Post by: JessN16 on April 22, 2009, 02:06:32 PM
10. AMF Ninja Master -- Back when everyone was trying to build a reactive that out-hooked everyone else, AMF put this out. I finished second in handicap all-events at Alabama's state tournament (to this date, my only real tournament accomplishment) using this ball. I don't have that one anymore, but I have another. It's still usable on league shots. One of the smoothest balls ever made.
9. Lane #1 XXXL Starburst -- Plastic with a real core. You get the spare ball benefits and also something for truly fried lanes. Great ball.
8. Brunswick Quantum Helix -- Automatic attention-getter with its looks, but what made it special was that its construction basically allowed it to play the unplayable line on most given patterns. Its problem was it didn't always prove able to play the preferred line. But if I was struggling, I usually could get out of jail with this. I sold mine a couple of years ago and now regret doing that.
7. Brunswick Sidewinder -- This one is new for me, but I've found it to operate on one of the widest sets of conditions of any ball. I can use it on anything from pretty wet to almost a true dry lane. Nice accomplishment for a particle hybrid ball.
6. Ebonite Ice -- At first look, it's just a medium-dry pearl ball but it's one of the most versatile in that particular realm. I bought one used that already had 150 games on it, I put another 70+ on it and then it cracked. It worked on just about anything I could throw at it other than a flood. Probably my favorite Ebonite ball of all time.
5. AMF XS -- And not just because of its white shell. The first one I had, I kept sanded, and it was a complete turd. Then I got my second one and kept it polished. Had a very unique roll, was forgiving and carried the house. I still have my second one, and it has at least 1,000 games on it. I still take it to league with me every now and then and it never disappoints.
4. Storm Thunder -- This was the first ball I ever saw really turn the corner. I remember my breath being taken away, actually. The combo of that core and the Curelyon coverstock Storm used created a very unique hook shape on the lanes. I just recently found film of Pete Weber throwing one of these on a telecast way back when and he had the same hook shape I saw on THS.
3. Storm X-Factor -- First pearl I can ever remember that would perform on oily lanes. First real mass bias ball that ever really got the core dynamics right, in my opinion. I have one with about 1,500-2,000 games on it now and it still performs.
2. Lane #1 Uranium HRG -- Most unique ball Lane #1 has ever built. Works in places none of its other gear will work. The one-off core just lopes and lopes. Great hitting power at the back of the pattern. Won't work for speed-dominant players on anything above medium-light, and a lot of people I know don't match up to this ball and hate it. But I should just inscribe "get out of jail" on mine because that's what it is.
1. Visionary Slate Blue Gargoyle -- I'm not even really sure where to start. A dry-lane ball? Yes and no. Classic urethane roll? Well, not really. This thing defies explanation. It's like a resin ball with no resin in the cover. I now have two of them in differing weights. My heavier one (16) could fill three roles for me if I wanted it to (spare ball, dry-lane ball, outside-angle ball for mediums). I'm not sure you can get more unique than this.
Jess
Post by: chitown on April 22, 2009, 10:08:46 PM
Post by: blacknois on April 22, 2009, 10:14:39 PM
Post by: laneman on April 22, 2009, 10:30:27 PM
Post by: raiderh20boy on April 22, 2009, 10:55:08 PM
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Use "IT" and BOWL UP A STORM!!
Edited on 4/22/2009 11:28 PM
Post by: urbanshaft on April 22, 2009, 11:17:03 PM
Post by: JessN16 on April 22, 2009, 11:33:08 PM
quote:
didnt the tnv start the length with hockey stick reaction in a pearl
Goodness, no. That's been around for years.
Jess
Post by: tc300 on April 23, 2009, 01:03:48 AM
Post by: Locke on April 23, 2009, 01:09:48 AM
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Always be sincere, even when you don't mean it
The Cell Pimp
Post by: sluggo35 on April 23, 2009, 01:38:40 AM
Post by: rockerbowler18 on April 23, 2009, 01:39:30 AM
Never have found anything quite like it.
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Post by: BrunsNick on April 23, 2009, 01:42:12 AM
Crown Jewel Gold Flake
and this
www.brunsnick.com/cn1.jpg
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Nick Smith ... A.K.A. BrunsNick
Brunswick -=- PBA 03-09
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Use coupon code 1f59492 and save 15%
Post by: Mark T. Trgovac on April 23, 2009, 02:16:17 AM
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Post by: J_w73 on April 23, 2009, 03:38:52 AM
I agree with the slate blue.. I really should use it more.. I mainly use it for 10 pins and dry lanes but have pulled it out when I was lost and nothing else was working.. I can't believe how hard this ball crushes the pins..
I have been looking at the sidewinder but couldn't find a spot for it so I couldn't justify it. I really think I am going to pick one up and get rid of one of my other balls..
