History of Bowling Balls | Urethane Era 

Just picked up a Turbo Urethane Blue Pearl from a estate sale. Fits my hand like a glove. Plan to use it as my spare ball and possibly for some versatility when my reactives aint cutting it.

Thanks for this Old Warrior knowledge has been improved I Had the Mag 5 and 12❤ loved ir 27 September 2023

That red Ebonite Gyro I..I throw that ball today - two handed, lol. I have averaged 226, 226, 224 and 223 so far this yr with that ball at my home house, a high of 220 in other houses and have 4 300s with it. I’ve hit 798 with it in league, 813 practice. Need to get the sanctioned 800. Ball sat in a closet for a long time before I picked it up and was amazed at the hitting power it has. I get a lot of questions about how old it is, etc.

Some of my Favorites was the Blue Hammer, Black U Dot & Bud II, Blue Pearl Turbo, and many others

I found a purple Faball Hammer at a local Salvation Army. Had it filled & drilled, and was blown away by the fact that it hooked pretty well despite being old technology. It's my go-to for lanes that are really over/under, or whenever I just want to play a straighter angle.

My father still throws an original blue hammer urethane ball from the 90s...still hits well. That's why I bought a nu blue hammer

Just had a Teal Rhino fitted. Awesome Power!! Killer Hook.

I'm sure you know my dad loves his LT48

The "crown" line in the 70's was technically the first line. You had the Crown Jewel, Triple Crown and Gold Crown. They didn't just differentiate in color, the hardness and finish were different too, introduced at different times too.

I remember having the Blue Crush, and I think it was the last of Urethane Bowling Balls, back then you had to be a Cranker to get a Hook on the Ball, before 2 Handed Bowling became popular... LoL

Great video

My first ball was a Brunswick Black Beauty, that was way back in the 70s.

Pretty cool😊

One of the best ever was the Columbia 300 Black U-Dot

I bought a black Hammer from Ray. Used it for many years. Wish I still had it, I'd polish the crap out of it for a great spare ball.

AMF Ammo was the best one for me.

7:51-8:28....The Rhino is another shear example of that.

The Black U-Dot was one of the best balls ever created!

Great video... love that Pink Hammer.. grew up in a house that was a very light oil house... favorite ball of all time!!

My dad still has his blue Angle and Sumo. I had the blue angle plugged and re-drilled to fit me and still carry it in my bag, mostly as a spare ball.

My first fingertip ball was the Black Angle ... and one of my favorite balls of all time was the Blue Nitro. (I still have one in my arsenal)

black Udot was the ball!

I found a Columbia 300 blue knight at a second hand store and it hits hard. I love using this ball

I still have my purple and blue nitro and a track critical mass. I haven't bowled in over 25 years and was wondering if they would still be good today

I had one urethane ball back in the day and it was a champions ball, I don't think that company really took off I remember Norm Duke using champions balls for a bit on TV

I have four Faball Hammers, all 5 of the original Angles (plus an extra gold Angle for good measure), a wine U-Dot, and an original Thunderbolt. All are 15 pounders and I throw them all regularly. Even today they work well on a THS and the darn things will last forever!

What about the Zone orange dot urethane??

Man loving this series! Urethane now that was my hay day. Big fan of the right out of the box shiny Columbia U dot. Then after a couple of years or so I got the Columbia Vector 2. You're bringing up so many fond memories. Thanks!

Does anyone know if the Blue Pearl Hammer/Nail and the Red Hammer/Nail were reg production balls or were they prototypes? I have seen pics of both these balls and was really surprised b/c I had never heard of them back when Hammer was HOT !!

Bought a faball hammer purple~can you tell me where is the pin and cg is?and how to layout this old ball

Great video! I still see and talk with the legend Carmen Salvino today. He's been a friend now two years and lives near me. A really great guy! He called me to ask if I were okay and needed anything during this virus and mandatory stay home order. I said, "Yes, a bowling lane!" Made him laugh! Amazing how he still loves everyone and everything regarding bowling 🎳!

These videos are just incredible and it's amazing to me as popular as bowling was at one time, there is very little in the way of history or anything bowling related online. These 3 videos are a must watch for any bowling fan in my opinion. And just to throw out an opinion, I think the urethane era conversation begins and ends with the Blue Hammer. Had that ball come out sooner, it might have been the best selling ball of all time (if it isn't already).

Am I mistaken or was the AMF Ultra Angle the first ball to flare?

I still use the Pearl Blue Hammer 14# and a Storm Blue Thunder #16

A nice walk down memory lane.

I saw those blue Hammers everywhere in the early/mid 90s, especially the older guys had them.

