Topic: Some table advice

[tsidriver]

Hello fellow foosers. New to the forum but have been lurking on here pilfering info as needed for quite some time now. Really like the site/forum and the community, so thanks for making it awesome.

I was wondering if I could bug any of you for a bit of table advice. I have read the post by bbtuna about the coin-ops and that is really great info, so thank you for that. I have a line on a guy that has a couple of grey marble 30th anniv. tables that were used for league play. He wants $700 a piece and won't budge on the price. I saw a few pics although not enough to be satisfied. From what I can tell, it looks to be in good shape and has been proclaimed that way by the owner (surprise!). It's actually a vending company so it's somewhat legit. I can't tell if there are Merkel rods on the table or not. Looks to be a mixed generation of men on the rods. I have a co-worker that just went and picked one of these up sight unseen (It's a 6 hr round trip) and he has reported that his is in good shape. Play field and sidewalls are even, no bent rods, no chipping around the goals, coin-op is in working order, etc. The other 2 tables he has are said to be in "like condition". I have not had a chance to see the table my co-worker got. He tried to see the others, but they were up on a shelf only accessible by forklift.

Anyway, my question is, if the tables are in really good shape (there may be some outside laminate chips, etc.) would one be worth $700? From what I've read that is near top dollar, so should I expect the table to be absolutely mint for that price? What if they aren't Merkel rods but everything is in good shape? I would just like to bounce this off of some people that know the table/market before I make a trip that far to actually get eyes on it.

It's also worthwhile to mention that my co-worker also got extra men, a punch, a bearing wrench, some pins, and some silicon with it. I have that stuff already, but it is still some extra value worth mentioning.

P.S. I have a brown marble now that I brought in to my work that we play on. Everyone really enjoys it. I'm looking to get something back in the house and it sounds like the 30th anniv. is a really good playing table. However, with a price tag of $700, would it be better to put that towards a used T3 since I'm roughly 2/3 of the way there already?

Thanks for any input. Much appreciated!

[come back trail]

You are correct that $700 is at the top of the market for a gray marble. I paid $600 for mine in mint condition. HOWEVER…. I believe that paying slightly more than what the market value is for something you really want is ok if you intend on keeping it for a long time and do not expect to get your money back out of it. Now 6 hours is a long way to drive to determine if you are willing to spend the money or not, not to mention to time and $ for gas etc. If I would have had the extra cash to make up the difference for a used tournament T-3000 I would have gone that route. The tables do play differently and on the rare occasion that I make a tournament appearance I need time to adjust to the tables.

[DenverFoosManiac]

Keep in mind that the 'market price' is dependent on the area. People on this site can give you a ballpark (like in bbtuna's thread), but it's by no means a hard and fast price point.

When I was scouring Craigslist for a table, I was frustrated to see that high quality Tornado's in the Southeast were selling for a mere fraction of what they go for in Denver.

Come Back Trail brings up a good point regarding the transit. 6 hours of gas for a vehicle capable of moving the table is no small fee. Also, it's been my experience that sellers rarely understand what a bent rod actually means. They seem to think that as long as it's mostly straight - it's straight.

Anyway, best in FOOS!

[johnwallan]

The pacific northwest seems to demand about $800 to $1000 for a good used Tornado...  I just bought a coin op brown marble but think I would go for a TP3000 next time, the coin mech / free play mode is a bit of a hassle...

Tornado Foosball Timeplay 3000 Competition Model - $1000
http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/tag/4435296838.html

[tsidriver]

Thanks for the insight guys. I agree with you. I wouldn't mind paying slightly higher for something that I know I want and will enjoy for a long time (which puts the T-3000 into consideration). I'm guessing I would have around $150 worth of expenses if I made that trip, which does sort of ruin it for me. I also agree that supply and demand are dependent on location. There isn't much around the Minneapolis area here, but there are some in WI, however as DFM alluded to, the sellers don't typically know what they are doing, so table conditions and pricing span a spectrum much larger than ideal. Unfortunately the few that are within reasonable distance are usually at the wrong end. Thanks again for the input, I think I will pass on this one and continue to unsatisfying-ly placate my foos addiction at work until I find something a little more manageable.