Topic: Tournament Soccer Collection

[Foosballer2013]

Gonna try to post a few pics for the first time. I enjoy all you Tornado guys. Here's the foosball I remember.

http://flic.kr/ps/2LZjW7

[mickpick63]

Hey there Mr. Foosballer2013,

Great pics.....brings back awesome memories of days gone by....I needed that....it's good to know you are keeping TS alive and in very good standing.  It's been great getting to know you these past weeks!!  Keep up the good work!

Your fellow TS fooser....................Mike

[Foosballer2013]

Thanks Mike
Are you ready to start making coin doors from parts cabinets?? haha

[Buckshot]

Great pictures, Foosballer2013, definitely brings back memories.

I owned two TS tables, the Green Top Butcher block you have and the Brown Top you have. My good friend & doubles partner for many years, the late Steve Luis, owned a Blue Top like yours. I had almost forgotten about those skinny little handles on the early Tournament Soccer tables, they were the worst! They made your hand sweat so bad you pretty much had to wear gloves or use stickum on the handles. I had a nasty pullkick with a crazy grip on those handles, and when the Brown Top came out with the fat handles it didn't work so I switched to a backpin. That Brown Top was an awesome backpin and bank table.

Keep up the good work on your restoration project, I'm impressed.

[Foosballer2013]

Thanks Buckshot
Yea, sweaty grips... never good.  I love 3bar banks on the bluetop, the composition of the red/blue men seemed a little softer than the browntop newer men allowing for a bit more grip and ball control. And from what I have read about Tournament Soccer, the fatter grips were actually a design mistake that they ended up using anyways.
Are you still playing?

Foos on.
Randy
Eugene, OR

[Buckshot]

Still kinda sorta playing. I played in one bar tournament and one real tournament recently after a 22 year lay off. I have a Fireball table which I love, but I play mostly by myself, just practicing. Too bad Fireball abandoned the people who believed in them. To the tune of $1,347.00.

[Foosballer2013]

Im sorry you were abandoned by Fireball.  They were one of the tables that older players could still feel comfortable on. The 3 man goalie never made sense to me and I would never utilize the purpose of having it.  Tic-tacking, while cool to watch for a second, doesn't make much sense to me. Good backpin control takes care of resetting a ball anywhere you want it. Just my opinion. Tornado style of play is very impressive, just a little slow for me. The only time i stop play is to make sure the other guy is ready to be scored on.lol

 I would never judge a man by the table he plays on... to play the game well should be respected by all. Hopefully you patch things up with Fireball. It's hard to walk away from something you believe in... even if they walk away first.

Randy

[frontman]

I am building my 2nd foosball table and i would like this one to be coin operated. I already have the coin slider and now I am trying to design the rest of the ball return mechanism.

Does anyone have any more pics of the mechanism  shown in some of the pics in this post or could someone possible explain a little about how this mechanism works?

In one pic i see a wood post connected to the steel rod with what looks like a rubber band or rope , can anyone explain that?

Do the balls drop when the coin slider is pushed in or when it is released ?

Any info, pics or ideas appreciated!

[Foosballer2013]

Frontman
Tournament Soccer came out with 2 different ball catch mechanisms.  The earlier one was on the Greentop 1/4 million, and the updated one started being used on the Blue and then the Browntop tables.  The coin plunger pushes in against the catch bar, rolling it up and releasing the balls.  The thick white rubber band is to ensure the ball catch returns back to the down position.  The parts you are looking for are rare and very hard to come by.  Which TS table do you have and I will help you find one.

Foos on!
Randy

[mickpick63]

Hey Frontman,

Here are some pictures of my collection, one of them shows the internals of my Brown Top and the Ball Catch that Foosballer2013 is talking about.

http://s839.photobucket.com/user/mickpick63/media/6cb6446c-6661-4e99-9524-d3d901c12a58_zpsdc383071.jpg.html

If you notice on top of the ball catch are 2 (two) wing nuts, they are there so you can adjust the stop on the inside of the ball catch to deliver the number of balls you want per push of the coin mechanism.  There is a spring loaded door on the entrance end of the ball catch that blocks any more balls from being released until the catch is back in the down position.

Keep on foosin!!!!

[Foosballer2013]

The metal ball catch mechanism is held in place by 2 pieces of thin plywood on either side that slide up and down freely.  This is to be able to remove the catch for free play.  The coin plunger also needs to have a tab attached to it to make contact with the ball catch bar. Post a couple pics.  Im sure between myself and mickpick, we can steer you in the right direction.

[man caveman]

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/tag/4344960545.html

this looks like one of your babies

[Foosballer2013]

Caveman
That is one of the first attempts at a coin-op arcade model after the fall of TS in '81. I have only seen that cabinet style on one other TS table before. It was on what was labeled the 'Silver Edition' and came out with a blacktop field, grey butcherblock cabinet with a plexiglass top to protect the field from beer, ashes, etc. That pictured field is off of a Premier table, but i believe the cabinet is TS. I have a vintage flyer in my collection for the Silver Edition coin-op and it looks the same except for the tan butcherblock.  I have limited my collection to pre '79 but i know that mickpick has a '96 TS coin-op in his collection thats in very nice shape. 
Thanks for sharing, Caveman.
Randy
Foos On!