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Author Topic: Wicked  (Read 20950 times)

admin

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Wicked
« on: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM »
Ball NPS Score: 100.00
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Core Technology: Dense Polymer Core

Coverstock: Enhanced SuperFlex

Hardness: 75-78

RG: 2.497

Differential: 0.049

Track Flare: 4-5 inches

Color: Oyster/Blue

Finish: Polished

Available Weights: 12,13,14,15,16 lbs

 

BowlPro

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Re: Wicked
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2002, 09:15:21 AM »
Let's Get Wicked!

Columbia's new entry into the market is a Cool Looking ball with tried and
proven technology in cover stock and core!

The Wicked features the core of the "Rock-On" & "Game Pearl", which we found to  be a tremendous design with great "Hitting" power!
Columbia using the Polymer Dense cores bring the "Wicked" to life!

The Cover is the "New Enhanced Super-Flex Resin" which gives this ball a
ton of bite on the lanes. What I think Columbia has here is a "Reactive Resin"
version of the Rock-On!

Those of you who have rolled a "Rock-On" or "Game Pearl"
will need to get this one also! This ball is Powerful!

Our Label Leveraged ball 4X4 drilling, gave us any part of the lane that we
needed! On the fresh league pattern it got down the lane and turned the corner
(HARD) and (STRONG) with great control!

Pin Blastin Hitting Power! and after four games on the same pair of lanes, the ball still continued in play, as we made our small moves left with our feet.

This ball reminded me of the *(Nu-Line Virus) by it's reaction, and then we remembered that the Rock-On weight block is a slight modification of the one
used in the Virus! (WoW) the Virus brought back to life!

Nu-line comes from the Track/Columbia family!

Anyhow, this new Wicked will be a "Powerful" and "Friendly" ball for most any bowlers style! Those of you with "No-Hand" or what we call "Tweeners"
will enjoy this one the most!

Those of you who are "Crankers" or Strap the ball hard,
just remember to use a (Tame) drilling and layout pattern.

But everyone will find a place for this ball in there bags!
Great combination of Cover and Core!

We will Highly recommend this ball to our Customers and to all bowlers!

Run to your local ProShop and get yours today!

BowlPro
www.discount-proshop.com
Bowlpro

Charlie Lacy

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Re: Wicked
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2002, 09:11:45 AM »
WOW- The WICKED is just that at the breakpoint. I drilled mine
4 1/4 by 3 1/2 and it has good to moderate length but MEGA
backend. This ball recovers from the dry boards as good as any
ball I've thrown and a predictable break. I used it at the ABC
playing 4th Arrow and at the BJ playing 3-4th arrow and it did
the job. Great hitting power with a consistant break pattern;
it has never "squirted" on me and I like the way it throws the
pins around. I used a 3" pin out with a 3-4oz top. Great ball
for the weak of hand.

GLC300

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Re: Wicked
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2002, 04:42:51 PM »
THIS BALL IS AWESOME. DRILLED IT 5 1/4 X 4 1/2 AND THIS
BALL GETS DOWN THE LANE AND JUST PUNISHES THE POCKET. LIGHT
HITS AND HIGH HITS ALL CARRY. DRILLED IT UP YESTERDAY MORNING
AND SHOT THAT NIGHT WITH IT. SHOT 279-269-225=773 SERIES. THIS
IS A GREAT MEDIUM OIL TO DRY LANE BALL AT LEAST FOR ME. I WAS
LAYING IT DOWN AT 20 AND LETTING IT GO OUT TO 10 OR SO. I HAD
ABOUT 6 BOARDS OF ROOM WITH IT. THIS IS A MUST HAVE FOR ANYONE.

Deadbait

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Re: Wicked
« Reply #4 on: June 12, 2002, 02:49:08 PM »
Set up 4 1/2 by 4/2 with pin above fingers.   CG at midline.    Looks like a remake of the Assassin except it seemed to grab the dry harder and quicker than anything we threw alongside it.   It acted like a tweak of the superflex, maybe the new cover.   It was in demand at the senior masters.

Synergy19

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Re: Wicked
« Reply #5 on: June 21, 2002, 12:14:17 AM »
Just drilled my Wicked up (bridge drilling- pin above fingers) and thought it was great.  Went long and hooked on the dry boards, but did not over-react like all the stuff out there now.  It flipped back to the pocket and boom!  Very good ball, looks like it will be one of the few balls that will stay in my bag along with my Apex Intensity and my (1994) Rhino Pro Teal!!!.
The Rhino Pro Teal is the best ball ever!!!  

