BallReviews
Equipment Boards => Hammer => Topic started by: TDC57 on May 14, 2013, 11:27:28 PM
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I find it odd that when you go to ebay, you find many First Bloods for auction and a lot of bidding ending with a high buck price, but on this site, very little talk about the ball and few first hand observations. Does this ball have a problem or is there another reason nobody on here says much about it?
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I havent been able to purchase mine yet.
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We've sold a lot of them and almost everyone that I've seen "backends" like crazy. It's a very good ball that hammer did their homework on. The problem is that it's getting close to the summer time and this is normally when bowling alleys "forget" to put oil down so $200 asymmetric looks like crap going down the lane, so they dont get thrown. Hammer has been one of the few brands to sell well in the shop outside of Storm/Roto, but Storm/Roto does dominate sales and my boss is a staffer. I'm pretty sure its close to the same almost everywhere, where storm/roto is dominating the market.
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Hammer really needs to revamp their marketing efforts...there are regular, 200+ average bowlers at my local center who have recently made comments such as "I wish Hammer was still in business!" Comments like that should be a real eye-opener for Hammer.
Storm and Roto Grip are the major sellers around here (my whole family bowls, and we all have some sort of Storm or Roto Grip equipment). Although I have been branching out to try other things, and my current go-to ball is the Radical Torrid.
I would love to try a current model Hammer ball, however the pricing is definitely at the premium side of the market. Whether it be a Taboo or First Blood, they are almost prohibitively expensive. If they could bring prices down 15-20% and advertise it, they may see a bump in sales.
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Sales in smaller areas can be dominated by what the local shop chooses to push. Here is an EBI gold shop which means it is dominated by Hammer, Track, and Columbia products. They stock little of other companies but will gladly order anything requested.
Every company has a product line from premium on down. Hammer has plenty of great products and hook that doesn't have to come from the premium series. Not to mention many of the Taboos are currently reduced as they are being discontinued.
Cost isnt really a good excuse when the First Blood is listed at $164.95 and the Storm Sync is $159.95 thats a 3% difference.
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The first bloods around here are rolling great...great feedback!
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Sales in smaller areas can be dominated by what the local shop chooses to push. Here is an EBI gold shop which means it is dominated by Hammer, Track, and Columbia products. They stock little of other companies but will gladly order anything requested.
Every company has a product line from premium on down. Hammer has plenty of great products and hook that doesn't have to come from the premium series. Not to mention many of the Taboos are currently reduced as they are being discontinued.
Cost isnt really a good excuse when the First Blood is listed at $164.95 and the Storm Sync is $159.95 thats a 3% difference.
The prices you mention are online, discounted prices. The MSRP of the First Blood is $289.99, and the MSRP of the Storm Sync is $269.99. My Pro Shop charges $202 for the Storm Sync and $222 for the First Blood.
I will just wait until the First Blood gets discontinued, and then pick one up on eBay for $100. I just bought two new balls on ebay that are relatively current (Track 716T and Ebonite Mission X) for $120 combined...two new balls for less than one First Blood or Sync. The Taboos are still in the $150-$165 range both on eBay and online retailers.