grey marble, even the first edition, for $800 is a decent price especially since you aren't looking at any shipping
just so you know what you are getting, ask if it is the Anniversary edition...it plays a little differently because the surface is different from the last grey marble edition...it is slightly darker and I have heard some pro-masters say it was a little slicker (not slippery, just slicker than other surfaces they have played on specifically comparing it to the grey marble that came after the Anniversary edition
these early grey marbles didn't all have the heat-treated rod and in my experience/opinion, that is the single best table change Tornado has made going back to the brown marble
you don't have to have heat-treated rods at every position but you will want them on the side you practice on for the 2, 5, and 3...these are about $32.5 each (plus shipping) so you will want to take that into account and perhaps dicker with the purchase price a little if you have to replace those rods
if they have "all" new men that is quite an expense on their part but I doubt they mean literally they are all brand new...
on the men...Tornado has gone through quite a few iterations on the men when they tried to move to Nylon...I won't go into all the details but you will want to ask them if they are the Nylon men...you don't want the Nylon men, each version had issues...hopefully the people you are dealing with will know and will be straight up with you...if they don't know, come back and we can talk about how to tell
just look at the men and make sure there is no dip on the front face of the foot of the man...this can not be corrected so if you have a bunch of men like that it is $5 (+ or _) a man to replace them
next on the men, you want to make sure that the side of the foot does not have a ridge where the mold came together...this isn't a show stopper because they can be sanded flat but you want to know what you are getting into
on the bummers and bearings
bummers first...if the bummpers are slightly too big, the ball will fit between the man and the wall easily...put the man on the wall and see if you can roll the ball between the man and the wall easily...if so, the bummpers are too big...this will rarely be an issued any spot other than the 5 rod and 3 rod (passing, catching, defending) hard tight wall passes...so you could have up to eight of those to replace at $2 a piece...again, not a show stopper but good to know
bearings...a lot can be said about bearings but if they are tight on the table (can loosen them by hand without a supreme effort) and there are no visable signs of tracking and the rod isn't loosy goosy (moving around a lot) then you are okay...the rod will have a little play normally, you just don't want tons of play...bearings come in 2 sections (the two halves inside and the one piece outside)...each is $3 so if you had to replace both sections it would be $6 per position...fortunately, you aren't likely to need to replace many of these and if there is an issue, you will likely be able to get away with just replacing one section
there are other things you could check but if you know cosmetically they are okay like you said and then you check the above and decide how much if any time and/or money that will cost you, you can make a offer on the table accordingly
LAST...play on both tables on both sides and see which one you like...if you know regulars who play on them frequently, ask them which they think is the best
if you have the money, it is a reasonable deal (not a steal, but a very reasonable deal) and you will be able to use it for 3 or 4 years and sell it for the same amount if you take good care of it
to me, the biggest thing is the table surface...this can be changed but it is expensive ($150)...if it is the darker green Anniversary edition top, you will need to decide if you want to live with that for at home play/practice if you decide to attend local, regional, or major tournaments because you will need to adjust from your table to those...I personally would prefer not to but it won't impact how good you can get and it may even be an advantage because you will go from home table less control to tournament table more control and that is better than the other way around
also, almost all tables are a little different from one edition to the other so it is very hard and expensive to keep up with the latest "tour" table
you can get all the parts you need at the best price possible at tornadofoosball.com owned by long time promotor and route owner Charles MacIntosh
http://tornadofoosb.powweb.com/store/index.htmlhappy hunting
bbt
Charles
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