Topic: French Foosball - Table Options

[mikey]

Anyone else wish there were some more option in N. America to play french foosball. I understand it's different game than american/german styles of play, but I really like it.  More control, more planning/strategizing like in real soccer. Anyways I wish we had more options in North America other than Bonzini, or the cheaper Rene Pierre tables.  The most expensive of each are a bit out of my price range, and the 1000 range rene pierre's look like they may be a bit too light. I wish someone would carry lines like Stella, Petiot or Sulpie. Basically another high quality table but at a bit of a lower price point something around 1000 that is a quality table. We are not all going on tour but might like something fun, that isn't gonna move when you got 4 men playing on it. Just I pipe dream/vent, but would love to see it happen. Until then I will have to scour for something used and able to be shipped to me within that price range or settle for one of the rene pierre's

[Tyler Foos]

A 10 year old Bonzini will outperform and outlast a new, top of the line Rene Pierre. Get a used Bonzini.

Tyler

[kgstewar]

One thing I have discovered is that if you are patient you can find a good used table for a good price, usually on Craigslist. In the past nine months I have purchased a NOS (new old stock) mahogany Tornado coin-op and just recently a really nice "vintage" B60 Bonzini. I have one of those apps on my iPhone that alerts me when a new CL listing is posted (I had searches going for both Bonzini and Tornado). I was able to move quickly and snapped up both tables.

[alaskan thunder]

More control, more planning/strategizing like in real soccer.

Care to elaborate? I understand the control as French tables are much easier for toe control, but planning/strategizing I don't get. How is that any different? How would you compare it to real soccer? Just curious.

[mikey]

Not trying to stir up a french vs american debate, but the control that you get on the french table is just that much more due to the tackiness of the table. I think that I can do a bit more on the french table in terms of shot options and fakes. Maybe I did not use the correct terms when I said planning and strategizing, but I feel that it is a different game. It is more of a finesse game, where the american game has many elements of finesse to it, alot of what is being done is through speed. When I talk about comparing it to real soccer I meant to refer it to the mental aspects of the game. and I think that with more control over the ball, there are more things that you can do, more shot options, more fakes and as such increases the mental aspect of the game. There was a decent article that explains alot of this stuff on the bonzini usa website. Here is the link. http://www.bonziniusa.com/documents/FrenchvsGermanR2.txt It discusses alot of things that I agree with, although not whole heartedly.  Again I am not arguing for one style of game vs another, as the diversity is what makes it such a cool game, just like in real soccer when you look at brazilian systems vs what you see in the netherlands. Very different styles of play. I just wish there were some more options of the french style of foosball at a lower price point. I would love a Bonzini, but funds cant support it at the time, so looking for something that would fill the void at a lower price if it was available, or scour the used market and hope someone can ship.

[Alan Cribbs]

Mikey,

Where are you located?


Alan

[mikey]

Northern Michigan, UP

[bsh2all]

I learned to play on Rene Pierre and Bonzini in the early 70s while at U of So Carolina. When I would come home to Baltimore, all you could find initially were stiff and very slick/ glass top German tables. With the proliferation of Tornado and Dynamo tables, the tops got a little more grippy, but nothing like the french tables. The only other place I encountered back  Rene Pierre and Bonzini tables back then was in the Va Beach/ Norfolk area.

The many shot variations off of a pinned-set position (front or back) that I mastered on a french table were far harder to perform (and therefore limited) on the german design. The finesse portion is curtailed. In addition to the difference in the playing surfaces, I attribute the reduced finesse capability to the German style having rigid pass-through rods and the French style having telescopic rods. The latter allow more controlled flexing torque be placed on the ball from a pinned-set position.

I never saw a snake shot performed on a Rene Pierre or Bonzini table. It maybe just that I haven't seen those tables in such a long time.