BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: Raccoon on August 06, 2017, 01:46:21 PM
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First post here, apologies if this is not the best spot for the question.
To keep it short and to the point, I've been trying to figure out what sort of ball I used to have as a kid, only remembering that it was "candy apple" red, a shiny dark swirled red with pink sheen. My dad had allowed me to pick it out after I bowled my first 200 game in 1994, but I couldn't even guess at a brand. Sadly it was lost in a house fire.
I'm wondering if anyone can point me toward any sort of archive of old bowling ball catalogs to browse? I've been scouring online, but I feel like none of the major manufacturers have older promotional materials available.
I've been dipping my toe back into bowling after not having been to a lane in 20 years. I absolutely lived at my local alley when I was around 10 years old, but we moved and I had nowhere to play so that was kind of the end of my interest in it. But man oh man did I love that ball.
Thanks for any suggestions!
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do you remember the brand?
plastic, urethane reactive?
look here http://123bowl.com/
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Unfortunately no, I really couldn't tell you anything beyond the general exterior (very shiny and kind of pearlescent) and the color itself being labeled "candy apple" in the catalog, which is why I was hoping to find some of the old catalogs that they had showed me at the time when I got it.
I'll have a dig through that site, thank you for the suggestion Lyal!
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Could have been an original excaliber. It fits the description and was one of the mist popular balls still into 1994.
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I think the Brunswick Phantom Crimson was around that time.
http://123bowl.com/bowling-balls/brunswick/phantom-crimson/ (http://123bowl.com/bowling-balls/brunswick/phantom-crimson/)
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Polished AMF Ninja Fury?
Faball Red Pearl Hammer?
Brunswick Quantum Fire?
These are ones that stick out in my mind for the time frame you mention.
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123bowl.com
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A real good ball from that era that is red imho is the Faball Red Razor (not Berry Razor that ball was garbage).
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Could it be a Columbia Pulse (not sure of the release date)?
(https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images1/1/0411/15/15-lbs-columbia-300-red-pulse-bowling_1_be80e1700716fc460423468560d88bbf.jpg)
(https://www.ballreviews.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.ebayimg.com%2F00%2Fs%2FMTYwMFgxMjAw%2Fz%2F5nMAAOSwB-1YvLjt%2F%24_1.JPG&hash=e4fe320fe647b994a062a0b47cb41a88c3e11830)
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Pulse came out later, closer to 2000. Still think Excaliber is a good bet. First reactive resin ball that was immensely popular during early 90s. Don't have a picture but color was similar to old yellow dots.
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Pulse came out later, closer to 2000. Still think Excaliber is a good bet. First reactive resin ball that was immensely popular during early 90s. Don't have a picture but color was similar to old yellow dots.
I remember the X-Caliber being more purple than red:
(https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images2/1/1011/24/16lb-nuline-xcalibur-bowling-ball_1_9992e6e4887225dfe4adc3195ad12258.jpg)
Unless you are referring to this one, which doesn't seem to have much swirl:
(https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images1/1/1111/08/nu-line-calibur-raspberry-bowling_1_9701d4ff008015d05c74d868db642346.jpg)
Or maybe this one:
(https://www.ballreviews.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.rnudah.com%2Fimages%2F35%2F358718064368054.jpg&hash=61589ad4ba0ba879520c5b45edc45d3e63f01bcd)
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Was it an Aftershock Pearl? Crush/R?
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The original Columbia 300 Pulse came out in 1996. A later version emerged around 2000. I had 2 of the original versions. For me, this ball was very smooth and predictable. A great piece and one that, at the time, was my benchmark ball.
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The original Columbia 300 Pulse came out in 1996. A later version emerged around 2000. I had 2 of the original versions. For me, this ball was very smooth and predictable. A great piece and one that, at the time, was my benchmark ball.
I mentioned the Pulse mainly because I am getting one drilled up as we speak.... Ceramicore and all. Definitely look forward to throwing that one.
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Lol same with me and the Red Razor but have a few more days to wait for it. Going to have to nut up and throw a 16lb as 15lb for that ball is very hard to find.
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Apologies for the late reply!
Particular thanks to avabob and spmcgivern, I'm 90% sure that it was a Nu-Line Xcalibur! I wasn't completely sure at first as it does look a lot more purple than red, but looking at other images with brighter lighting I can definitely see the swirly red/pink/purple mix and particular sheen that I remember clearly.
That's actually really fascinating to me, at the time I had absolutely no concept of cover stocks or ball types (and barely know now), I just liked playing the game. I had no idea that I actually had one of the original reactive balls! Maybe that explains why I remember so easily hooking my shots as a kid, but nowadays going to the local lanes with just generic house balls I can barely get them to turn?
