Temporary exhibition at the Football Museum "Toy Football" (2023-10-11) by Football Museum | Photo: Ciete SilvérioThe Football Museum
When playing football, any piece of sidewalk or table becomes a field and it is possible to be a star even without knowing how to kick a ball – in your imagination, of course. With a few dolls, buttons and boards, it is possible to create sensational championships.
It was this playful and analogue universe that the Football Museum explored in the temporary Toy Football exhibition, held from October 2023 to April 2024. In this virtual exhibition, we present some of the highlights that are on display at our headquarters.
Toy is to be used! For sure. But some end up being kept in collections, intact, sometimes still in plastic. And that's the only reason we can know them even decades after their release. Toy Football is an exhibition about the act of collecting, this passionate activity, which tells life stories and helps preserve our collective memory.
Mini Craques Coca-Cola Trio Dunga, Ronaldo and Romário (2023-10-11) by Football Museum | Photo Rogério AlonsoThe Football Museum
A collection of football-related toys unites three fascinations: playing, collecting and football. More than just gathering objects, it's about playfully interacting with the sport in different spaces and dimensions. These toys are testimonies of historical moments, of characters and idols that marked an era.
Sérgio Paz at his residence (2023-10-11) by Football Museum | Photo Dóris RégisThe Football Museum
A large part of the Futebol de Brinquedo collection came from collector Sérgio Miranda Paz. Corinthiano, electronic engineer, hard-working former right-back and frequent visitor to the Pacaembu Stadium. A partner of the Football Museum since its creation, Sérgio is a passionate football collector. Below, you can learn about the history of some of the objects that are part of your collection. Some have been with him since childhood.
Toys from a childhood full of imagination
Sérgio's godfather was a watchmaker, which allowed him to create button teams from the covers (glass or celluloid) of wristwatches, as well as those made from coconut shells and clothing buttons. “We had a lot of fun choosing teams.”
Fulminating Kick (2023-10-11) by Football Museum | Photo Rogério AlonsoThe Football Museum
Fulminating Kick
Inherited from his older cousin, this game kept company for Sérgio, who often ended up playing the role of player and opponent. It was a racing game, in the same logic as “Snakes and Ladders”: whoever reaches the end of the route first, from the base to the top, wins. After rolling the dice, each player must move the corresponding number of spaces. If he stops at the snake's head, he must go down the path to its tail, as many spaces as necessary. Whoever reaches the last space, which is the goal, wins the game.
Roulette was played by Sérgio based on bets. The advantage was that playing around making endless bets was a guaranteed victory!
Grangol: an Argentine classic in São Paulo (2023-10-11) by Football Museum | Photo Ciete SilvérioThe Football Museum
An Argentine classic in São Paulo
One of the great memories that Sérgio carries with him is a trip to Argentina, around 1974 and 1975. He says that he received the game Grangol as a Christmas present and that it was an adventure carrying a box of those dimensions through the streets of the Buenos Aires capital.
Ludopédio: the perfect game for the January holidays (2023-10-11) by Football Museum | Photo Rogério AlonsoThe Football Museum
Sérgio Paz's Ludopédio was a gift from his grandmother, who, knowing her grandson's love for football, bought the game in a supermarket belonging to the former Eldorado chain, in Santos. In January it was the time when Sérgio's family took vacations on the coast of Santos, the same period in which the country's club teams sign their main players. For Sérgio, the feeling of the holidays was playing at climbing your team: “you felt like a top hat putting together the team for the season”.
Sergio Collector
Since completing his PhD in Communication Sciences at the USP School of Communications and Arts, when he developed research into the potential of football as a cultural heritage, Sérgio's collector's perspective has taken on new shape, or rather, many new forms! He became a regular at flea markets, such as the fairs at Bexiga, MASP and Praça Benedito Calixto, in São Paulo, and some of the objects in his collection come from these fairs and markets.
Pelé miniature (2023-10-11) by Football Museum | Photo Rogério AlonsoThe Football Museum
Sérgio does not define himself as a frequent buyer, but he confesses that he shares a passion for Pelé, which has already made him acquire objects related to the King. This is the case of a doll from the 1960s, which came as a gift in his Christmas basket. Amaral company.
A lover of football and everything related to his universe, Sérgio also has another passion: cycling. The love is so much that since 1994 he has decided to follow the world championships around the world on two wheels. His collection of World Cup mascots began in 1994, when he went to the USA to watch the games of that edition of the tournament. Since then, there has been no World Cup that has gone unnoticed.
Striker, the 1994 World Cup mascot
In 1998, on the back of his bicycle, Sérgio followed the French Cup. Still a beginning collector, he acquired the mascot from that edition and gave it to his mother as a gift. For years, his mother left the souvenir hanging from the car window, which caused it to fade and take on the marks of time. Today's collector tells this story with laughter and a bit of regret: “At the time, I didn't have this habit of collecting...”
Footix, the 1998 World Cup mascot
The mascot, a rooster, symbol of France, is called Footix, a tribute to Football and Asterix, a famous French comic book character.
A collection is not just made of mascots
This example of the Snoopy character, for example, was purchased when Sérgio and his bicycle went to the World Cup in Japan, in 2002.
Passionate about the 1970 World Cup, Sérgio doesn't miss the dolls that appear in front of him with a ball on their feet and/or a green/yellow shirt. Created especially for the 1970 World Cup, the Adidas Telstar ball became famous with its 12 black pentagonal segments and 20 white hexagonal segments. In addition to ensuring perfect sphericity, the contrast guaranteed better visibility on TV.
Scooby-Doo in blue and yellow and ball at his feet (2023-12-29) by Photo Sérgio PazThe Football Museum
Sérgio remains interested in obtaining new items for his collection. The most recent acquisition was a Scooby-Doo doll, acquired in December 2023 at the Praça XV Antiques Fair, in Rio de Janeiro.
"Over the last 5 decades, my toys and dolls inspired by football have been stored in my closet, almost hidden, in secret! What a pleasure that, in these 6 months, some of them have been shared with visitors to the Football Museum! Even more during this period when the main exhibition is closed. If I ever had any doubts as to whether it was worth keeping them for so long, now I'm sure YES! Thank you, FOOTBALL MUSEUM!" - Sergio Paz
FOOTBALL MUSEUM
São Paulo, January 2024.
IDBRASIL CULTURE, EDUCATION AND SPORT - Social Cultural Organization managing the Football Museum
Administrative Council
President - Carlos Antonio Luque
Executive Director - Renata Vieira da Motta
Administrative and Financial Director - Vitoria Boldrin
Technical Director - Marilia Bonas
Exhibition "Toy football, collectible football: toys, characters and stories on and off the field"
Curated: Brazilian Football Reference Center and Sérgio Paz
Texts: Fiorela Bugatti, Maíra Corrêa Machado, Renata Beltrão and Sérgio Paz
Review: Dóris Régis, Marcel Tonini, Renata Beltrão and Sérgio Paz Metadata: Dóris Régis and Everton Apolinário
Editing: Everton Apolinário
Image processing: Hugo Takeyama
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