Shuffleboard Table Comparison · Champion VS McClure Tables
OVERVIEW
Right away, we have to give some kudos to Champion Shuffleboards. They pride themselves on crafting shuffleboard tables in-house, and that is certainly something to be proud of. We’re big fans of the in-house and American Made mentality, a tip of the hat to Champion there.
There are a couple things that we don’t like about Champion Tables.
#1: The Playboard Material. Champion uses “Canadian Maple” in their playboards. Canadian Maple implies hard maple but it’s just a clever marketing tactic. Canadian Maple usually means hard maple but Champion uses Soft Maple, Soft maple wood is easier on presses and faster to sand down, making the building process quicker and cheaper.
#2: The Plastic Polymer Playboard Finish. This is a thick plastic epoxy that is poured over the top of your playboard which means you’re essentially playing on plastic. The polymer wears down and can damage easily, and it tends to warp boards. Virtually every shuffleboard manufacturer that uses the poured epoxy doesn’t even bother with a premium hardwood playboard because the end-game is being played on plastic, not the actual wood.
COMPARING GOOD-BETTER-BEST
Unlike Champion, At McClure Tables, we don’t use a good-better-best pricing model. That’s because we’re a small craft shop. We build and sell direct-to-consumer with no middlemen or distributors. We only use the best materials in every price range. Whether you buy a table for our entry level price of $3,895 or spend up to $28,000, the cabinet, legs, and playboard are all still made from locally harvested Hard Maple.
For comparison purposes, we’ll compare features on three McClure Models in the same price range as the good-better-best marketing approach.
The main difference is Champion manufactures in a mass production fashion and they sell everything they make to resell dealers who have to mark up the factory price or cost to build. At McClure Tables you are buying directly from the craftsmen who build your shuffleboard table.
GOOD
Qualifier
Sizes: 9, 12, and 14-foot
Price Range: $3,595-$3,795
Playboard: The Qualifier has a 16″ wide playboard 1.5″ thick made of Maple.
Playboard Finish: 1/4″ polymer resin top
Cabinet Construction: Laminate a Formica on particle board
Customizations: Stain colors
Liberty Tulipwod
Sizes: 9, 12, 14 and 16-foot
Price Range: $1,995-$2,570
Playboard: Hard Maple 18″ wide playboard which is a full 2″ thick (no thick plastic poured epoxy top) and made of North American Hard Maple
Playboard Finish: Lifetime Warranty Traditional Piano Polyester Finish (10 times harder than polymer poured resins)
Cabinet Construction: All McClure Tables cabinets, legs, and component parts are made from solid hardwood we do not use any laminates
Customizations: Lights, Scoreboards, Score Beads, Cabinets, Wood Type & Finish, and add a logo to any model
BETTER
Limited Edition
Sizes: 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, and 22-foot
Price Range: $8,395-$8,995
Playboard: 20″ wide playboard 2.75″ thick made of North American Maple.
Playboard Finish: 1/4″ polymer resin top
Cabinet Construction: Red Oak Veneer or think the limited edition is soft maple or red oak solid with laminate horse collar the limited edition has a maple horse collar with a color stain on it as opposed to our horse collar on Prestige is made with walnut wood veneer and trim is walnut or optional hard maple. Brass screws are visible on the finished model.
Customizations: Stain colors
Prestige
Sizes: 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, and 22-foot
Price Range: $7,385-$8,785
Playboard: Hard Maple 20″ wide playboard which is a full 3″ thick (no thick plastic poured epoxy top) and made of North American Hard Maple
Playboard Finish: Lifetime Warranty Traditional Piano Polyester Finish (10 times harder than polymer poured resins)
Cabinet Construction: The Prestige cabinet is designed to emphasize natural wood colors. All McClure Tables cabinets, legs, and component parts are made from the same Hard Maple wood as the playboards.
Customizations: Lights, Scoreboards, Score Beads, Cabinets, Wood Type & Finish, and add a logo to any model.
BEST
Venetian
Sizes: 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22-foot
Price Range: Champion prices Yes they are look them up on shuffleboard federation.com
Playboard: 20″ wide playboard 2.75″ thick made of Soft Canadian Maple with 1/4″ Polymer for a total advertised measurement of 3″
Playboard Finish: 1/4″ polymer resin top (no warranty)
Cabinet Construction: Soft Maple which forms a rounded shape around the board.
Customizations: Stain color
Veneto
Sizes: 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 and 22-foot
Price Range: $7,995-$8,995
Playboard: Hard Maple 20″ wide playboard which is a full 3″ thick (no thick plastic poured epoxy top) and made of North American Hard Maple
Playboard Finish: Lifetime Warranty Traditional Piano Polyester Finish (10 times harder than polymer poured resins)
Cabinet Construction: The cabinet is designed much like old-fashioned wood moulding with straight lines and corners. All McClure Tables cabinets, legs, and component parts are made from the same Hard Maple wood as the playboards.
Customizations: Lights, Scoreboards, Score Beads, Cabinets, Wood Type & Finish, and add a logo to any model
Building out a game room and have room for the 22 ft table just having trouble coming to grips with the pricing. I was hoping to find a good used one for a under 5,000 but also don’t know enough about them to feel it’s worth the saving if you get one that’s not so great. I’ve been online and it seems to me you making them the right way and being a custom home builder I can appreciate this. I’m in Geneva , IL about an hour west of Chicago. Do you install them (it’s a ground floor commercial building with easy access) And is it possible to get a table like the limited and not go over the $8,000 price? Thanks
George, Thank you for the business it is hard to find a used table but thank you for purchase a new Edmore 22 foot model for you client https://www.mccluretables.com/p-159-22-edmore-shuffleboard-table.aspx this is the model George purchased for his customer