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View Full Version : Invasion and Reign of Fire reviews by Storm PBA Regional Staff member Kurt Gengelbach



oldschoollefty
01-27-2010, 02:51 PM
Storm Invasion and Reign of Fire reviews
First, the facts...

The Invasion was drilled 5 x 4 x 3 (5 inches pin to pap, 4 inches PSA to pap, 3 inch pin buffer). The pin is about .6 inches above the bridge. For me, a moderate to weaker drilling. The Reign of Fire was drilled 35 x 50 with a 4 inch pin (dual angle layout). The pin is about .5 inches above/left of the ring finger. For me, a stronger drilling.

Both balls were initially thrown on worn wood lanes, on a slightly broken down house shot and on a fresh Long and Winding Road Kegel sport shot. Both balls were used with box finish on the covers.

Both balls did pretty much as I expected on the house shot. The Invasion was a little cleaner through the heads than I expected though I was about 4 boards right of where I typically play in this center (27-28 board). The new R3X coverstock didn't disappoint as it really jumped off the dry boards aggressively and made a hard, angular move to the pocket. This is the best hook/set reaction I have ever seen from a Storm ball. To clarify, I don't mean the ball "rolled out" as some like to say, it still had a great, continuous roll into the 1-2 pocket. When I moved a few boards farther right to really get into the heavy oil in the middle of the lane, the ball still responded extremely well, not as angular, but still more aggressive than what I've seen before. Even the Virtual Gravity didn't handle the fallback this well. On the sport shot, the Invasion also performed better than expectations. I moved about 15 boards left from the house shot and just piped the ball up the 7 board. There was plenty of out of bounds as you would expect from a 2-1 ratio pattern but the Invasion still made a great move off the breakpoint and carried extremely well, especially on light hits. If I missed left, the 4000 grit cover had a hard time recovering but that was to be expected. (teaser alert: the Reign of Fire handled this problem well)

On the house shot, the Reign of Fire was a little too strong with its 1000 grit factory finish. I had to get so far right, I had a hard time getting the flat corners out since with my more limited axis rotation, I couldn't get the ball to corner quite enough. I think taking the cover up to 2000 or so with a light compound/polish might solve that. With the box finish, the ROF needs fresh, heavy head oil. Where this ball truly excelled was on the sport shot. I played it about 4 boards right of where I did with the Invasion and played up 11-12 board. WOW!!! This ball read in the midlane like a champ, made a great angular move off the breakpoint and took all 10 pins straight into the pit. Even better, when I opened up my shoulders and tried to miss two, three, even four boards left, the shell bailed me out and sent the ball in the direction of the pocket. For those bowling PBA leagues or looking forward to USBC nationals this year, this is a ball to add to your arsenal. It's always a plus to be able to open up the lane when the shot is that tight.

In conclusion, both of these balls represent improvement over previous releases. Simply put, think of the Invasion along the lines of the Virtual Gravity with a stronger cover and the Reign of Fire as a T-Road Solid with a stronger weight block.

Good luck to all, and thank you to Storm for two great new pieces.

Kurt Gengelbach
Storm PBA Regional Staff