WOW, gloom and doom
Ebonite brands are very popular here
tons of Hammer stuff, track, Columbia and then Ebonite
I bet the large family that operates Ebonite brands would disagree with you isolated observations.
Last I heard, Ebonite has 50% of the total balls sold worldwide.
I happen to know somebody, who knows somebody, you get the point
They would not agree with you at all
They have some awesome new equipment and just because TJ used on old gamebreaker for a few shots, you have decided they are on the down and out?
Hey, that gold ball from the other company performed so well....all it did was leave corner pins...
that company is struggling because several of the guys used on the tele and it don't carrry.....waaaaahh, ball sucks, company sucks....
really??
Did I ever say that they don't carry, or the ball or company sucks? Read my post again. Of the 6 300s that I have, 4 were with Ebonite equipment (Total NV, Complete NV, 2x Mission Domination/250K).
Also I mentioned that I understand why TJ went with a Gamebreaker, as you should always use the ball that works for you in the conditions given, not what is newest out there. But in a marketing perspective, if you are the rep (read: the face) of the company you're representing, it does your company no good to use older, discontinued, hard-to-find equipment. Ebonite can't make the Gamebreaker anymore thanks to the new USBC rules in place.
Bit of background for me: I split my time between two cities: Las Vegas, and Sacramento, though I'm primarily in Sacramento now. Up here, there is only 1 EBI staffer (there were two: Leanne Hulsenberg went to Storm over the summer), and he's amateur staff; the next closest ball rep is the regional rep, and she's in Reno. In this area, Track and Storm are dominant, and that has come as a shock to me, as when I moved to Sacramento from Vegas, Vegas was a heavy Ebonite area, to where there are very up here.
In Vegas, there's more variety being thrown, but again, the main ball rep there is again, amateur staff.
In no way did I say that Ebonite is down and out. I seriously hope not, especially with me throwing their gear since the Turbo X. In the 36 years I've been bowling (I'm 39), I've had more success with Ebonite equipment than any other brand out there (my next would be Fab, followed by Columbia). Hell, for fits and shiggles and eye candy, I keep an Optyx Formula 1 and a TPC Warrior in my joey, have another Optyx NIB at home, and another NIB Turbo X just for when I want to pull them out. They are collector's items now, but that also tells me how good they were and that they can be pulled out any time to be used.
My Optyx can outperform their !Q Tour Pearl anytime. I'll even go as far as to say that the Gold Rhino Pro could as well (can't say that for the Pearl Quake).
To contrast that, I'm about to trade in the Mission X and Pursuit/S for something else (probably a Champion; I don't know), as they just didn't roll well for me (both have less than 15 games each), yet my Mission Domination and Undefeated Fire are staples in my bag alongside the Challenge.
I just think that some of the trends on how a ball is marketed has changed, and some brands are getting it right, while some are missing the boat.. Unfortunately, I wonder if they are missing the boat here. Showing the ball from only one angle of attack isn't going to work when we all know that everybody doesn't throw the ball the same exact way. This is where Hammer's videos excel here, as they have the tweener, the wheeler, the cranker, the down-and-in player, and the lefty. You get to see how the ball reacts from various angles as well as different hands altogether. There is also less of a sales pitch here, as they get down to what the bowler really looks for, which is specs, layouts, ball motion, and reaction.
We see ball motion and reaction, basic RG/Diff and finish, but nothing on other specs and layouts in the videos for the Champion, Pursuit/Pursuit-S, Mission X, none of the mid-range balls, and almost the Challenge (they did show pin-up/down and polished versions).
Isn't it also interesting that the last two balls that really sold well for them were thrown by those with the most versatile lines, and both of those being the Mission and Mission 250K? Kulick, Mika, and Allen sold those balls and then some.
Isn't it also interesting that in any Ebonite video, the ones that had anything as far as specs and layouts go were the Mission, Vital Sign, Hardball/Curveball, and Total NV balls, all of which were made with Ussery's assistance before he went on to become Hammer's brand manager?
I just don't know what the answer is to problem. I really don't. But I'm not saying that the company is going downhill, because they are selling and still selling well. But others here are saying it: It's the equipment that sells, not the marketing, and from their videos, more is being spent on marketing, which isn't helping. We know that their R&D and manufacturing are great; it may be that their presentation is just off, or isn't appealing to the younger bowlers, like the other brands are.. I don't know.
What I do know is that everyone here (at least those posting here, as they've seem to care about what I said, and I thank them for that) doesn't want to see Ebonite go the way of the dodo. I know they'll bounce back and bounce back strong, but I don't know when, especially with the fact that there is so much variety and competition out there now.
BL.
