Hello all.
A few weeks ago I decided that my garage needed a foosball table. Initially I had always hoped to have a few standup arcade machines out there (and that may happen yet). My wife and I entertain a lot and I surmised that a foosball table would have more universal appeal to guests. Against my normal protocol of researching something thoroughly before dropping money I went straight to Craigslist. Found a Gibraltar table locally for 150 bucks and purchased it. It's in good enough shape. There are a few scratches on the play field that I did not consider a big deal at the time. It is a ton better than anything I ever played at my fraternity house in college. I liked the idea of one goalie as well, even though I had always played with three. Admittedly the drink holders on the side sort of sold me too(remember, I played on cheap tables in college. I was honestly surprised that the table was heavy enough to not move around while playing. That's how low my expectations were).
I did my research after getting it home and became less and less pleased with my purchase. Sure it's solid, in good shape, and looks to be able to stand some abuse. But will I outgrow the table? Who knows. I tend to become very entrenched in a hobby for a little while before devoting less time to it if not abandoning it completely (My collection of guitars and short wave radios can attest to this). On one hand I feel like I succeeded with what I set out to do, which was buy a foosball table to play with guests. Now I'm realizing that I probably could have waited around for a better deal. In fact the following week a Storm II got posted locally for 250 bucks in supposed perfect condition. And if it holds my interest I now realize I will want to upgrade down the road.
I suppose in the long run 150 bucks isn't THAT much money, and if I wanted to sell and upgrade I could probably at least get my money back on the table. I'm definitely going to keep searching around for a Tornado coin-op (although those Fireballs look pretty sweet too). I've ordered 4 Tornado balls to replace the solid white ones that came with the table, so I'm hoping that helps with some of the shortcomings I'm sure to experience.
So in short, hello. I have lurked here reading through threads since I had the original idea to purchase a table. I have gathered a ton of information I wish I had before I went shopping. I am definitely looking forward to learning strategy beyond hitting the ball as hard as I can toward the goal.
Oh and if someone wants to chime in and assist me in rationalizing my purchase of a Gibraltar table feel free.
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