Topic: Whats the best fooseball table?

[b2|Imp]

Hey guys, my and my dad recently renovated our basement and turned half of it into a game room. We have been playing fooseball for around 5 years and our table we got at the sporting good store is breaking way too much. we are looking for the best possible fooseball table out there. we arent really into any fancy woodwork but just a well performing table.
I read a lot of topics on the forum and it seems like you guys really know whats going on.

Thanks for readin, any help is appreciated.
-Andrew

[viking]

Andrew, it seems that this "chat room" is actually a ghost town; there's only been an average of one post per day for the past couple weeks.  I guess people who play foosball, don't actually want to get online and talk about it much, except for us newbies 
So I'll try to answer your question myself.  From my research online, and again, I'm a newbie myself, it looks like Tornado's Tournament 2000 table is the most popular among serious players.  However, if you're not interested in spending $1,175 plus shipping charges which can be up to $300 depending on where you live, Tornado does make less expensive tables which are also fairly good quality.  Check out www.tornadofoosball.com
For my money, I'm buying a Shelti Pro Foos II.  Shelti's a fairly new company out of Michigan started by some management that left Valley Rec Products which makes Tornado tables, I believe.  Anyway, the Shelti tables have (arguably) the same quality as Tornado and they are slightly cheaper.  The Pro Foos II is about $1,000 but includes shipping.  The Pro Foos III is about $200 more but features a split cabinet which I think is unnecessary for home use.  Check out www.shelti.com to see the entire line of Shelti tables; they also make less expensive tables for home use.
One other thing I should mention:  The Tornado and Shelti tables are reported to play slightly different.  The Tornado promotes more of a fast and furious, power and speed game.  The Shelti tables play slightly slower and offer more ball control.  I'm not sure why this is.  I believe it may be due to differences in the hardness and texture of the ball/man contacts and also possibly the sides of the playfield.  Let me know what you and your dad decide to buy.
-jon

[b2|Imp]

Alright, thanks for the help we will be looking into getting one of those two tables

[b2|Imp]

I got 1 question though. with that Tornado 2000 there is a change thing on the side lol? do you havto use that? and also does this Tornado 2000 table have like nice bearings where the rods go through?

[stevefromlv]

Andrew,

THis is a ghost town.  Another site you should check is "Coloradofoosball.com."  Colorado has a lot of very good players, nationally ranked pros, and they have over 500 very chatty members.  They will give you lots of advice.  My advice is this.  It depends on what you want to do.  If you are serious about tournaments, then you have to get a Tornado table of some sort.  This is the table US tournaments and the World tournament in Dallas is played on.  ANy other table will be different and, even though the difference may be subtle, they will through you off for professional play.  A new Tornado table will cost you 1500.00.  You can usually pick up a used table for 600 - 800.00.  Since these tables are designed for extended play, such as in bars and arcades, they will last for a long time and a used table will go forever at home.  THe coin operated talbles are better than the "home editions" since they are heavier and play is exactly like the tournament tables.  The coin mechanism is easily bypassed by moving some parts around when the table is open - and the balls just pass through.  Good luck.

[JimWaterman]

Wow... tough question!

They are ALL good!  Different strength and weaknesses.... different tables favor different playing styles or shooting styles....   Think of foosball as a Toy , Game & Sport!

Believe it or not, it would appear that as a "toy"... some folks seem to prefer the el cheapo tables with real bearings (versus bushings) that kids can just spin/spin and spin the rods like crazy and get those super slick (impossible to pin) ice cube balls ping ponging all over the table!
So.. the $200 to $400 price range means it's the BEST bang (or uh... er.. spin) for your buck!
There's a huge amount of people playing "toy" foosball... and it's a challenge of our "sport" to educate and move a few of those people to the game or sport level of play!

Think of the "game" of foosball... now as soon as you figure out that spinning is "illegal"   (yes.. it IS illegal in serious competitions).. and once you see what can be done once you stop spinning and learn the tips/tricks/moves of hard core foosball... you'll never go back!)  Then you will be calling the "best" foosball table the one in which you can experiment with control... maneuvering / passing / shooting... essentially developing your skill.   Luckily there is a growing number of tables that allow you to advance your skills beyong the "toy" level.    There's even a few things you can do to your "toy" tables to allow for better playability (cork foosballs for a cheap way to get control.... or trying to fit better shaped/textured foosball man on your table also can help).    There's probably fewer foosball "game" players out there than "toy" players... but one this group get's a few awesome skills under their belt.. and they get hopelessly hooked on the awesome game of foosball.. they can maybe move into the next level of foos.

The "sport" of foosball!   Great tables at this level should be thought of as a piece of sports equipment.    They tables must perform well... and allow for fair/uniform/consitent play.  Quality components and durable cabinet/parts help....   but...   foos has such a varied "style" of play that you'll never get folks to agree as to the best one!      There's also some interesting areas about "sports equipment" that is best for different ages of player (based on skill development, or strength development).   What's the best "bat" for baseball?  Why do colleges use aluminum.. and pro's still with wood (cork center is optional )

Hmmm... i guess i've been thinking about some of this too much!    happy foosing folks.. JimW

[cutthispasqual]

OK, I have to represent Canada here.

I've seen and played on these Tornado tables and I don't understand what the fuss is about. I realize they have been adopted across america as THE table because it is used at the Championships and in all professional play, but growing up just north of Toronto Ontario, there's nothing better than a FABI table. The players are smaller, there's only one goalie on the back line and the corners are slanted to keep play moving.

