BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: xrayjay on October 12, 2017, 11:33:32 AM
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It was the summer of 1985, I was 12. I had worked at my dads and godfathers large bakery for almost a year to support my vices, RC 1/10 scale, electronic gaming, karate, and bowling - about $25 to $40 a day every Saturday depending how fast I can work in 3 to 4 hours.
That summer I went to the sporting goods store which was near the hobby store and found a Columbia spare ball that looked copper'ish. I don't remember if it was a white dot, or what color the dot was. Anyway, The clerk asked me how I wanted my fingers drilled. Me, not knowing any better pointed at the base of my middle finger and ring finger. I said, "I want the hole to go this deep." That would put my whole fingers in the hole :D lol The look on the guys face was priceless. He said, "What?! you're going to break your fingers kid." lol He then explained to me what he was going to do and also explained that I will be growing up fast and may not fit the ball the following year and to return if it doesn't fit.
After paying for it, I headed down the escalator, it was my first time I sincerely felt excited about bowling. Now I can be a legit bowler kid like the guys and gals with their own bowling equipment. My father who I met down stairs asked what I got and was shocked I got a bowling ball, but proud I earned it on my own. After a short lecture about life, finance, and being a man one day, he brought me back to the third floor to buy me a bowling bag to go with my new ball.
(Before we left the sporting goods, I tried to push it with my dad.... I asked if we could go to the martial arts store so he could buy me another pair of nunchuku's. He laughed at me. Instead he took me to another place and got me a "Rambo knife", a survival knife with that compass on top and a freak'n map. :D LOL)
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Probably got my first one around the same time frame maybe 1987ish. About 100% sure it was a polyester ball and am thinking it was a C300 but can't remember for sure.
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Around 1984. Brunswick Johnny Petraglia LT-48 rubber ball. Still got it and had it re-drilled for my 16yo son.
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I threw hand-me-down C300 white and yellow dots to start with, but the first "performance" ball that was bought specifically for me was a Faball Blue Pearl Hammer. I got mine somewhere around 1990 or so, and I literally would have that ball lying near me on the floor when I watched TV; that's how much I loved it! I still remember the way it smelled, and this was before Storm-esque scent additives were being used!
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C300 white dot around 96-97. First reactive ball was a Tropical Storm (Blue/Yellow) in 2005
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My first bowling ball was a Galaxy300 Pearl White colored.
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First ball I owned was a hand-me-down Manhattan Rubber.
First ball I ever bought was a Yellow Dot.
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First ball I ever owned back in 1984 was a 10 pound blue plastic ball made by a company called Ram, which was either owned or poured by Columbia (anyone know which?). My second ball was the legendary Yellow Dot which by 1985 had taken a back seat to anything and everything urethane.
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1967 AMF 3 dot classic.
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ebonite Cyclone black/gold
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1982 Columbia caramel white dot 15#
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1963-64, Brunswick Black Beauty rubber ball. First ball I bought myself in 1969 - I think it was a Manhattan Rubber, no label, serial number only, specially made for the local pro shop owner who was a Brunswick rep and could not use balls with other names. He also had Brunswick make some balls especially for him and I did buy one of those but I don't remember the name of the ball now.
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I was like 4, so 6lb red white dot I believe....
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I was like 4, so 6lb red white dot I believe....
Lol Candy Apple 6lb TZone for my little one as well.
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First ball I used and learned with was a borrowed Columbia Black Knight, drilled fingertip.
First ball I bought (Sold a set of Uni-lug Mags for the $$) and had fitted and drilled was a blue AMF Angle LD.
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Brunswick Black Beauty 6lbs in 1970.
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First ball I used was a plastic 15 lbs plastic Korvettes ball hand me down from my Dad. First ball I bought Black urethane hammer. First 600 2 weeks later!!
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Faball Black Hammer, from back just after they came out. I still have it.
Next was the Grey Angle by AMF. Still have that one too.
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I started with hand-me-down White Dots, Yellow Dots (maybe even the Bonanza versions) along with Roto Grips in the 70s. I fondly remember using the heaviest ball I could hold (16 lbs before age 10) and it would be considered child abuse today.
First new ball I remember purchasing myself and fitted just for me was a blue Brunswick Laser. I loved that ball. I loved how the logo seemed 12" long and 6" high. The first day I bowled so much with it that it looked like it needed to be resurfaced.
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Black Diamond hand me down from my Mom. First new ball was the original black hammer.
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I'll play along, too. It was a 14 pound black rubber ball from Brunswick. My second ball was an Ebonite Gyro. Wow, I'm getting old. LOL.
