Topic: Tornado Platinum Edition

[ClearScreen]

Valley-Dynamo has just updated their website with the new Tornado Commercial and Home table.  Here is a link to the Commercial table:

http://www.vdlp.net/tornado/Platinumtouredition.asp

I wonder if this means that the update kit is now available.

[foozkillah]

cls,

Thanks for the info!  A lot of people were wondering.

What's your price breakpoint for updating your table, if you have one, or were you just hoping to get a completely new one?  The decision to keep the unique 3player goalkeepers that Tornado helped pioneer 2 decades ago must make the update kit much more attractive.  That is, versus updates to the strips and bearings and men, but having to play brandnew Tornado's with ramps.

[ClearScreen]

I actually purchased a used T-2000 from Charles MacIntosh (TornadoFoosball.com) in April of this year.  That was before the cut-off purchase date for the "free update kit" - June of 2008.  I was looking to get the update kit if it was reasonably priced.  I saw the letter from Dave Courington that the discount would be "significant" for a purchaser of a T-2000 prior to June, but I have no idea what significant means.  I sent him an E-Mail and he told me to contact TornadoFoosball.com for pricing, which I did, but they have no pricing on the update kit and won't until mid-October (which is now).  I was searching the web trying to find any pricing on the update kit when I saw the new table on the Valley-Dynamo website and thought I would post it here. 

I don't have a price breakpoint in mind for the update kit right now.  My men, bearings and scoring beads are fine for me - a non-tourney player - but I would like new handles (the used handles have some wear and wrap residue on them and are a little sticky and gross, according to my wife).  I won't go nuts replacing everything if the price is ridiculous when I could replace all 8 handles for $75-80. 

On a side note, I don't know how Valley-Dynamo normally conducts business, but the "free" update kit for purchases after June 1, but not before, for the same table is pretty annoying and arbitrary.  If you purchased a T-2000 in 2008 prior to June, and the Pre-June and Post-June tables are manufactured the same way, why should I have to pay anything?  What happened in June? 

[Will17]

If you are a non tournament player and want to fix the handles being gross, the cheapest way would be to just get some wraps and leave them on permanently. You can get some that look really nice. Head down to sportchek and pick up 2 packages of tennis wraps. It will also help your play a bit, but it looks and feels nicer to have wraps over the handles, and it wouldn't make a difference which handle is beneath the wrap. the big one for me would be the new shape of the man, and the shaved bearing to stop the ball from slipping through. if those aren't a big deal to you then i woulnd't worry about the update kit.

[bbtuna]

the cut off is arbitrary but unless you are going to include "all" coin-ops purchased, any cut off will be like that and will leave someone out

anyone in the last calendar year? what if I missed it by a day or week?  why not my table, I bought mine new 3 1/2 years ago where others have bought theirs "tournament used"

I am not defending the decision or saying it should cover me but I am saying it will always leave someone out

just prepare to spend a couple bucks to get your table to current spec or live with it as is...it is still a good table and will teach you everything you need to know to be the next world champ

[ClearScreen]

I think you missed my point.  Tornado's letter specifically said the update kit applied to T-2000 with the stainless steel look - not to any other model year or style of table.  They were very specific in their letter.  Clearly, this was done by Tornado because they believed that this model table had certain changes which they believed should have been included or available to the consumer for that model and model year.  Since the free update kit was only for a limited and recent model of table, why does June 1 make a difference? 

By their actions, they have treated this like a vehicular recall/promotion for the current model year similar to where all purchasers of, say, a 2008 Ford Explorer will have their airbags replaced, free of charge, for whatever reason (defect, consumer complaint, change in federal safety standards, etc.).  What if Ford announced that, even though all 2008 Ford Explorers were made in an identical manner, on the same assembly line, regardless of what month they were made, only those purchased after a certain date were eligible for the free replacement.  It makes no sense from a customer relations standpoint.

Where it does make sense is, probably, from a financial standpoint from Tornado.  I would be willing to bet that a very large percentage of the 2008 T-2000 Coin-Ops with the stainless steel look were purchased before June 1, 2008.  Thus, Tornado is, in reality, giving out very few free "update kits" and is, in fact, charging everyone.  If that is the case, that is fine.  I just wish they would be honest about it.

[bbtuna]

Clear,

I hear you, I hate financially driven marketing decisions that are sold to me (the public) as if the company is magnanimous and doing the customer some huge favor...my company does it to employees all the time

I am so insulted by stuff like that and it makes me madder than a hornet

my point is, the difference in the metal wrap table and the other models, outside of the exterior, are basically the same and all the tables could use the kit...if they wanted to really take care of the customer they would go back at least through Grey Marbles

i would be willing to bet serious money that your logic on how they chose the date is 100% accurate...in the end, with 99% of businesses, all decisions are about money, their money...I have never seen Tornado give any indication that they are in the 1% exception group

[foozkillah]

That June 08 Cutoff may also be because, just about that time, the hubbub really intensified about the new, competing Warrior Table as its descriptions and all the rumors started flowing around about its specifications.

I'm sure a lot of foosball table buyers might have held off on buying a new table until the reviews and conclusions came out.  So those that bit the bullet and purchased Tornado's after June really committed to being in the Tornado fold, and might just have been rewarded.

Or, they just had a certain budget of how much to cover recent purchases and just calculated it backwards.

[Syronis]

I would guess the latter of the comments.