Porgy

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Re: Wicked
« Reply #6 on: June 26, 2002, 05:14:35 PM »
Ouch, this ball is one heckava bruiser. The BSP I have is a subtle but solid finisher. This ball is definitly not for the faint hearted. It hits very very hard leaving a whitewash of pins in the pit. It makes my weak release look like a power-stroker. Revs very easily and breaks earlier than a messenger pearl.  This could be my go to ball as I put aside my Trauama Recovery.
--------------------
"Do I know you?"
"No, not really."
      -A Perfect World
"Do I know you?"
"No, not really."
      -A Perfect World

shimozukawa

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Re: Wicked
« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2002, 05:02:14 PM »
Let me start by saying that I wasn't planning on buying this ball, but the price was right ($105 including thumb slug), and I needed a skid-snap ball for my arsenal.

Ball specs --
Statics: 7/8 finger, 7/8 side, 2-1/4 top
Placements: 5-1/2x4-1/2 (pinXcg), X-hole 1/2"x2"(deep) on axis.

I wasn't planning on putting a weight hole in the ball, however, when I scaled it after drilling, the ball had 1-3/16 side.

Using the same core used in the Game Pearl and RockOn, I expected the ball to make a strong move at the end of the lane with strong hit and good carry.

What I didn't expect was the $200 (look) hook monster that I got.

This ball does a wonderful job recovering from the dry -- perhaps too good of a job.

My only complaint (if you can call it that) is the steepness of entry angle that this ball creates. If you are a power player, you can expect to leave your fair share of 9 pins and 7-9 splits. For those looking for extra snap (and I mean a LOT) on the back, this will be an excellent choice.

Overall, I would classify this as a ball for lighter oil volumes, however, it seems to work well on medium volumes so long as there is dry for the ball to hook.

Based upon the conditions that I've used this ball on, I would say it is a definite oil-dry ball. Because of the reactive cover-stock, the ball needs dry boards to pull it out of its skid. However, this comes with a caveat that it SNAPS off the dry.

(For the purposes of this review, the assessments are pattern lengths for lighter and medium oil volumes.)

Short: 4. The ball reads the dry too well to work as a short oil ball. I'm sure that you could tame out the read by drilling it pin on axis, but why bother? There are other options out there that would be better for this condition.

Medium: 9.5. This ball can hold its own with the higher-end reactives on a house pattern or even a wet-dry shot. The Wicked is designed for consistent bowlers who want to be able to open up the shot a little more.

Long: 8. The degree of snap generated by this ball makes it a reasonable choice for longer patterns with lighter volumes of oil. Unlike other long oil balls, the Wicked can basically skate on anything that VAGUELY resembles oil.

Heavy Oil: TBD. I wasn't able to use the ball on a heavy volume pattern yet, but I'm guessing it might not work as well as on the lighter patterns as carry-down would be a greater consideration on heavy patterns.

Value: 10. I don't think it's possible to get a better ball for the price. Yes, there are cheaper balls that perform well. However, for the moderate price of about $150 (drilled), the Wicked delivers $200 performance.

Overall: 23 out of 24 cans. I really shouldn't rave so much about this ball, but I love it. The lovely colour scheme only kicks its "can rating" up a notch. (If the ball were plain -- say black -- I would have rated it 22-22.5.)

LuckyLefty

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Re: Wicked
« Reply #8 on: June 29, 2002, 06:47:55 PM »
Drilled this monster 4 1/2 X 5.  No weighthole and CG slightly below the grip center divider.  Ending side and a slight amount of thumb on this 3 inch pin out ball.

This ball is exactly what I thought it would be a slightly earlier and stronger moving Messenger Ti.  Same big hit!

With the Rock on core and the CG pushed down this ball revs real early but still pushes a long way down the lane. Due to the Clean good looking coverstock.

(I was trying a slightly different finger configuration and did not use powerlift grips.)  It looked like I had about 9 revs vs my usual 14 or 15.

This ball still moved and still recovered strong, due to its core and coverstock.

In comparison to my Demolition Zone (with lifts and more revs) the wicked plays a little straighter and has a little less swing in its movement and yet still develops Wicked angle at the pocket.

I will replace the finger inserts with my typical lifts and see if this changes things a little.  If so you'll see a second review.

Summary, earlier rev and stronger than the Ti Messenger(due to Rock On Core).
I'm sure this could be sanded and be an awesome heavy or long oil ball. Maybe better than the Rock On(as I like reactives for heavy oil often).
Not as explosive as the Demolition Zone at the breakpoint but that may be a good thing.

