I had the Mastermind, the Genius, the Intellect, and the Einstein. I liked just about all of them. In its time, the original Mastermind was a great ball for longer, heavier patterns or for shorter patterns where you needed control off the end of the pattern.

Now, all of that being said, it's older tech. Bowling balls, "heavy oil" balls in particular, have made some pretty great advances in recent years. Gone are the days where these big balls roll at your toes and offer no motion down lane.

So, in terms of the viability of the Mastermind today, I think that's what you have to keep in mind. The Mastermind is old school, so it's going to dig in quickly, and the motion down lane is going to be pretty mild compared to what you see out of today's big balls (Gem, Reality, UFO, Proton Physix, etc.). That isn't to say that the Mastermind is or will be weak. It's just going to do things differently than a lot of today's stronger balls.

So, is the Mastermind still viable today? Sure. You could easily use it with success on a lot of patterns that you'll face today. Is it going to be as dynamic and do things the same way the newer big balls do, probably not. You have to decide whether or not you'll be getting enough bang for your $80 by drilling up an older ball. That's totally your call.