Topic: Any Tornado tables, parts or players in New Zealand?

[akoudrin]

Hi guys,

Unfortunately I'm located in a non-Tornado part of the world, Wellington, New Zealand. It's a little more known now after Peter Jackson's movie achievements. But serious foosball just doesn't exist here.

After a year of looking around, I manage to stumble on a 15 year old T2000 in Auckland, which is half a country drive away from me in Wellington. The seller was in fact a Valley distributor (Lloyd Robinson) for pool tables and he had two of these tables rotting in his hangar.

The table is quite good, brown marble I believe (but not the Merkel rod one). The only thing is that Lloyd had to replace the rods as they were completely rusted. Instead of shipping new heat treated commercial grade rods from the U.S. together with one of his pool table orderes, he paid $400 to an engineer to make stainless steel non-hollow rods.

The rods are great in that they are strong. However, they are heavy and they are not nearly as smooth as the original tripple cromed ones. This means that even after polishing them several times, a black risidue forms quickly on the rods where they come in contact with the bearings. These I believe are very small particles of stainless steel. It means rods become quite sticky very quickly (a couple of days). I do use plenty of silicone btw.

So, I would be keen to hear from any one in New Zealand or other parts of the world on several points:

What can I do to make stainless steel rods smoother? Is there anything I can do to the bearings to make them smoother? I've already contacted M.Murrell on mmurrell@cox.net about Teflon bearings but he seems to not reply.

Is there anyone in NZ who knows where I can get the best value for money Tornado parts, especially the rods?

Is there anyone in NZ who has a Tornado and wants to get rid of it? I would be more than keen to talk to  you!

Finally, I'm actually not holding my breath for the above. Any suggestion on how I can get a good table and/or parts into New Zealand? I've already contacted Charles Mackintosh on tornadofoosb@tornadofoosball.com about either new (full meal deal) T3000, tournament-used T3000 or the rods, but he seems to not reply either! What's going on, is it tournament season or have the contact details of these guys have changed?

A slightly unrelated question. I see that tables have changed very quickly lately. It was T2000 for ages, but then the F5 and T3000 and then full-meal-deal T3000. What is (and when is) the next table coming out? Any ideas? Perhaps it would pay to wait a few months/ a year until the next most stable table comes out?

New T3000 plastic handles. Surely they are not as good as the old wooden handles, are they? A word of expert would be helpful here

Any suggestions on all of the above welcome. It is quite frustrating not being in the U.S. where all of this is a non-issue Perhaps I can start my own Tornado league here in NZ 

[jinhopark]

I can't speak on anything else...but should Brad decide to make replacement Tornado rods, he could be your best bet:

http://www.foosball.com/forum/index.php?topic=4247.msg19205#msg19205

Not sure what the shipping costs would be from China to New Zealand though...although I would imagine it would have to be cheaper than the custom $400 stainless steel rods the former owner paid, plus I would consider the Fireball rods a true upgrade.

Out of curiuosity what is the preferred table to play on in New Zealand?

[akoudrin]

I can't speak on anything else...but should Brad decide to make replacement Tornado rods, he could be your best bet:

http://www.foosball.com/forum/index.php?topic=4247.msg19205#msg19205

Not sure what the shipping costs would be from China to New Zealand though

I'll give Brad a try and see what it costs for the rods and the shipping. I suspect it's still out of my reach. But thanks!

plus I would consider the Fireball rods a true upgrade

Could you explain why that is? I've read here that Merkel rods were the best of the best and were on Grey marble tables for 3 years between 2004 and 2007. Obviously you can't get them anymore so the current best rod is the heat-treated one from China. So are Fireball rods better than the Chineese heat-treated rods or are they better/comparable to Merkel rods?

Out of curiuosity what is the preferred table to play on in New Zealand?

That's the thing, the foosball scene is non-existent. I've come across some cheap Bonzini tables and Noob tables (which seem to be the closest to Tornado). I've also purchased a Carlsberg table, which is close to the Noob. I made modifications to it including putting on Tornado men, bumpers and widening the goals. When I found T2000 I understood that no matter what modification you make, nothing really plays like a real Tornado!

Thoughts on Merkel Rods
As an aside on rod related discussions, my personal view is that Tornado/Valley should make it an optional upgrade to their tables to have Merkel rods. Or equivalently have the next class of tables available with higher quality components (perhaps just the rods).

From reading endless posts here and elsewhere, it seems clear that the market for Merkel rods exists and it is not a small one either. Tornado/Valley are being stupid and ignorant not only of the market but also seeing that they would ultimately make more profit by having that option and satisfying those who want the best! Even if the rods were twice the price, I'm sure many foosers would make the investement. I know I would (if I was located a little closer!).