Topic: Original Glasstop Tornado

[wildcard]

Its a home model, but still looks in great shape for its' age! Its right here in my hometown of OFallon, MO.

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/tad/3046716450.html

I hosted the pics in case the ad gets taken down before you get to see the table (don't know why some of them are resizing on this site)

[John M]

Does anyone know what is going on with the "ripple look" in front of the goal? Is that the underlying green surface? Is this normal. I have not seen a glass top tornado in real life.

[Tyler Foos]

John,

That's wind damage from the tornado.

Tyler 

[wildcard]

I believe the glass top overlays a paper surface (Charles can correct me if I'm wrong when he sees this), so the paper probably just came unstuck from the glass at one time. That is my guess anyway.

[wildcard]

This table was snapped up by Multi-table World Champion Steve Simon. Since it was only a few miles from my home I broke it down for him to have shipped back to Texas, and it was a beaut! Yeah, it was a home model but in great shape (other than some laminate missing on one leg), all original men and only one slotted bolt screw, the others were the original hex-heads. Original roller bearings, steel counter racks with 10 discs per side, glass surface in fine shape. I did a few pull shots from the two bar, and with the textured glass surface it "sizzled" down the table just like I remembered! Also a few closed-handed Euro front pins from the 3bar and it was smooth! I didn't try a roller though, probably just needed some lube but I didn't want to do any shots that struck the ball with force, since the men are about 40yrs old, lol. It even had a variety of old OLD balls, including the soccer type balls, one of the old yellow fuzzys, and one of the pinkish/orange kind that I remember getting divoted when you shot/stubbed to hard, and would leave crumbs on the table, lol. I envy him getting this gem, this is going to be a great collector piece once he gets it cleaned up!

[Tyler Foos]

Rick,

I'm really glad you posted the above pics as I had never seen a first generation Tornado before. It's really a good looking table, and I like the small angled area in the corners (would make for some interesting bounces) and the interesting shape of the framps. Glad it found a good home.

Take care..................................Tyler

[PatRyan]

Nice table!

And Tyler, that is a "second generation" Tornado table.  The very first tables did not have the "T" logo on them.  The very first tables had a different playfield logo.....A "D" with a tornado inside, the same logo as the professional soccer team, the Dallas Tornados (used with permission from Lamar Hunt, the owner of the Dallas Tornados).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/DallasTornado_logo.png

Either way, a very rare table!

Pat

[Tyler Foos]

Pat,

Thanks for the info. Other than the logo change, were there any differences between first and second generation?

Tyler

[PatRyan]

Tyler,

I am not sure of any other changes. 

Pat

[Flash]

Here is a new thread that I started with a first generation tornado.  As you can see, there are a lot of differences between first and second:  http://foosball.com/forum/index.php?topic=6036

If the link doesn't work, you can search for "first generation tornado".

I am looking for other information on this table, but have not been able to find anything at all.  Please reply to my thread if you have any additional information or pictures.  Thanks!