Obviously, many people are concerned about the above question, because anyone who is a little more serious about this hobby or less serious, but wants to play with friends at home, will sooner or later play with the idea of buy/rent a foosball table for yourself. Almost every article on the internet tries to offer different alternatives to cover all the perceived or real needs. There is only one problem with this: these sites seem to have no experience of running a foosball table and are not competitors. So far we have owned at least 2 dozen foosball tables from 6-7 different brands, most of which we have taken apart, so we know of countless teething problems and type defects that could make your life miserable in the long run. Let's see, what are the main rules to follow when buying a foosball table!
About shopping in general
Very many people make the mistake of setting a budget amount in advance, they want to spend on a foosball table. This gives rise to articles like "Best foosball table under 200 USD" and the like, when the threshold for which a proper foosball table is even worth considering should be defined. If you only have 100 000 HUF, you don't want to buy a normal foosball table, because you can't get one for that price, it's easier to rent. At most, if you are extremely lucky, you can get a second-hand FAS/Sardi/Garlando model for that amount, but you have to spend money on that anyway.
Choosing a foosball table is a lot like buying a second-hand car: cheap, flat-packed ones can be a great way to get high.
For example, what do you do when the transformer responsible for the lighting has died and have no knowledge of electronics? The curved rods with line change but there are models where you will pay 12 EUR for a measly 1,5 EUR special screw, because the remaining EUR 10.5 will be the shipping costs to Germany, and I could go on. One of my favourite real-life examples is that a friend of ours wanted to sell about a dozen tables that had been in a shed for years, it was 40 degrees Celsius in the summer and -10 in the winter, and because of that despised by the casing of the tables. If you don't have a strong affinity for joinery, these tables are not worth bothering with, nor are those that have started to peel the zinc coating off the bars. They all need to be replaced, piece approx. 18 500 Ft at the time of writing, and there are 8 pieces in the table, that's 150 000 HUF plus cost, per table.
First advice for buying a foosball table
So my first piece of advice to prospective buyers is to either look at new tables or look at used tables in good condition. The cabinetry, apart from aesthetic flaws, should be in great condition, and the slats should be in great condition, as these are the most expensive to replace. If the court elements, the gate and the playing area or the glass covering the playing area can be replaced, any defects in these will not be a significant cost. The other sucker is usually the lighting, if you have it in the table, by all means try it. If for some reason you can't do this, it may not be worth bothering with the sports equipment, but at the very least it's a serious bargaining chip. This is especially true for stadium lamp non-neon solutions, because they are all contact failures. Or if they aren't, they will be. Always start with whether or not the faulty foosball table part can be replaced, and the cost and suck involved.
Garlando Wold Champion and Leonhart Pro Tournament foosball tables
Rules of thumb for buying a foosball table
Rule of thumb 1: pub tables, metal pedestal tables, tables with a cashier's counter, and tournament tables are almost always much more resistant to wrinklingthan the hobby variants. Since they will be properly "trained", they are designed to be more robust. In other words, a good approach is to try to buy the table that has the most parts that match the competition tables. For one, they can take the strain, and for another, the playing experience on them is closest to what you see in the videos, and so the tricks/shots are easier to execute. Also, they are the easiest to sell, because they are the most in demand, and of course the car models.
Rule of thumb 2: centre of gravity and mass matter a lot. As the saying goes "a man starts at over 100 kilos", this is also true for foosball tables. Can you imagine what a 190 cm tall 110 kg man will do with a 50 kg gaming table? At best, he will knock it over with a jerk, at worst, he will break something on it.
Rule of thumb 3: don't think about buying a cheap, noname foosball table, because they are of poor quality, not fun to play on, unsellable or you have to give up a lot of money. But how do you know which brands are the best known? You go to the website of the ITSF, the International Foosball Federation, and partners tab to see what counts as an official table and what counts as a recognised table. From this list Garlando and the Leonhart is an absolute winner, these are relatively easy to sell here at home if you get into the hobby.
A Bonzini a Frenchman, a Rosengart a Czech/Slovak - more about the table you can read here -, the Ullrich Sport - P4P, more about the table you can read here - a German, the Tornado - expounded in this article - and an American Table, these will be bought by competent people, but getting parts for them can be a hassle. Roberto from Sport there are hardly any in Hungary, there are no competitions organised for it, but there are a few in the Kiskörút nightclubs in Budapest. This is doubly true JX Sports Ninestarra - code name: JX-199 -which is a Chinese table, I've never even seen one in Europe. Or look primarily for Garlando and Leonhart models, the rest should be treated with reservations and those not listed above should be avoided. There are also some other models - Fireball, Tecball, Guardian - that are appreciated by niche audiences, but these are few and far between in this country.
What do you want to use your chosen foosball table?
Since I don't know whether the reader is looking for a table for business or home use, I'll say a few words about both. In the first case, the formula is relatively simple: buy one that is hard to break and glassy. If you're not specifically looking for a community with a foosball table, you're better off with a closed table with springs - not rubber grips. Even one with a sturdy, metal base that's harder to kick. Covered, glass tables are better protected from liquids - beer, wine, brandy - dirt, have a cash register and lighting. My secret tip for pubs is Garlando Olympic Silver, hard to break down, relatively sturdy, metal table with legs, more in this article you will find a description of it. If you are confident in your audience and want to get riders involved, you can use the Leonhart Tournament open, money auditing model - these are in German for the pub kicker is called - you might want to have a look, but from an operational point of view you're better off with the former. Read more about Leonhart foosball tables in this post you can read.
