Catan Collector

In 2008, Klaus Teuber wrote a background story to the Catan Robbers, the three harmless fellows who go around plundering resources every time a "7" is rolled.

Sadly when Catan.com was revamped a few years ago this old story appears to have got lost in the transition.

It is possible that the story was dropped as the three robbers do have less significance for players using the wooden robber in the English language Catan, however for most other countries the plastic robber used since 2002 has usually featured Chief, Bert and Lucky. So that the story of "The Robbers of Catan" is not lost, I have reproduced the original page as presented by Klaus Teuber back in 2008. Underneath the article I also have some images of the robbers in their different formats.

A Brief History of the Robbers of Catan
by Klaus Teuber

No doubt, every Catan player has held him in his hands countless times - the robber.

Until 2002, he used to appear in the shape of a black, lathe-turned game piece, to plague the terrains of Catan and stall their resource production. If credence can be given to what people told me in e-mails I received during those years, it was a time when the robber caused more than just raised tempers. Even marriages are purported to have broken up because of him.

The truth is that the robber is a harmless fellow who is merely taken advantage of by the players, for the sake of their own benefit. He is pushed around from terrain to terrain, unable to escape his sometimes quite harsh destiny. And he doesn't always end up safely in the box after a game. Many e-mails sent to Kosmos Verlag during the past years bemoaned the loss of the robber, reporting a bitter end for the fellow in black.

For example, it seems that he was swallowed by dogs, which surely happened because he was touched with hands still sticky from clasping burgers and fries. Children, not knowing anything about his importance, apparently threw him into the toilet and sent him on a long journey through the sewer pipes. Some robbers experienced a hot finale in the fireplace, and others were simply lost.

To me, the robber never was the villain many people see in him. Actually, I always saw him as a group of three harmless, maybe even likeable robbers.

I materialized this perception in 1997, when I created the game piece “Teuber’s Robbers,” as it was called later. Based on my wax model, several thousand pieces were cast in plastic and painted in China. Later they were given away for free at various events.

The game piece “Teuber’s Robbers” was very coveted; therefore, in 2006, I decided to rework it and commissioned a German manufacturer of pewter figures to cast and paint the pieces. For some years, they were available for everyone at the Catan Shop (not longer available).

The robbers had matured, and each of the three cronies had been given his own distinctive character. Now the idea of telling little stories suggested itself – stories that would make the daily routines of the robbers on Catan come alive. As an introduction, I would like to familiarize you a bit with the robbers’ personalities.

	The gang boss is called “Chief.” Chief is a sly leader who takes care of his group as long as it works to his advantage. However, if his own interests are threatened, charity begins at home.
	Lucky is a bit slow and, thus, more of the naïve type. He is the unlucky fellow of the group. But he is good-hearted and couldn’t harm anybody, not even a sheep.
	Bert is always hungry, which is why not getting enough to eat is his greatest concern. He is sluggish and is not exactly crazy about work. His favorite dish is – how could it be otherwise – roast lamb.

I hope that the comics give you an idea of the sometimes pretty tough life of the robbers on Catan, so that next time a “7” is rolled you are not too mad at the three fellows blocking the production of your terrains.

© 2008-2009 Catan GmbH - Created by Klaus Teuber - Illustrated by Georg Zitzmann

 The Three Robbers over the years

Below is an image featuring different versions of the three robbers as they have appeared over the years.

The items are:

1. The original 1996 English language 1st/2nd edition Robber
2. The  1997 English language wooden Robber in the original black, politically correct grey and 25th anniversary silver. This black robber was also the German/International robber from 1995 until 2002.
3. The 2002 plastic robber from International sets. Comes in a variety of shades from mid-grey to almost black. These colour differences are probably manufacturing differences, more than deliberate versions.
4. The original 1997 hand-painted "Teuber's Robbers" as crafted by Klaus Teuber himself. Now quite rare and very collectible
5. The 2005 10th Anniversary 3D Robbers. Only available in the 3D sea chest edition of which just 8,000 were made (5,000 English, 2,500 German and 500 Dutch)
6. The rare 2006 hand-painted pewter Robbers. Only released in limited numbers.
7. An, apparently even rarer, unpainted pewter robber from 2006.  I was told the unpainted ones were only used for proofing the mold quality before painting and that they were never released for sale.