In any case, thank you very much everyone for the help with the stroll down memory lane! I wonder if those balls can be found nowadays? Replacing the one I lost in our house fire might be a goal now, since I'd actually know what to look for.
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Sadly the X-Caliber today would probably only be a good spare ball. Especially since from what I understand those balls hook would die very quickly with use as well even back in the day (ball death big issue for early reactives). I can speak from experience that urethanes from that era such as the Faball Hammers (have Burgundy, Black and Red Razor) are still usable today and best of all urethane doesn't really die with age. Unless paying hundreds for NIB early reactives if going retro I recommend sticking with urethane.
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Maybe that explains why I remember so easily hooking my shots as a kid, but nowadays going to the local lanes with just generic house balls I can barely get them to turn?
That's right. Most (probably all) house balls that haven't been "donated" by bowlers are either plastic or urethane. Neither hooks nearly as much as reactive resin. -- JohnP
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One other to keep in mind is the lane conditioners have become much slicker than 20 years ago and modern lanes tend to be much harder than the wood lanes that were the norm back then. Often even 10 year old reactives meant for heavy oil can barely handle house shots (medium oil generally) today. All that said don't stress too much about equipment. Best bet is to find a good bowling pro shop near you and talk with him or her about your what would be best for you. I would probably steer clear of ebay until after talking to a pro shop operator.
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I think he wants one just to have it. Nothing wrong with that. You can probably find a used one on eBay or even check the racks at your local center.
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Oh ok. In which case he is in luck.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nu-Line-Xcalibur-Used-16-Pound-Bowling-Ball-/132295803015?hash=item1ecd71c087:g:RKwAAOSwQwBZklB7
Not hard to get me to look at ebay gems these days.
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Original excaliber had a high amount of resin additive compared to todays resin ball. It tended to be sticky and reminded me of the old bleeder yellow dots of the 70's. Indeed they did die, but no quicker than many of the hook monsters today. I think a new excaliber, if there were such a thing, would work quite well on todays house shots. Probably similar to my cobalt vibe. Remember it was a pearl, and isn't going to hook in heavy oil any more than todays pearls do.
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Ok. Makes sense. Being such a Faball lover not one to assume only the latest greatest will work. Nice to hear even some of the reactives from that era are viable. Just didn't want to steer someone to a spare ball when they are expecting more.
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I'll keep that all in mind, thanks everyone!
But yes, I'm certainly speaking more about finding one again just for the sentimental value in having something that I had lost long ago; I kind of expected that for the cost of a "vintage" ball like that I would be much better served just getting set up with something fresh and current.
In any case, I am so horribly out of practice and clueless on the equipment in general that for now I probably shouldn't worry about picking anything up for a while.
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One other to keep in mind is the lane conditioners have become much slicker than 20 years ago and modern lanes tend to be much harder than the wood lanes that were the norm back then. Often even 10 year old reactives meant for heavy oil can barely handle house shots (medium oil generally) today. All that said don't stress too much about equipment. Best bet is to find a good bowling pro shop near you and talk with him or her about your what would be best for you. I would probably steer clear of ebay until after talking to a pro shop operator.
I just dug out my Blue Warlock (1997) and it still hooks plenty on THS. In fact, I think I should have gone to a weaker ball that day but I wanted to put some games on it since I was testing if I could throw 15 and it was the only 15 I had brought.
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Original excaliber had a high amount of resin additive compared to todays resin ball. It tended to be sticky and reminded me of the old bleeder yellow dots of the 70's. Indeed they did die, but no quicker than many of the hook monsters today. I think a new excaliber, if there were such a thing, would work quite well on todays house shots. Probably similar to my cobalt vibe. Remember it was a pearl, and isn't going to hook in heavy oil any more than todays pearls do.
I remember having some early reactives that I thought died on me. I wonder now if it really did or if I just did not know enough about how to restore a ball (remove oil, resurface). As bowlers, we know a lot more about how to maintain bowling balls than we used to.
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Yeah didn't get my first reactive I think until the late 90s and they're all long gone for reasons other than ball death. Oldest reactive I have currently is a BVP Rampage and yeah its still a beast on the right conditions. Not a reactive but I threw my new old Faball black hammer today and was surprised how strong it was on THS as well. Might have to do with I got very lucky and ball had 2nd hand fingertip grip drilled I don't usually use that fit. Definitely hits a ton still.
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Before I retired and moved cross-country over 4 years ago, I got rid of a lot of my old reactive balls, but before I did, I decided to give several of them another try. The balls I
parted with included a Brunswick Danger Zone, Columbia Pulse (first version), Columbia Power Torq, and a Columbia TiBoss. Most of these balls were released in the
mid 90s. In their "day", these balls were great performers for me. However, when I threw them years later, they were nothing but darts.