yes they fill my criteria for a solo keeper, which is form a barrier between the ball and the goal they’re light but heavy enough to do the job and produced some decent saves from some well hit shots. I never managed to get the goalie to end up in the back of the net with the ball, I did try but they were up to the task. Chip shots were more difficult to score compared to my diving blue tack variants I normally use, but I felt a decent ground shot was a little easier to score than I am used to with my variants. So it’s a case of swings and roundabouts, my variant is better for ground shots and the BBB is better (far better to be fair) with chip shots.

Are they worth the money

  

Well that depends on your budget I think the full price of the BBB’s is around £15 with postage and packing, this may be a little expensive for some players for what they are, especially as they have to be fully assembled before their debut. It would be nice in my humble opinion if they were sold separately instead of sets of 3 so you could mix and match poses and colours to suit yourself, and from the parts kit I received I would think that that would be possible as only the goalkeepers pose is a different part. For me they played well and are a sturdy structure when assembled but the price I feel is a little over priced for what they are. Maybe if sales take off in any significant numbers the price would reflect that in the future. I would also like the choice of pose and colour at this price point But like everything else in this world you pay your money and take your choice. I can only give you my opinion as I see it.

 

This started me thinking

Looking around my “Man Cave” or “The Boot Room” as my long suffering wife prefers to call it, because of all the football and Subbuteo items on shelves and adorning the walls, I had a thought. I have lots of thoughts in “The Boot Room” mainly where on earth did I put that then, or silently accusing my wife of daring to tidy my stuff to her liking. Yeah you guessed it I’m not brave enough to actually make the accusation because believe me “The Wrath of Khan” would be a walk in the park compared to “The Wrath of Her Indoors”. Anyway back to this thought. What if I could increase the size of my hybrid diving solo keeper, keeping its low drive saving abilities and increase it chances of stopping a chip shot. The solution proved to be a lot simpler than I originally thought. Who remembers the 4-2-4 table football game, also branded Grand Slam in later versions, if you do you have probably guessed what I’m about to say. The Goalkeepers in these sets were similar to Subbuteo, but had a plastic screen behind them making them wider and to possibly give the keeper a chance of saving the much smaller ball which that game used.

So I grafted a similar design onto my hybrid diving keepers. So in theory keeping it’s ground shot abilities and increasing it’s chip shot abilities at the same time.

Within minutes I was up and running and played a few friendlies just to see how they played. I was surprised that it actually worked, not perfect by any means but it did increase the chances of stopping a chip shot.

 

 My Hybrid keeper compared to the Bad Boy

 

 

I’m in no way trying to recommend my way as the best, just an alternative way of keeping goal in solo land. At the end of the day you go with a method or idea that suits yourself. Whether you buy or make your solo goalkeeping needs, matters not to anyone but you. In this post I’ve given you another couple of alternatives which both work, but the choice is not limited to any mentioned here or in previous posts, the choice lies with you as a player.

A question about solo goalkeeping

I was asked a couple of weeks ago how I use my solo goalkeepers in play, when do I move them, when can the spare goalkeeper be used, as they use a rodded goalkeeper in the normal way.

Well, my way is to place my goalkeeper anywhere in the goalkeeping area (6 yard box) at any time that the ball is stationary, this allows the attacker to hit a moving ball without the keeper being moved. When the Keeper is moved, it is positioned and once released that's it, no fine adjustment or changing your mind it now stays in that position until the ball has been played and is once again stationary. The spare goalkeeper can be used at any time providing the team has possession and he starts from anywhere inside or behind the 6 yard box, and may play the ball as a normal player with the 3 flick restriction, and may only be taken off the field if the ball is touched by a team mate. If the spare keeper loses possession it must remain where it is until the opponents have played the ball 3 times, lose possession, or the ball goes out of play.

If my spare keeper takes a goal kick it is replaced automatically after the goal kick has been taken providing the ball has travelled outside the shooting area, irrespective of possession.

To conclude

 

I’m all in favour of a moveable goalkeeper, rather than a static barrier it just seems more authentic for want of a better word, and as long as any saves made by the keeper are not flying around the pitch I would call that a result. The Bad Boy Boxes keeper does just that, so does the weighted cardboard, and blue tack mounted diving versions, in fact they all perform admirably, with a sense of realism. So go with your gut, if it feels right, only you will know, and it can be changed at any time you feel the need. Innovation is part and parcel of solo play.

I’d like to finish by wishing one and all a Happy, Prosperous, and Healthy New Year, and thanks to all players, collectors and innovators of the game, who keep this vintage and wonderful game alive and flicking.

Keep on Flicking.

 

Ian