Topic: In the market for a table

[spyke zee]

i used to play on a non coin op dynamo in college. played constantly for three years. recently i decided id like to get back into it. so im looking to spend no more than $500 and i only want to have to drive a couple hours. i live in southern NH.

ive been searching and i found alot of tables. the two im most interested in are dynamo coin operated table. both are in oustanding shape. both roughly 2 hours away. and both asking about the same ammount. i have many photos of both tables. nothing needs replacing, and both have keys.

 
one is a brown top and comes with 21 balls. $550
other is a green top and comes with 7 balls. $575


one thing im wondering are the years they were made, and what they are worth in todays market. the owner of the brow top doesnt know any of its history, aside from he bought it from an old couple and has had it less than a year. the green one came from an arcade, has over 8,000 plays on it, and was made in the late 80's.

 

[alaskan thunder]

Spyke,

Welcome to the site. First and foremost, I will tell you to buy a Tornado. You will probably hear this from many on this site. The reason to buy a Tornado is that if you ever wish to play on tour or even in a local tournament, the only table it will be played on is a Tornado (with the exception being small pockets of Bonzini events). Tornado is basically an evolution of the 80's Dynamo IIRC.

That being said, if you are hell bent on buying a Dynamo, both tables sound pretty expensive for being 2x years old. A much newer Tornado coin op can be had for similar prices (3-5 years old). I would not worry about how many balls they come with since they may need replacing anyways and are not that expensive. I guarantee that Tyler T, who posts on here sometimes, is the man when it comes to the history of tables. Maybe he will chime in as far as when the tables were made and about how much you should pay.

Good luck!!!!   

[papafoos]

The brown top was about the middle 80's.  They were trying to attract the TS players after the TS tour ended.  I didn't care for the way it played.  It didn't play like the original Texas style and didn't play like the TS style.

If the green top is a glass playfield, it's probably pre-browntop.  If it's the laminated playfield it's probably post browntop.  Too much for either in my opinion.  They would however, make a decent home table if you don't have aspirations of becoming a tournament player.  For that price, I'd hold out for a Tornado or Fireball.

[spyke zee]

thanks. what should i offer the sellers?

ive seen a few tornados for around that price too. any models i should avoid for tornado? ive seen a twister II and storm for sale that are around $500.

[alaskan thunder]

Buy a Tornado coin op. Grey marble is probably the best in your price range, but any one will work. I would suggest only getting a coin op for a whole host of reasons (you can find them as they have been posted 1000's of times here). Be patient and you will be able to find one that fits the bill.

[alaskan thunder]

BTW if you use a good site mash site like this
http://www.jaxed.com/cgi-bin/sd.cgi?cat=spo&fil=tornado+foosball&state=&submit=go

its pretty easy to find what you are looking for

[spyke zee]

well there is this one. not too far but more than i wanted to spend.

http://burlington.craigslist.org/spo/2102976215.html

[alaskan thunder]

Yeah he's is asking way too much. Seriously though, if you are patient and a good negotiator you can def. find one for around $500.

[spyke zee]

i guess ill work on that one for 8 hundoh. ill be lucky yo get him down to 6 let alone 5. thanks for the help so far. hit me up if anyone sees anything in new england for coin op.

[bbtuna]

this and it will help you...this is probably the most common question asked on here and this should answer most of your questions and even some you haven't asked but should 

http://www.foosball.com/forum/index.php?topic=2704.0

what is your background in foosball and do you play or have you played any tournaments and how much are you willing to spend top dollar amount?  email me any time if you want to work on this, I am willing to help any time

[spyke zee]

thanks for the help. im going to pick up my table tomorrow. getting a brown marble for $450 with spare parts.

i think i have it posted above. he was asking $800.

[Dirty]

If you are interested in finding out what Dynamo tables they are... take a look here - http://www.foosballsoccer.com/tables/dynamo

It looks like the green is a gold medal table and the brown would probably be a silver medal, since the Bid D brown table came out in 2010. I would also recommend buying a Tornado if you have the option to start fresh. Take a look at the Tornado selection on that site and I would recommend looking for a Storm II - http://www.foosballsoccer.com/tables/tornado

[frosty]

Wow!  For "not having much of a selection in the Burlington area" you sure did come up big!  If the table is in decent shape as it looks, imho you picked up a sweet deal for $450.  5 spare rods alone are worth a chuck of change, but when you throw in the other parts too

[spyke zee]

thanks for all the help everyone, and a special thanks to bbtuna!

the tables home. ive cleaned it and replaced the one broken man it had. got lots of new spare parts. bought 12 new pink balls, and hope to have them soon. table came with 5 white smooth balls. i dont care for them much. not very good for ball control.

took a little while cleaning it and leveling her out but its amazing now. very little damage to the case and no damage to the field or white walls at all.

the only thing that doesnt work is the plays counter. looks like it stopped working around 4400 plays.

ill get some nice pics up tomorrow.

[spyke zee]

ok so it took a little longer for the pics but since then ive stripped down every rod, man, bumper, and bushing. i scrubbed everything in the hottest water i could tolerate. ended up replacing 2 rods, one handle, and i put brand new men on the front lines.

im not sure how the counter works (mechanically) but there is a lever on the counter that does work if i move it. the number will increase. i feel like there is a part missing. maybe a cable, idk. im also missing a game win counter on the top. i see the factory drilled holes. im thinking they were removed for the token player marker. im also missing the locks for it.

one question. is there supposed to be a coin bin? like how a dynamo has its own.

anyway here are the pictures of it. after all the work it feels almost brand new. one thing im a little concerned about is that there are "dead" channels in between each row it seems like. the balls just like to stop dead perfectly between the men. resulting in alot of reserves. i dont remember this happening on the dynamo i used to play on in college. all my foos playing friends think the tables is great so i guess im being too picky for a table of its age. truethly, i love it.