Over the past couple of years there have been many Hammer fans wondering how to replace their Blue or their Onyx Vibes. I am one who thinks Hammer is making a major marketing mistake by continuing to develop and market stronger and stronger PEARLIZED vibes, instead of bringing out either a direct Onyx or Blue replacement, a solid resin coverstock, or an upgraded one. Of course, even in today's environment an Onyx Vibe would still handle true medium oil.

C'mon, Hammer, instead of playing marketing games, do some minimal research (Heck, I've already done it for you!!) and bring out a decent medium oil, solid coverstock with the great Vibe core.

You have nothing to lose and possibly millions (of dollars, yens, euros?) to gain.

People are already and still willing to pay $250 for a new Blue Vibe on Ebay. Sell them yourselves and make thousands of Hammer fans happy. (With a small profit margin for yourself!)

They did a second run of Blue Vibes back in 2009-2010 season through select distributors.  It didn't go too well.  These types of "diamond in the rough" balls are a tournament/competitive players dream.  The problem lies in the majority of the tournament player/competitive bowlers being the cheapest when it comes to purchasing equipment.  Because they buy so much, they will usually skip the local pro shop's pricing in favor of the buddies and other online distributors.  Due to the majority of these players being involved with websites such as a ballreviews.com, we tend to get a different take on what bowlers are really purchasing and what they really like. 

The majority of these "re-releases" never go over too well with the average league player who wants a new ball because the first thing they say when you make the suggestion (even when it's absolutely what they need) is, "Isn't that an old ball?  What about the ___ I don't want an old ball."  Now if they re-release these as a buddies pro shop or bowlingball.com exclusive, I can see a short run getting sold pretty quickly.  For the most part it's hard to get re-releases, no matter how popular the ball was the first run, to get to be big sellers again.  That's why we see so many remakes under a different name/color.  It's the only way to resell that great reaction to all types of bowlers.

Another thing I noticed with the Vibe line was how much the two solids (Black/Blue) overlapped a lot of their higher end offerings.  I remember working a demo day when the Black Widow/Blue Vibe came out and the Blue Vibe was the real standout of that demo day as it hooked and hit just as much as everything else did at the time.  The Black Vibe was a few stronger than the blue vibe.  I know Ritchie Allen and Bill O'Neill used to throw them a ton on Shark and it was probably the most ball for the dollar in it's class at release.  Now I can't speak for Hammer directly but I'm sure they've gone the route of scaling back on the strength of the Vibes in order to create the separation in the product line.

I'm not gonna lie. I would throw an entire vibe arsenal if a solid vibe comes out. By the way, is the cobalt vibe really that strong of a ball? I'm thinking about buying one and really taking the flare out and getting as much length as possible. Or, should I look for a grape or midnight vibe?

I'm not gonna lie. I would throw an entire vibe arsenal if a solid vibe comes out. By the way, is the cobalt vibe really that strong of a ball? I'm thinking about buying one and really taking the flare out and getting as much length as possible. Or, should I look for a grape or midnight vibe?

I don't have a Grape,but I can tell you that my Cobalt is about three boards stronger,and a good 2-3 feet earlier than my Midnight Vibe.Hope that helps you out.

Who here is up for a Vibe core wrapped in the Jet Black Taboo coverstock?

Eh?


Any takers??

Hammer...listen up!!!!!

No doubt that would be an awsome ball,but that would give the Vibe line a ball that could pretty much go head to head with the new First Blood.I don't see the folks at Hammer doing that.

Maybe  the gtr lll but maybe the black widow original cover.

Maybe  the gtr lll but maybe the black widow original cover.

The Cobalt Vibe has the Original Widow coverstock with a pearl additive,so I don't see why they couldn't release a solid version.I would certainly consider purchasing one.