Topic: FABI Home or Roberto College?

[PNW]

In my search for a table with telescopic rods within my budget, I've narrowed down my possible tables to these two:

1)  FABI Home

2)  Roberto College

spam link removed. sorry

I welcome all your comment, feedback or other suggestions.  The Garlandos and Bonzinis are a bit out of my budget for the table.  Thanks to all who recommended the Tornados.  Sadly, child safety comes first.

[MrBasso]

Are you in the Toronto area?

I have a Rene Pierre which is similar to the Bonzini that I may be looking to part with.  It has telescopic rods and is in very good shape.

[PNW]

Not in T.O.  Out in Vancouver, home of the 2010 Winter Olympics.  How much are you looking for?  I may have friends out in the GTA looking for one as well.  Let me know and I'll pass the info along.  The pre-owned market for decent stuff here is hit and miss.  There are plenty of low-end stuff (e.g. from Costco) that sell for less than $50 on craigslist.   

[MrBasso]

Hey PNW

I would avoid the craiglist/costco tables - you get what you pay for.

Anyway, I bought this Rene Pierre table a while back to bring up to the cottage (I have a Bonzini at home) but I couldn't get agreement from the rest of the family/in-laws about where to put it so it is pretty much not being used and is taking up space in my bedroom. 

It's a pretty nice table and I have put a lot of elbow grease into it to get it playing quite well.  The play surface is level and everything works fine.  It is originally a coin-op but I have it set up as a free-play.  I have replaced a bunch of the screws that were stripped and added leg levellers.  More importantly, I replaced all the original Rene Pierre player figures with a set of Bonzini player figures which the pictures in the ad below do not show.  The Bonzini figures are in A1 shape and are custom painted versions (France versus Portugal).  Its actually a beautiful table and I really don't want to part with it - but two tables at home is just too much.

Here is the original ebay ad for the table...

http://cgi.ebay.ca/RENE-PIERRE-RARE-ANTIQUE-FOOSBALL-SOCCER-TABLE_W0QQitemZ110310205884QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item110310205884&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1215%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Well a long winded speel but with the new player figures, levellers etc and in consideration of what I paid for it, I think $950+/- is a fair price.  I could go lower if I put the original RP players back on.




 

[MrBasso]

Regarding the FABI/Roberto College, I have played on both and they play fairly similar.  The FABI seems to be a bit more sturdy though. 

The biggest difference from a playability standpoint is the player feet.  The FABI has "blocky" feet and it is difficult to pin the ball while the newer Roberto feet are typically "rounded" which allows for better control.  Mind you, I've seen some experienced players on the FABI control it pretty well.

If you're looking for something mainly for the kids and pinning and control is not a big concern, I would go for the FABI because of its sturdiness - they seem to last forever as well. Plus if you ever visit Toronto, you can kick some butt in little Italy!

[PNW]

Ha! Ha!  We've got little Italy in Vancouver as well, though I'm sure it is a bit littler than the one in T.O.  Thanks for the comments on the other two tables.  It'll be kids and uncles playing, so I guess I can't really go wrong with the Roberto.  I'll likely try to find a local used one as I've seen several Italian tables (Roberto, FABI) go for under $500 and even $200 (for an FAS).  Just trying to ship to the West will incur almost $200 in fees alone.  Speaking of feet, I saw a Rock-It table and the feet on those are built for pinning.  Even a first-timer could pin it.  Sadly for them, once you move to any other table, I'm sure pinning would be a challenge.