Subbuteo have delayed their planned launch of a Damon Hill Five team due to a number of problems with the manufacturing process. Damon News spoke to Toby Leftnipple, the manufacturing manager for Subbuteo UK about the production problems.

"There are always issues which dog the launch of a new team but we are experiencing a surprisingly high number of difficulties with the Damon Hill Five line." commented Leftnipple. "We are having coloration problems with the 'Cot' figure. No matter what we try we cannot get the shirt to match that of the rest of the team. Both the 'Slim' and 'Chris' figures appear alright but in trial games proved to be so heavy that they would not move. Three testers suffered bruised fingers as a result. The 'Brads' model functions very well but always seems to miss when flicking from the left hand side and the 'Rick' one will not stay fastened to the stand because of a strange foot problem our engineers refer to as 'fruity'."

I asked Leftnipple if there were other models which troubled him. "There are some more curious issues, yes. The 'Bakes' character seems to be fine and yet every third or forth box we make is missing one for no apparent reason. Although out painters don't do it, every 'Rob' figure seems to have a bee on its back and the 'Dunc' goalkeeper - and this is the strangest thing - emits a yellowish-green slime as soon as a match starts."

I put it to Toby that the 'Scotty' and 'Tommo' seemed alright, at least. "Sadly, no. Everything seems well but when we tried the 'Scotty' out it kept travelling directly into the opposition models instead of going round them. The 'Tommo' runs into opposition models without even being flicked and had to be removed from the felt. To be frank, if these production problems cannot be rectified soon I fear the Subbuteo cannot continue with this particular team."

The Subbuteo position has worried Damon commercial manager, Rick, who commented "In an effort to show the Damon Hill commitment to the Subbuteo range of merchandising we will be playing or next game with a ball four feet in diameter." It may be a low-scoring game.