The addiction continues...added 2 DREAM BALLS to the Closet of Victory!!!

[Aslan]

Okay....so I'm bored...I'm frustrated with my game...and make the mistake of doing a little online window shopping.

I come across an Ebonite Challenge that was LITERALLY over $100 marked down. And I'm not taking where the site marks a ball up to like $226 MSRP and then tries to take $100 off. I'm talking about a $159 ball on sale for $59. 16lb, clearance. So I HAVE to do it. I mean...$79 off...$89 off...I got so many undrilled balls I just pass on those great deals...but THIS is $100 off!!! On a top of the line Ebonite (Bowl to Win) product!!! AND I WANT TO BOWL TO WIN!!!

So I make the purchase. Then I get an email a couple days later saying, "we made a mistake and that ball is sold out. would you like another ball?" So at this point...I'm not 100% sure what that means. ANY other ball? Same price? I figured, "well, I can't ask for the Fortera Exile for $59. That would be so absurd it would probably be insulting." So I mention that I really like the Aura Mystic...but I was more choosing the Challenge on price. And I have wanted the Aura Mystic since it was RELEASED!!! It was my DREAM ball!! I just couldn't justify $225 for it. Their response? "Would you like the Mystic for the same price as the Challenge?"

How could I turn that down!!? Even though I'm on the verge of being a hoarder episode...and I can no longer walk into my walk-in closest...THIS was my DREAM BALL for $59.95!!! So, I make the purchase (arrived today). And, I was able to get it in 15lbs instead of settling for the 16lb clearance special.

Then today...I was trying to asnwer a question someone had about a deal on bowling balls...and I just happened on the BLACK FRIDAY DEAL on bowlingball.com!! Now, NOT in the market for a ball...I repeat...NOT in the market for a ball...BUT...THERE IT WAS! Almost like bowlingball.com did it on purpose!! The Brunswick (Aslan's favorite brand) Fortera Exile!!! Okay...now...I've talked about this ball...I've WANTED this ball...and not only that...but my "skid/flip" ball right now is the lowly Brunswick Slingshot...whcih, as much as I love that ball (threw a 238 and 223 with it Monday), it has a good deal of "skid" but "flip" is questionable. With a 0.017 differential and a sub 160 PerfectScale rating...an angular back end is really shooting for the stars. So I NEED a skid/flip ball!! And...THERE...for $125 off for Black Friday...is my 2nd dream ball.

So, are these going to sit in my closet forever?? Will I be able to stop myself from drilling them and throwing them IMMEDIATELY!!? Yes and No.

The Mystic I've moved into 15lb arsenal #4. I was planning on leaving that spot open for a symmetric core solid...but putting the Mystic there will give me a hybrid coverstock that I don't have in that arsenal. Now, that arsenal is still a ways off (Currently on arsenal #1, still have 2 more in front of it)...but at least it jumps ahead of some balls at the back of the line that I don't have much use for in any of the arsenals right now.

And that is where the Fortera Exile comes in. I decided to get it at 15lbs (since I wasn't restricted on weight this time like I usually am with clearance balls). And it is going to join the Dark Encounter, Lethal Revolver, and the Rotogrip Asylum (that I won in the bowlingball.com contest) as the "skid/flip" replacement to the Slingshot. That gives me a Pearl coverstock for that arsenal which I didn't have. All I'll have to do when it's time to switch arsenals is get a plastic/urethane ball in 15lbs since I'm definitely not switching weights for spare shots. No bigee.

So WHEN is arsenal #2 coming??

Well, I am a numbers guy...so I switch arsenals based on the number of games I throw on that arsenal. I figure an arsenal is good for 600-900 games total. Now, that sort of assumes you'll use all of the balls equally...so roughly for a 4-ball arsenal...thats just under 200 games per ball on AVERAGE. Personally I think with proper care and maintenance...a ball lasts more like 300-350 games...which is about what my Frantic had on it when I retired it recently. So, my changeout game target from Arsenal #1 to Asrsenal #2 is 2000 games. Currently I am at like 1465. So I figure based on my practice and league schedule...I'm looking at late 2015....probably just after the next fall/winter season starts....or maybe just before in time for spring/summer sweeps.

For the current arsenal (Arsenal #1):
Arsenal Game Count = 1465

Ball Game Count =
- Brunswick Slingshot: 134
- Hammer Rhythm: 326
- Columbia Encounter (N): 126
- Columbia Encounter (A): 98
- 900Global Bullet Train: 15

* arsenal game count doesn't = the sum of ball game counts. Arsenal game count didn't start at 0. Future arsenals will be easier to translate since I plan to change out the entire arsenal at once.

So this arsenal is at 699 games..BUT...it's a 5-ball arsenal so I'm going to use each ball less (theoretically)...so I'll probably be closer to the 900/arsenal than the 600/arsenal.

[Amyers]

Aslan maybe you should consider donating your balls to a school looking to start a high school bowling team you could outfit the entire team.