I no longer bowl, but this was a nice trip down memory lane. I was always partial to AMF, the gold Angle, Nighthawk and Menace. I do remember the brown Edge II by Brunswick...that ball rolled out early though and lacked drive. Thanks for the video!

I still use a Ebonite Firebolt II and a Columbia 300 U DOT Vector Two in my bag out of 4 balls. Very different technology in these things and they just hit different, I'm still amazed how good they still roll today. I average 200

Can you help me identify the specs of hammer lite ? I just bought one today. Thanks in advanced^~^

Hey guys gotta say great video I definitely enjoyed watching them and learning about the history. This was probably something I would have never know if I didn't see this video since I am from a younger generation. One of the balls I would have liked to see you guys have is a blue angle because that's the ball I have and its been passed down my family to me. I still bowl it regularly too!

I have a black tank from the 80s that I use now

Wow, amazing series on the history of balls! But I would like to see a new segment where you compare urethane balls of the past with the new breed of urethane balls today. What is the difference in performance characteristics? How does the Purple Hammer of today compare to the Purple Hammer of the past? How does the Black Hammer of today compare to the Black Hammer of the past? Also, you mentioned the Wonder's from Faball/Visionary bowling. They made the most unique urethane ball ever, the Midnight Scorcher Particle Urethane ball. The heaviest hooking ball probably ever made, or ever will be made. Will easily out hook any resin ball today. Very rare and a must for any collector. I am lucky to have one. Keep up the great videos.

Still have my pink hammer and my red pearl and throw both regularly

Great video guys! Still have my first urethane ball! Trusty old Burgandy Hammer!

How'd you rate a Nu-Line urethane Xcalibur?

Man talk about bringing back memories. I had 2 of them Rhinos. The black and purple ones. In fact, the purple one was my first finger tip and inserted ball I ever threw. Threw it in the Saturday morning junior league, middle age group, 13 if I remember correctly.

Original Blue Hammer with 8B serial number was one of the best balls ever made. Loved the axe too! Remember Gemtek Phoenix and Ultra Motion?

The U2 was Columbia's first two piece ball that came out after the AMF Cobra. Favorite ball to look at back then was a red pearl Hammer or a pearl U2.

I have a 16 pd master ball that I've been long searching any information that anyone could help me with, 85-86 edition

My brothers friends parents own Hammer

How much is the ebonite gyro balanced early anthony magnum 10 worth?

I had a blue hammer ball from 1989 made in Baltimore. I had it up until October of this year. I gave it to a 2 handed high school bowler because he was using random house balls with little success. He has done much better with the hammer.

What was first show that Black Angle was used on?

There are missing the Manhattan Urethane.

Dad got at least 3 300 with his sumo

Do the red edge and rhino teal hook about the same? Does the edge hit any better?

i remember having all of those balls, except for the tank, i would say my favorite though was the slate u-dot which was the first ball i averaged 200 with and before that i could only average 170-180 before, then maybe the pink hammer which i could throw from the right gutter out to the left 1 and back to the right gutter, then i made the mistake of sanding the ball and it would not stay on the lane, 3/4 way down it would right turn straight for the gutter.

I have the ebonite GYRO 13 pound and a new storm pitch black both work well the GYRO moves a lot more then the pitch black I cannot put a a lot of speed on ball so they work for me also have hammer legand that I can sometimes use depends on oil

The Phantom series from Brunswick also ended up defining the ABC Rg limitation rules also

Do you have videos that feature the balls that all started bowling??? If you do can you provide a link to not have me watch or search all your videos...if you can do this for me I will subscribe...

I loved my blue and red pearl hammers,black and wine u-dots and my sumo.the sumo was probably the hardest hitting ball i ever seen or should i say ever heard

The Rhinos and the Phantom are the best especially the newer versions

At 3:16 who made the UC2 ball?

Purple Hammer is the best

What about the arc. ?

You didn't say anything about the Angle LD . Great ball I shot 800 with it.

How about the end of the era? The red Turbo C was almost a perfect ball. Early read with a constant strong arc always an easy trip of 4 pins.

What about the Brunswick symmetrical Twister Urethane in the late 80's Early 90's? They had 3 different Variants of the ball and had a pancake core. one was a bluish pearl, Red pearl. Later one was a dull finish black one for oilier lanes.

Cool video I shot three hundreds with those old bowling balls it's hard to believe that I did that 30 years ago I'm not a big fan of today's bowling balls

Every time I throw gold angle I get strike

Didn’t the Sumo ball have a limited run that included a doll Sumo wrestler? I seem to recall that when I was considering collecting balls, but then decided pins take up a lot less space! PS, have you been to Jayhawk to see the bowling collection they have? It is quite impressive.