I’ve a hankering to play me some table skittles. Some googling about found vendors in the UK, but their prices were pretty high (hundreds of Euros!) and shipping costs were obscene. Oddly enough, there seemed to be an “out of stock” theme going too. I checked ebay and came up with nothing.
Anybody know of a US vendor for this venerable pub game?
To clarify: You’re talking about the one where you swing the rope, not the version where it’s in a box?
The one with the ball on a rope.
You’re right! 54 pounds seems to be the cheapest I can find.
Build one? 10 minutes with a drill and a dowel, and you have a table. IIRC, the pins are shaped similarly to American bowling pins, although my memory may be faulty. If cylindrical pins will do, just cut a dowel to size with a miter saw.
The ball’s wood. I believe the American craft store chain Michael’s sells wooden balls.
Use a cribbage board for scoring.
Now… I wonder where I can get some Cornishware without paying US $12 a mug!
Seems to me you could build one yourself.
Get a set of regulation pins and a ball from these folks, then follow the diagram. It’s just a wood square, a dowel, and a piece of string.
http://www.leisure-products.fsbusiness.co.uk/flpsp.htm#DURAPIN
I bet it’s a lot cheaper to ship just pins and a ball from the UK than it is an entire table skittles set.
Building something like this would presume that I have woodworking tools and the skill to use them, neither of which is the case.
I believe those wooden craft balls from Michael’s are probably made out of birch, and probably have different bounce and swing properties than regulation balls, which are of lignum vitae, phenolic resin, or rubber. You probably want something denser.
It’s just a 2 ft. x 2 ft. slab for a match game; possibly the lumberyard could whip you up a chunk of interior grade plywood?
And as for drilling a hole for the dowel: look, if I, a 52-year-old housewife, can figure out how to use a $40 Black & Decker to drill a hole, so can you. 
And I see that it’s attached by brass chain, not string. Brass chain by the inch is easily obtained at TrueValue Hardware, Menards, and Lowes. Dowels are also sold there.
Really, I could do it. So can you. Buck up, old son. 
Keep an eye on eBay.
Here’s one: starting at $10
You find more by searching “skittles” and then drilling down to “games” (since “Skittles” is also a candy in the US).
…such as my head?
I’d definitely say you’d need to try different ball materials. I’ve never played skittles, only seen the game sets.
Any Dopers up for the first annual skittles tournament?
The eBay item mentioned by ZipperJJ looks good, but… US$30 at a minimum…