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1963 - Brunswick Black Beauty, drilled conventional. After about a year I had the driller flip the ball so a second set of fingers, at fingertip spans, were on the other side of the thumb to see how fingertip felt. Then bought an AMF three dot drilled fingertip. I don't remember what I did with that old BB. -- JohnP
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Did many of you long timers (old timers) have a hole for your pinky??
Back in the day, I've seen guys with 4 finger holes... I never knew why....
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my first ball was a bigger ball ::) ::)
(https://bowlinghistory.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/dick-weber-all-pro-ball-1967.jpg)
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My first ball was a 6# brunswick bantam. I think it cost 50 bucks drilled back in the early 60's.
I do remember it being cork inside and probably had a rubber cover. It had my name stamped in it in 1/2" letters. As if anyone else would want it.
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That dark green Ebonite Gyro was the first ball that I bought and used, although the one I used up until that one was a red Brunswick Edge that was given to me.
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Brunswick Triple Crown ... If memory serves, it was drilled at KMart. :o
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10 lb Blue pearl Ebonite Mirage from Sports Authority, then I moved up to an Ebonite Blue Gyro then to my first reactive which was a Brunswick Danger Zone Black Ice.
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The very first ball that was bought for and drilled for me was an Ebonite Gyro 1 rubber.
Brad
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I bought my first ball in 1960,it was a brunswick black beauty.The pro shop owner suggested a finger tip grip and i thought it was the greatest ball ever made.My average went from 135 to170.
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First ball was a (I'm sure) plastic Brunswick ball, copper and bronze/brown swirl---I remember the triple crowns on it.
First 'real' performance ball was the Ebonite Turbo urethane (black) when I started bowling a league.
When I finally got serious about trying to hook the ball, buddy on my team sold me the Danger Zone (original). Made a huge difference moving to the reactive resin!
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Used 14 lb Ebonite Satellite in 1960. Got 16 lb black beauty a year later. My mom wouldn't let me go fingertip because someone told her you shouldn't get s fingertip till you averaged 180.
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Columbia White Dot, WAY back when. :o 1st performance ball was Storm's Atomic Charge. What a ball it was. Go to ball for several years until I started to experiment with others. 800 grit 2 piece ball. Now have a Lane 1 Chainsaw, Storm 2Fast (neither used much these days), Wrecker, HyRoad & a Carbon Motiv. Up next, something (Cyclops?) from the Radical line.
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I'll have to play-- just because my first ball was so cool(though I didn't know it then). I was 6 or 7 -- it was probably 1960. My grandfather bought me a 6 lb. red Jubilere. Ernie Schlegel made that ball (in its 16 lb variey) famous some years later.
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First one I bought was a K-Mart Galaxy 300...complete with the three holes, anywhere. I think I might have paid $25 for it. Sold it some years later for the same amount...
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wow some of you folks have some old bowling balls. K-mart drilled balls, sporting good drilled balls......
makes me wonder, when and what year was the very first proshop to ever open up inside a
bowling alley.
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Got my first ball in 1955. It was a black Ace Rubber Co ball.
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wow some of you folks have some old bowling balls. K-mart drilled balls, sporting good drilled balls......
makes me wonder, when and what year was the very first proshop to ever open up inside a
bowling alley.
They existed in the mid-80's but not every center had one. And when you lived more than an hour from a major metropolitan area, you took what you got.
And...back then, you also had no real way of comparing costs. But, the other good thing back then was that what you paid for the ball included drilling. None of this extra charge crap...
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wow some of you folks have some old bowling balls. K-mart drilled balls, sporting good drilled balls......
makes me wonder, when and what year was the very first proshop to ever open up inside a
bowling alley.
They existed in the mid-80's but not every center had one. And when you lived more than an hour from a major metropolitan area, you took what you got.
And...back then, you also had no real way of comparing costs. But, the other good thing back then was that what you paid for the ball included drilling. None of this extra charge crap...
They existed way before then. I don't know exactly when but I do know that Bill Srock opened up his first pro shop inside Yorba Linda Lanes in Royal Oak, MI in 1969-70. When he moved out and bought North Hill Lanes in Rochester, MI, the pro shop at Yorba Linda Lanes was operated for a while by either Bill Tucker or Bob Hart. Bill Tucker later moved to Astro Lanes then to Sunnybrook Lanes if my memory is correct.
Even before that time period there were pro shops in other bowling centers. I just don't know anything about them.
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When I got my first ball the center's mechanic measured me at the front desk, then disappeared into the back end and returned about 20 minutes later with the drilled ball. This was a Brunswick center in central North Carolina, 1963. -- JohnP