In my opinion, when it comes down to pound for pound foos talent, anyone who plays well on a FABI is more skilled than a similarly ranked tornado player. However, it's my opinion and I live in Canada, so I don't expect to be taken seriously anyways.

.mike.

[JimWaterman]

All foos is good foos .Mike.   so we'll take your opinions seriously...

The "style" of play on different tables is one of the cool things that make foosball so unique.   I haven't played on FABI... but am pretty sure that i'd be humbled first time out.   I have gotten to play a few tournaments on Bonzini.. .and it took some getting used to.. but i'm comfortable with my double game (still very uncomfortable with singles)... but it's a very enjoyable table.   Tornado is solid and fast.. but I still remember fondly my first few years playing Tournament Soccer!   So that's still one of the "BEST" in my opinion!      JimW

[SumnerH]

we are looking for the best possible fooseball table out there. we arent really into any fancy woodwork but just a well performing table.

Andrew,

Where are you located?  I'll echo some of the other opinions: Garlando, Bonzini, and Tornado are the dominant tables for tournament play in North America, with Tornado being far and away the leader in the US (and big in the UK as well).  Garlando is popular in parts of Canada (and in Austria/Italy/parts of the UK).  Bonzini is popular in parts of Virginia and North Carolina (though Tornado is popular there as well), is spreading south, and is popular in parts of Canada, notably Quebec (as well as France).

I like to analogize with tennis.

Tornado is like the hard-court game, mostly about speed and power.  It uses a hard urethane ball that has a fuzzy texture, and has plastic men with medium-width feet.  There are 3 men on the goalie rod (so no banks in the corners) which argueably helps you set up the ball for goalie shots.  Sliding push/pull shots are common.  Banks are tougher to execute, but high-speed brushes (like shot recoil) are easier to control than on most tables.

Bonzini is like the clay-court game, lots of control.  It uses a cork ball which is very different, you gain a lot of "grippiness" and can move the pinned ball around a lot but it's much harder to shoot sliding pull/push shots (you have to have the ball in front of the rod to do them effectively).  It has metal men with narrow feet--narrower feet increase scoring from goal and make it really quick to get around the ball on pin shots, but make catching harder and make kick shots tougher (as well as making defense trickier).

Garlando is like the grass-court game, very much about speed and historically the least grip of the 3 tables (I haven't played on the new generation which supposedly improves this some).  Medium-width feet, plastic balls, blasted glass surface.

The Shelti is an oddball, similar to a Tornado (3 man goalie, etc) but it is a grippier table (which helps catching and pin shots) and very wide feet on the men (which makes pin shots tougher but helps push-kick/pull-kick shots and defense).  Overall pin shots are easier than on tornado.  If the feet weren't so darned wide it'd be my favorite table, play-wise.

As it is, I prefer the Tornado style of play but they all have their good points.  I would probably get whatever table is used for tournaments near where you are so that once you've practiced some you can go see the good players in action and take them on.

[SumnerH]

I've seen and played on these Tornado tables and I don't understand what the fuss is about. I realize they have been adopted across america as THE table because it is used at the Championships and in all professional play, but growing up just north of Toronto Ontario, there's nothing better than a FABI table.

For Andrew:  The FABI table he's talking about is a lot like the Garlando table.  Not identical but similar.  FAS is another table that's nearly alike with those 2.

If you hear people talking about Rene Pierre, that's basically identical to Bonzini.

[Daniel]

Hey check out the poll on the fav table
http://www.foosball.com/forum/index.php?topic=115.0

[Thunder]

The best football table i ever played on is a Jupiter. www.jgc.be if you go to this website you have an idea about some tables. The accuracy of this table is extreme high, the rods are light, the table is heavy en there are 'rollerbals' in the table so the pulling and pushing of the rod is very easy. You can make high speed accuracy shot with this table... I have one at my home so...enjoy...

[reedkickball]

What's the best foosball table? 

If you want to eventually compete, get a tornado table, because they sponsor all the tournaments in the US.

I prefer my Deutscher Meister table however over tornado.  I'm not a fan of tornado, because the game is slower, the ball the shape of the men provide much easier control.  The ball is usually stopped and pinned, more than it is moving.  Alternatively it's much harder to pin the ball (especially with slick and non-urethane balls), on a Deutscher Mesiter table, there's more reaction and speed needed.

Choose what you want, the tables are much different.  An example, I get beat on tornado table, and against the same opponent, they'll have a hard time scoring at all on my table.  They complain that they can't control the ball to set it up to shoot on my table.

[CJStick]

Deutscher Meister Are my fav. grew up in a bowling alley/bar, Dad worked the counter and Mom was a waitress. played alot of fooseball on Deutscher Meister and now own 1. the new bar tables are crap a Deutscher Meister just feels right

[garabdorje]

You just brought back from the grave a very old post.

I will update it. The best table in north america as of today is the Fireball table. German design china make under german terms this equals to best price quality ratio in the market today. And they replaced Tornado as an official table for international tournaments under ITSF license.

They also have the most extensive model line for everybody's need.  From a sport cheap model to a super pro super durable heavy duty coin op table.

So thats it. This is the upgrade.

See ya!

Here's the link

http://fireballtablesoccer.com/