Topic: Help picking first table // On the Edge?

[navajas]

Hey folks,

I played a bit in college though never enough to acquire any fancy skills. We always had a blast. My family just got back from a vacation during which we stayed at a rental house with a, really, really, beat up, cheap flimsy foosball table. Even so, we had a great time playing on it.

So now I'm thinking about getting one for our home. I don't want / can't afford anything super extravagant. I have a bit of spending money from selling off some of my other nerd toys and hope to stretch it into, if I'm lucky, a pinball machine (which I DID play enough in college to acquire fancy skills!) and perhaps a decent foosball table.

I might have a chance to purchase an "On the Edge" diamond plate table with Mike's Hard Lemonade branding on it. From checking retail prices it looks like a good deal, and from the pictures the table appears solid. It also has a built in MP3 player with speakers which is a neat touch. However, looks and prices can be very deceiving so I thought I'd ask some experts if they've played on one of these tables, and if so, if you have any opinions, cautions, advice, etc...

Thanks for your help!

[papafoos]

Most of the serious players probably won't endorse that table.  If you ever have aspirations of getting semi-serious, I'd recommend Tornado or Fireball.  You might also consider Warrior or Bonzini.  Warriors can be pretty cheap sometime but I don't care for the quality.

Try to contact some of your local players for guidance.  Or tell us the general location where you are located and maybe some of them will contact you.

[navajas]

I'm not even sure "semi-serious" will describe me. I mean, I always thought spinning the rods was obnoxious (kind of like guys slamming the buttons on a fighting game), though I never knew until I came here it was actually against the rules, but I doubt I'll ever give a damn about passing requirements and such. How about more, "controlled / refined casual"? I'll mostly be playing with my kids (not the random screaming terrors most seem to be these days, they had a good time actually trying to control the ball for instance, not just flipping the rods around) my wife, family, that sort of thing.

It's entirely possible that I'll get good enough that the official rule set becomes more relevant, but I very much doubt my opponents ever will. What am I going to say, "Sorry first timer, that goal didn't count because you XXX off the YYY too many times."? I doubt that will go over very well. It's like pool: I'm not going to tell my 5 year old the ball he just sunk in the corner doesn't count because he was obviously aiming for the side pocket, you know?

I've been checking craigslist for Seattle, my closest metro.

Here's the tables that caught my untrained eye:

http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/for/2249801512.html  <---- That's the "On the Edge" one. Thing retails for $1000.
http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/spo/2249388828.html
http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/vgm/2248954011.html  <---- same as directly above?
http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/tag/2248758793.html

I very much appreciate your time and opinion!

[Anderson]

If you are only looking for a hobby table to entertain with the kids I think that any of those tables is a good deal. I kinda like the Quarter Million Dollar table because it brings me back to a table that I learned on. As a serious semipro player, I would only buy a table that has a reasonable sized player base and tournaments. I have a Fireball, would love a Bonzini if I could afford one, been told that Warrior is a fun table to play on, and of course there is Tornado which is where the biggest draw for Tournament players in the US. You'll have to spend anywhere between $800-$2500 for a truly great table to practice on for tournament level foosball, but the other choices are fine for beginners. Even if your kids get into it to the point of playing at that level, they probably would want to buy a table that's up to date, so getting an expensive table now is simply not feasible. However, if you can find any of those other tables used for less than $500, well it might be worth the extra cost.

[alaskan thunder]

Just buy a Tornado. If you ever get serious it's what you need. If you ever get bored and want to sell it it will actually have a resale (unlike 98% of other tables aka the one you listed). Read here for a bit and you will see 1000 reasons to not buy some crappy no name table. Not trying to be rude, just giving you the lay of the land.

[navajas]

Anderson: Thanks for the reply and advice! I'll keep an eye out for those brands you mentioned. The main thing is, we had a pile of fun playing on a table with a massive crack in the cheap particle board on one side, a dead spot every six square inches and a couple of goals that allowed a scoring kick fly out the return half the time. I don't want crap, but affordable durable mediocrity sounds fine.

Alaskan: I once went to a saxophone clinic with Branford Marsalis. I was a young and somewhat talented player, but I was also dead broke. I asked him if he had any advice, having heard me play, on how to pick out a new pro mouth piece since there were so many options. He said, "Just buy all of them and play the one that ends up your favorite." Ha! Thanks Branford! Yeah, no chance in the Hell of the Horny Dragon I'm dropping $1000+ on a foosball table just in case I suddenly decide to go pro. I mean, I appreciate it's the no risk choice, and they're the consensus best table, it's just makes no sense for me to do.

Hopefully there's a graded slope of qualities at the lower/mid end of things, you know? Not just Tornado is #1, and the rest all tied at somewhere down by the Wal*Mart $79 special.

[K-man]

I think the consensus here is that you can obtain a quality table for about what you would spend on a big box store table if you're patient.  Personally I've encountered two Tornado tables in my area on Craigslist in the past 3 weeks.  One was advertised for 250 and the other was selling for around 400.  I viewed a thread on this forum where someone actually scored a coin-op for 150 bucks.

[papafoos]

Patience is the key.  If you're in Seattle, there are a lot of players who should be able to help you out.

[Gwasshoppa]

There should be a few of the Tornado Storm II tables on CL, there's usually a few at any given time in my area. I have a coin-op but my friend has a Storm and it plays better than most people here would suggest.

It's not as solid or accurate as a coin-op, but it's also cheaper, usually readily available, and sounds like it would work just fine in your situation. Like all Tornado tables, the parts that are likely to break are replaceable and readily available.

[navajas]

Thanks for the help folks. Any advice on recognizing a Tornado? Craigslist adds are often woefully undescriptive and from what I've seen from their website Tornado's are sort of nondescript looking. I'm sure in person crap is pretty easy to tell from Shinola, but I can hardly tell these things apart from images.  Are there obvious spots to look for branding and such?

EDIT: Oh, and anyone in Seattle area is welcome to hook me up either with a table or a contact. Cheers!

[snake eyes]

First glance look for any table that has a marble type exterior (brown marble,grey marble, even a storm has a blackish marble wrap. Another dead giveaway is on side black men one side yellow men. And almost always wood handles less the new T3000 Icebox. Just look for the T with tornado inside it logo.   Good Luck,  Snake

[alaskan thunder]

Hopefully there's a graded slope of qualities at the lower/mid end of things, you know? Not just Tornado is #1, and the rest all tied at somewhere down by the Wal*Mart $79 special.

Not so much. Either it's a legitimate table (Tornado, Bonzini, Fireball, Warrior, RP, Garlando) all of which are pretty expensive save for Warrior, or its a piece of crap. Seriously, there is little middle ground when it comes to foosball tables. Just be patient and you will be able to find a legitimate table for not much more than the crappy home model you would otherwise buy,

[navajas]

Hmm. Coin-op Great American?

[Anderson]

Fireball is just coming out with a product line and they are advertising a Fireball Sport model which is a lighter weight, economically priced table. Might be worth investigation. There is a thread right now from Brad Laurine about distributors, but there is a link to the product line. I suggest you take a look. I really like my table. I have the ITSF model which I got just under $800. That's a top model table. You might be able to get a good deal on a lower model. Good luck.

[navajas]

I think I'm going to play the waiting game recommended above as long as I can take it. My budget will be depending on my luck with the pinball hunt and how much of my budget that leaves. If I go foosball first I don't really want to go much above $300-400 so I have room left for other nerd room accouterments.