[MICHAEL]

GOD,,,, YOU wear me OUT Aslan!!! And I am God!!!!
For Christ's sake!! keep the threads down to 30 words or less!
sometimes before finishing your LOOOONNNNG threads I break out in a Cold Sweat!!
ICEMAN the God!

[Mudpuppy]

Cliff Notes: Aslan is still scared of spiders and won't be in KC to bowl on wood

[Aslan]

Aslan maybe you should consider donating your balls to a school looking to start a high school bowling team you could outfit the entire team.

Yeah...if we actually had a good youth bowling program/interest in this country.

And Ice...IF you were God...don't ya think you'd have at least average reading comprehension?? Come on. You're like a 14 year old with ADD. Read 3 sentences and then get distracted by a bumblebee out in the backyard....NOT GODLIKE.

[RobLV1]

This listing and analyzing arsenals is over-the-top, Aslan, even for you!

[Aslan]

This listing and analyzing arsenals is over-the-top, Aslan, even for you!

< removes gun from Rob's head that forced him to read it >

[Blacksox1]

Aslan's arsenal should be; Exile, Aura, Asylum and a spare ball. Sell the rest, Ebay, donate or dumpster. Use modern equipment now, not in x years. Use the proceeds to go to a multi-day bowling camp. I am saying this to help you, and hope you take it that way Aslan.

[Amyers]

Aslan's arsenal should be; Exile, Aura, Asylum and a spare ball. Sell the rest, Ebay, donate or dumpster. Use modern equipment now, not in x years. Use the proceeds to go to a multi-day bowling camp. I am saying this to help you, and hope you take it that way Aslan.

This may be the best advice ever posted to this site

[Aslan]

Aslan's arsenal should be; Exile, Aura, Asylum and a spare ball. Sell the rest, Ebay, donate or dumpster. Use modern equipment now, not in x years. Use the proceeds to go to a multi-day bowling camp. I am saying this to help you, and hope you take it that way Aslan.

That advice MAY be sound.

However, it makes one big assumption...that bowling ball technology IS significant. This is what bowling ball companies WANT you to believe...that your 300-game isn't happening because YOU didn't buy THEIR NEW ball.

I have a bit of an issue with this.

1) Many bowlers immediately run out and buy a BYTE and a Hyper Cell and a Mastermind...and they DON'T get better.
2) Some balls (Storm Hy Road) are still considered the best balls out their...using older technology.
3) Quite frankly, that proposed arsenal doesn't make as much sense. It lacks a solid coverstock ball capable of reading the lanes early and cutting through heavy oil. I think it "could" work with Mystic being the first ball out of the bag, ball down to the Asylum and use the Exile as a skid/flip.

And, just as a sidenote, if I sold every ball except those 3...for $60 + $25 shipping...EVEN IF they all sold...thats just shy of $540. Not enough for Camp Bakkes or a trip to the USBC training center. And because many of them are 16lbs...I doubt I could sell them.

On that note, I was thinking that if I really liked moving down to 15lbs...I might consider dumping the 5 undrilled 16lbers. But even if I decided to do that...I don't think I'd get anything for them. Would a pro shop owner take them even in trade? If I walked in and said I wanted to get a new 15lb Rotogrip Sinister and offered them a 16lb Ebonite Warning Sign and a 16lb Track 706A...would they even 'consider' it?? I doubt it.

I know Blacksox is a big Roto/Storm guy that is always pushing their "next big thing"....and I appreciate the business side of bowling....but how many times have how many companies released the "next big sure thing" only to 6 months later release the "real, next, big, sure thing"? The bottom line is they have made only slight changes in technology and core design in recent years. And for an average bowler (or like me, a below average bowler)...those slight changes will not make a difference in our scores/averages. It's like a guy putting a spoiler on his Honda Civic and expecting it to perform like a formula 1 race car. Sure, a spoiler might be the 1-2mph difference that allows a formula 1 driver to win/lose a race...but it ain't making Heny Bob McCullough into Mario Andretti.

I watch ball release videos nowadays and just laugh at them. You can pull up a video of some pro talking up some new ball...then search for that pro talking about another ball and he's saying almost the exact same thing like 2 years later. They show guys like Mike Fagan throwing some ball perfectly, editing out non-strikes, and most idiots watch it and think, "OMG! I GOTTA HAVE THAT....look what IT does!" But the thing is...IT didn't do anything. Mike Fagan did.

I already ran an extensive experiment showing that by and large, bowling ball to bowling ball has very little effect on getting a ball to hit the pocket for a below average bowler with about a 250rpm rev rate. If Rotogrip or Storm want to prove me wrong and drill me up a "next sure thing" that will refute that evidence...I'll gladly test it...HONESTLY...and I'll even buy it from them if it refutes my theories/data.

I WANT PROOF. Proof that a fancy new ball will make ME a better bowler. Not proof that it'll make Mike Fagan a slightly better bowler. Thats all well and good....but I want proof that it makes ME a better bowler. Otherwise...it's just smoke and mirrors.