For home use, the picture is more nuanced, depending on whether you want to use it for competitive practice or just for fiddling with friends. In our country on Leonharton - but also in Austria, Germany, the Balkans, Spain, Turkey and even New Zealand - professional, and mostly Garlandos amateur competitions, so these two brands may be the first choice. If you outgrow the Hungarian scene or want to go abroad by default - e.g. to compete in ITSF competitions or World Championships - then in addition to the ones already mentioned, the following are the ones in the surrounding countries Ullrich Sport - Germany, Switzerland, sometimes Austria -, Rosengart - Slovakia, Czech Republic - and further afield by car Bonzini - French-speaking areas - parts of Switzerland and France - with tables. Ideal for developing your technique. Tornado but next time you'll find a competition like this in London. Tournament tables are expensive, but they are durable and relatively easy to sell.
Based on the above, for hobby use and practice, the Garlando models are the most suitable, the Champion series, i.e. Pro Champion, Master Champion, World Champion tables, the latter of which is quite brutally overpriced. These have normal metal legs on the side, are relatively heavy, and the frame, handle and track hardware are the same as those used in tournaments. From Leonhart to Leo Tournament, or for practice in the Leo Sport models that can be considered, these are you can find more information here.
Spare parts supply for each jointing table
Many people forget that tables also need to be maintained. Generally speaking, tables with bearings require more maintenance, because the bearing needs greasing, that's the Garlandos. On these tables, however, the puppets are poured onto the rod, while the handle is hit with a hammer, the former don't break very much - in my life, if I've ever seen one - and the latter can rotate, but this can be corrected with duct tape or other bandaging, according to good Hungarian practice, and then they start to squeeze again. In addition, almost all Italian tables - Sardi, Fas, Garlando - have mountains of parts available in this country and are distributed by numerous companies, such as GameCenter, a Szurka Ltd. or the Novoparts Ltd., so getting them should not be a problem.
A screw or pin mounted dummy solutions - Leonhart, Ullrich Sport, Rosengart - case the dummy can break, or the screw or pin inside. In return, the handle is harder to pull off - except for Leo - and the rod is difficult to bend. These are not available in Hungary, but Everything arrives from Germany or Slovakia in a week, so that's not really a problem either. The Bonzini and Roberto Sport are also European tables, but they are so far out of home that I've never ordered anything for them, so I suppose that since they are EU tables, ordering stuff for them is no adventure.
Tornado is a special case, because it is an American table, most of the pages that will be thrown up by the search engine are also American. This is problematic for two reasons: they are expensive to transport and have to pay VAT and possibly customs duties. Of course there is a solution to this, if you find yourself in such a situation, drop us an email.
Renting instead of buying?
A lot of people like to own things, but the cost of a foosball table is high, and transport is not cheap either, as it involves moving a mass of 100 kilos or more. What this means exactly, let's look at the figures:
As you can see, the price of the tables is quite high, and that doesn't include the extras that you can order for example with the Leonhart for 300-500 EUR. As for the delivery charge, I have also underestimated it quite a bit, as it can be several hundred EUR for importing - supposedly around 100 000 EUR - due to the long distance and the weight. The Rosengart and the Ullrich Sport Tournament are similarly priced at around 1500 EUR - but you can get some serious discounts here - and the Tornado can go for up to 3000 USD, not to mention the fact that it has to be VATed and cleared.
So you will see around 7-800 000 HUF in your account by the time the table is in your room.
Also, it is worth stocking up on parts, Leonharton pins can break along with the pins/bolts, Garlands can have bent rods, bearings can break, and the cover plates and side elements of the track can break or the handle can slip/rotate. If you consider all of these. in the shorter term, renting may be cheaper. I have also rented several tables, of which the cost is approximately 15 000 HUF per month at the time of writing. That means that for the price of a fat new Garlando World Champion you can rent a table for 4.5 years and you don't have to service the tables, just call the rental company in case of trouble.
Where can I try out each foosball table?
You have basically two options: or travel around the country and you play in all kinds of pubs on all kinds of tables, or you come to the Join MultiTable club, Budapest. Information about the club on this link but in short: in our country we are the only ones to have several types of tables. To "name your child", you can try the following types at the club:
- Leonhart Tournament and Sport Foosball tables, more on this link you can read about it
- Ullrich-Sport Tournament (aka P4P) foosball table, more on this link you can read about it
- Rosengart Tournament Foosball table, more on this link you can read about it
- Tornado T3000 Foosball table, more on this link you can read about it
We also plan to acquire Roberto Sport and Garlando tables - the type of the latter is still to be decided, until then, you can read about them here -, so you will soon be able to try out almost all ITSF tables.
If you want to rent a foosball table, feel free to contact us at 06-30-239-9896-phone number, please contact us From, or a message On our Facebook page.