Better than the Demolition?(One of the greatest balls ever)  I'm not sure.
Another comparison.  An earlier revving more angle on the backend HEX.

REgards,

Luckylefty
It takes Courage to have Faith, and Faith to have Courage.

James M. McCurley, New Orleans, Louisiana

ss

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Re: Wicked
« Reply #9 on: July 01, 2002, 07:55:29 AM »
Had this ball drilled 4" x 4" leverage straight out of the box, first 6 games with the ball were 214, 203, 215, 221, 255, 235. I have never experienced a move consistent skid/flip reaction from any previous ball I have owned. Being a mid 190 average bowler I would recommend this ball to anyone who wants a ball with such a readable lane reaction, and pin crunching power.

Porgy

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Re: Wicked
« Reply #10 on: July 02, 2002, 09:21:57 PM »
I rolled with it some more and i have discovered that this ball rides the expressway across the Brooklyn Bridge. The ball strikes very well on 1-2 pocket hits but it even demolishes the pit on a 1-3 hit. Much more power than the BSP.
--------------------
"Do I know you?"
"No, not really."
      -A Perfect World
"Do I know you?"
"No, not really."
      -A Perfect World

Chris Postel

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Re: Wicked
« Reply #11 on: July 04, 2002, 11:36:15 AM »
Had this ball drilled 5 1/2x4 1/2, small weight hole on pap.

This ball i had drilled to go pretty long because I had nothing in my arsenal to clear the heads and I have some speed on the ball to burn, so I needed something to flip too.  I had a ROCK ON and I absolutely loved it, and when I heard this weight block was a modified version of it, I just had to drill it.

I threw this ball on 2 different shots, a wet-dry with a 5 board out of bounds and on a christmas tree w/heavy amount of oil.  

This ball performed much better on the wet-dry simply because of what I had the ball drilled to do.  It is a much better carrying ball for the drier lanes than it is on oil.  This is the ball I definately look to when the lanes get fairly dry because this ball contains so much energy to kick the corners on a drier condition with or without carrydown.  The Wicked is a very predictable ball (as was ROCK ON) so I am making this ball my "bench mark" ball to tell lane conditions.

Very good ball from Columbia.
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That Is All,
Chris P

walker300

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Re: Wicked
« Reply #12 on: July 09, 2002, 12:25:57 PM »
I just Drilled my Wicked with a 4x4 label leverage drilling
The pin was out 2 inches and it had 3 oz of top weight
I threw it on my fresh monday night league condition which has a good amount of oil and doesnt have the block of dry to the outside but there is some hook around the 5 board
I had been throwing a Visionary Crimson executioner and this ball reminded me of that. It was very easy to control and is the most consistent ball at the breakpoint i have ever seen.
It went very very long and turned very hard.
If it has a downside it is that it hooks almost too hard in the dry but it is easy to control.
As the lanes broke down it was fine in the middle of the lane but if i missed a little right it went left fast.
I think this ball is gonna be really good for sport conditions as it is easy to control and reacts well in oil
great ball from my favorite company Columbia 300!

ABFLUG

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Re: Wicked
« Reply #13 on: July 12, 2002, 09:54:04 AM »
hi all, i jst bought my new ball n the ball is Columbia Wicked.

This ball really did it job well n have a good and clean backend snap as what columbia have said.

i give this ball 9 1/2 out of 10 because it need oil to ski. ^_^

Good Job Columbia.
!! Sometime is the Bowler than make the error not the LANE !!

bowlwbj

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Re: Wicked
« Reply #14 on: July 12, 2002, 02:42:29 PM »
Threw the ball for the first time last night.  16mph - med revs - tweener.  Lane conditions - wood - med heavy - 40' oil - decent backends - typical crowned house shot.  Layout - 5 X 4 - 3" pin - cg 1/2" above midline & 1" right of center of grip - no weighthole - pin 1" straight above ring finger.  This ball is definately a skid/snap ball!!  Glides through the oil and comes back very hard when it hits the dry.  This ball performed exactly as I expected it to (which is rare).  Be prepared to start moving left at least on this type of shot as soon as the midlane starts drying out because when it even smells a dry board it takes off!  I got two games in before the oil started to carry down.  Not a good ball or at least a good drilling for carrydown but I didn't expect it to be.  Excellent choice for fresh shot with some oil up front.  This ball can recover from anywhere if there are clean backends.