Plastic ball question

[Phonetek]

Back in the day and I'll use Columbia an example. There were inherent difference between a White Dot, Red Dot and Yellow Dot. Not just in looks but action on the lane and with the out of box finish, they all had their own characteristics. I'm trying to figure out if the same holds true today since plastic balls are pretty much spare balls. There are a so many choices with any balls but plastic by far has more than any other kind. It's hard to tell, do they still differentiate like they used to?

[JerseyJim]

Back in the prehistoric times, White Dot was hard plastic, the Yellow Dot was a soft polyurethane. I believe the Red Dot was in between the two in terms of reaction.

[bowl1820]

Back in the day and I'll use Columbia an example. There were inherent difference between a White Dot, Red Dot and Yellow Dot. Not just in looks but action on the lane and with the out of box finish, they all had their own characteristics. I'm trying to figure out if the same holds true today since plastic balls are pretty much spare balls. There are a so many choices with any balls but plastic by far has more than any other kind. It's hard to tell, do they still differentiate like they used to?

The main thing with the plastic balls of the past was the Durometer readings, some were softer (hooked more)and others harder. Such as the old Blue Dot (Not the newer one) which was the hardest at around 86-90. Which they are still sought after by many who have a hard time rolling a straight ball.

Most plastic balls today are basically the same, unless you get ones with a modern core.

[Phonetek]

Back in the prehistoric times, White Dot was hard plastic, the Yellow Dot was a soft polyurethane. I believe the Red Dot was in between the two in terms of reaction.

LMAO, you just HAD to throw the "prehistoric" comment in there. So back on today's plastic balls I ask, is there ANY difference other than having your favorite cartoon character, skull, zombies, beer bottles or color scheme on them? Or is there an actual useful difference like there was way back when we thought the earth was flat and NASA believed Pluto was an actual planet?

Oh, Bowl1820 squeaked a response in there while I was typing my response. So basically just pick the one you think is pretty that you want to throw unless it has a core. Thank you, my OP was answered to my satisfaction.

[boatman37]

A guy that just started in our league has a clear ball with a skull in it...lol. He throws a straight ball so not sure how it would hook.

[Phonetek]

Yeah those have been around for quite some time. I had one decades ago that was just clear made by faball, nothing inside but the core. People said it looked like a ladies chest. Someone stole it, I barely got to use it. The one with the rose inside was popular for a while. They tend to yellow over time. I suppose a resurface would likely fix it. I'm sure I'll find something I like, it doesn't have to be obnoxious. All black would be fine, I'm not picky.

[Phonetek]

Back in the prehistoric times, White Dot was hard plastic, the Yellow Dot was a soft polyurethane. I believe the Red Dot was in between the two in terms of reaction.

Wait, the yellow dot urethane? I know the ones in the 60's and 70's were scarlet red marble. Next version was very dark in color with a red tinge and I believe those were what they referred to as "Bleeders" because they would sweat oil. Then they changed them to a dark flat color finish also with a red tinge and they were notorious for cracking badly in chunks around the thumb hole. After that all I remember was the Yellow Dot Legend of which I had two. One was Ruby Red and the other Emerald Blue and they were based on the original Yellow Dot scarlet red marble. After that I have no clue. As far as I know, none of those were urethane. I believe you may be talking about the "U" dot which I think was urethane and came in black and wine color?

[bowl1820]

Wait, the yellow dot urethane? I know the ones in the 60's and 70's were scarlet red marble. Next version was very dark in color with a red tinge and I believe those were what they referred to as "Bleeders" because they would sweat oil. Then they changed them to a dark flat color finish also with a red tinge and they were notorious for cracking badly in chunks around the thumb hole. After that all I remember was the Yellow Dot Legend of which I had two. One was Ruby Red and the other Emerald Blue and they were based on the original Yellow Dot scarlet red marble. After that I have no clue. As far as I know, none of those were urethane. I believe you may be talking about the "U" dot which I think was urethane and came in black and wine color?

The yellow dot didn't sweat oil, it was a resin they used to harden the plastic. The bleeder was around before urethane and it was basically a accident.


Heres some info posted by avabob


The yellow dots by name did not come out until 1975. Prior to that the Columbia balls were white dots in various colors including scarlet. Some batches of the white dots were softer than others, but it was a quality control issue relating to the fact that Columbia cured their balls in a non climate controlled setting. This caused balls coming off the line in summer months to cure out faster in a hotter environment. A batch of 4D scarlet white dots in 1974 came out particularly soft, prompting Columbia to try to duplicate the process which they did beginning in 1975. Part of this apparently involved adding some type of resin that impacted the curing process to yield softer shells. Columbia was also making the Shore D, and later the Sur D during this period. These were even softer and were subsequently outlawed. The outlawing of the Shore D and Sur D did have an impact on the Yellow Dots. Yellow dots in 1976 could still be found in the low to mid 70 hardness range. By 1977 it was hard to find a yellow dot much under 80 hardness even though balls down to 72 were legal in ABC competition. The PBA had a higher 75 hardness standard which probably prompted the harder shell yellow dots.

In 1979 Columbia reformulated the yellow dot to more prominently bring out the bleeder qualities found in many of the 1975-76 editions of the ball. Though not much softer than the 1977-78 batches, the new formula yielded a much harder hitting ball. I had 9P, 0R, and 0S yellow dots over the next couple of years, and had great success with them. These balls again clearly had some type of resin additive ( not seen in the 77-78 batches ) to enhance the surface friction.

Just a couple of trivia notes. Glenn Allison shot his 900 series with a bleeder 0R Yellow Dot. Also, quite a few Crown Jewels from Brunswick came out really soft in the 60's. Nobody really appreciated or seemed to gain any advantage from the soft Crown Jewels on the lacquer finishes of the 60's. However by the mid 70's scratch bowlers were scavenging garage sales to find these vintage soft balls.

[Phonetek]

Yes, I stand corrected it was the resin that bled not oil. I had a brand new 9P still in the original box and bag and after it sat for many years I pulled it out and it was a disgusting mess. It took me an hour to clean it up to look good. Since it never touched a lane it couldn't have been oil. I mentioned a while back in another post, that's the one my wife tipped the box in our truck when we were moving, it rolled out and smashed her foot. It ended up cracking all the way around well beyond repair. Never drilled and ended up in the trash, very sad. I had it over 30 years.

[bowl1820]

Now there was the ABC Masters Yellow dot, which was a urethane. The rest like the bleeder were polyester.

[Phonetek]

Now there was the ABC Masters Yellow dot, which was a urethane. The rest like the bleeder were polyester.

I never seen that one. That may have been post Legend? I wouldn't have bought it, a urethane yellow dot just don't belong. Nice try Columbia 300. I'd gladly throw another Legend or Original scarlet even a bleeder today for dry conditions or spare ball. Unfortunately you can't find them, especially 15#. If you do they are beat to death. Otherwise they are new in the box for $500+ No thanks.