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16-17 mph,350 rpm,PAP 5 1/2 x 3/8up, HighGame 300 x 3, High Series 782
Book Average 215 / 205,PBA Xperience ave180
Post by: dizzyfugu on April 23, 2009, 04:14:57 AM
Another ball that is IMHO a unique piece is Brunswick's Eliminator as an oil ball. VERY powerful core, coupled with a VERY strong reactive coverstock. Then add a light particle load for control and extra traction, so that the coverstock can be kept at a shiny, non-polished finish... sounds very special, and indeed, it is. But what this thing has done for me (and others who speak in awe of it) on soupy shots is amazing - a personal "hall of fame" favorite.
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DizzyFugu (http://"http://www.putfile.com/dizzyfugu/") - Reporting from Germany
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Post by: Ragnar on April 23, 2009, 05:00:19 AM
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"All I want to do is get my check and get drunk."
Post by: laddog54 on April 23, 2009, 09:27:35 AM
quote:
X-Calibur...the ball that started it all..
+1
My favorite ball of all time. Not the best ball of all time but on the oil patterns of the time it was the most hockey stick shape of all time. If you were the first in your center to get one and had any hand you became a GOD.
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ROTO GRIP - King of Them All
Post by: mmcfarland300 on April 23, 2009, 09:49:21 AM
Post by: nd300 on April 23, 2009, 09:59:26 AM
I have to disagree in one sense with your choice of the X-Factor as being the first mass bias ball to get it right.
I still have a Track EMB-- the wine red colored one---that worked absolutely great on carrydown, and you could wheel the lane on fresh. Mine was a simple label drill that was money.
I do agree with the longevity of the X-Factor,as I have one at my brother's house. I go home once a year and we usually bowl in the Sunday morning sweeper and I have yet to fail to place in the money with that ball and nothing else.
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Chris
JTTDB---Just Throw The Damn Ball
Don't "think"---that ball isn't in your bag yet..........
Post by: JohnP on April 23, 2009, 10:24:33 AM
Post by: laddog54 on April 23, 2009, 10:40:07 AM
quote:
Showing my age, but in its day the Yellow Dot bleeder was THE ball to have. A plastic ball with almost a urethane reaction. -- JohnP
Good choice. They had a short oil sweeper at my center earlier this year after my Fri league. I threw a bleeder for league and shot 711.
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http://www.allbowling.com/journal/public.php?uid=4002&leagueid=2552
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ROTO GRIP - King of Them All
Post by: iowalefty on April 23, 2009, 11:25:35 PM
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derek
http://members.bowl.com/SearchUSBC/ViewMember.aspx?prefix=756&suffix=622
212 ave over 270 games
Post by: No Revs00300 on April 24, 2009, 12:34:39 AM
Post by: JessN16 on April 24, 2009, 12:51:30 AM
quote:quote:quote:
didnt the tnv start the length with hockey stick reaction in a pearl
Goodness, no. That's been around for years.
Jess
Tude III 40 ft of straight and 20 ft of left turn...
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Keep looking... I'm sure there's a 300 in one of those balls you keep buying!!
(\ /)
( . .)
c(')(') here bunny bunny bunny....
Heck, you could get hockey-stick out of the original Excalibur. Wood lanes, clean backend...goodbye.
Jess
Post by: AStrikingChink on April 24, 2009, 01:17:11 AM
matt(the former chink of collegebowling)
Post by: KingofKings696 on April 24, 2009, 01:35:58 AM
Awesome revs, Strong midlane read with a good backend still....
Post by: al_g on April 24, 2009, 09:26:04 AM
quote:
el nino 2000..correct me if i am wrong (and i imagine that i am) it was the first pearl particle? for me it has a strong reactive back end with a particle midlane read. if i could afford a 15lb one i could probably eliminate 2/3 or 3/4 of my arsenal.
that was a good ball but not the first pearl particle. I know the Track Heat was a pearl particle and it came out in 1997. There may have been others before that.
Post by: ecc0_9879 on April 24, 2009, 09:30:30 AM
wired by columbia biggest backend ever
Post by: al_g on April 24, 2009, 09:41:29 AM
There was also some AMF Urethane ball that flared a lot back in the 80's. I can't remember the name of it. Back then no ball really flared so I'd consider that very unique for it's time.
When they came out I thought the Bruswick Proactive balls had a unique reaction that no one else had.
The El Nino X-It also stands out for me. I have yet to see another heavy oil ball as versatile and continuos on the back end as that ball. It would also work on medium oil without burning up if you wanted to cover a lot of boards.
Post by: Juggernaut on April 24, 2009, 10:37:57 AM
We may not have realized the revolution it began at the time, but virtually all weightblock evolution and drilling techniques up until the modern mass bias balls began with the popularity of the two piece black HAMMER. It was, as far as I am aware, the first ball that anyone noticed reacted differently depending on the placement of the "PIN" in relation to the gripping holes and that did lots of R&D regarding pin placements and corresponding ball reactions.
There was a smattering of people with "altered" weight systems, but I think the HAMMERS were the first "true" two piece ball.
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Post by: lenstanles703 on May 02, 2009, 07:44:14 AM
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