Well I just had a chance to throw this baby tonight.  A friend of
mine had just drilled it and had still not yet thrown it.  The condition
I was on was not great.  Heads and midlane were very choppy, had not been done for 2 days and there was a ton of carry down.  I began throwing my Eraser, Heat 2 and Pearl pulse.  None of these balls would turn the corner and they all tried to pick up a roll too soon.  Then I pulled out the Icon. This ball is in a world of its own.  It was left in box condition(Compound finnish) and was drilled with the pin above the ring finger, and CG kicked out one inch.  It cleared the heads like most plastic balls, picked up a good, even roll in the mid lane, and just unleased its "muscle" on the back end.  I went from trying to carry dead 10's to watching the ball hit flush leaving solid 9's.  I think this is one of the few balls I will splurge on and buy as soon as they come out.  If the cover stock really is as tuneable as Columbia says, then I feel they really might have the next generation particle in the new Muscle cover stock.  Well thats just my two cents, but I can't wait to see more of this ball.

Columbia wants you to "Make a Name" for itself!
with the New Muscle Cover Stock!

The New Columbia ICON comes to us with the "Promotion" of a
"Dual Coverstock" The Best of Both Worlds! (Reactive Resin) and (Particle) all in one!

They put their new Coverstock on an "Old" or should I say "Tried and Proven" weight block design that comes to us from the (Rock-On,Game Pearl,Wicked.)

The "Dense Polymer Core" is a powerful core! So there was some good thinking on Columbia's part to use this one first!

The New Muscle Coverstock is supposed to work like a "Reactive" ball when shinned up! Skid/Flip type of hook reaction! and like a "Particle" ball when
slightly dull, Strong ARC hook style and also bite threw heavy oil!

We took our test ball and drilled it "Label Leverage" (3-1/2 X 4) Drilling
and No Balance hole. we left this ball box finish which comes to us slightly
shined. (Compound finish)as per the columbia AD sheet.
(Side Note) Some of these balls may come with a "sheened" finish depending on the MFG process quality! We opened three boxes and found two balls sheened and one shinny.(Compound Finish)

We got Our ICON on a fresh pair of lanes oiled in a typical league house pattern and from the first roll of this ball, we were able to cut threw the oil and find a excellent read and reaction on the lanes!

Strong Hook! Not Snappy! more controlled! with "TREMENDOUS" Hitting power! I expected a great hit from this weight block and it was there!

We continued to roll (3)three games and found this ball to stay in play with
small adjustments and moves. Being that I was the Only one on this pair of lanes that were freshly dressed, I found that even out of the box, this ball
is strong enough for most bowlers to conquer those Medium to Oil lane conditons!

Just to see if I could Get the "Best of Both Worlds" from this new coverstock,
I went to the ball spinner and applied some "Black Magic" to see if I could get some Skid/Flip out of this ball! I went back to the same fresh lanes I just
finished three games on earlier and WoW! there was a difference!

I was able to actually get this ball farther down the lane and then watch it
make a "Strong" and "Sharper" turn at the break point! With my "tweener" release I was impressed at the difference I was able to get! I still would not call it a true "Skid/Snap" in my hands but those of you with "Stronger Releases" will get more! But Over all, a Strong Ball for just about anyone!

The Hit and Carry actually improved as this ball was throwing pins everywhere! No Problem here with hitting power! This ball has it!!!!
(By shinning this ball alittle more it retained more energy for the hit!)

After an excellent game of "Out and Back" I wanted to see if I could get the "Other side of the world" with this ball slightly dull.(Particle Style Traction)

I went back to the ball spinner and applied a 600 grit sand to My ICON
(as recommended by Columbia) in their Promotional AD.

Back to the Fresh lanes and again this ball "Flexed its MUSCLE"!
This ball showed tremendous traction threw the oil and provided me with a "Strong" ARC style of hook! I could get this ball out and still get it to
ARC back with no problem. The Hitting power seemed to decrease somewhat in that this ball was bleeding some of its energy getting down the lane.
But compared to most other "Particle Balls" this ball was still hitting Good!

In the Dull State this ball will require "ALOT" of Oil! to work well!
But, I think overall Columbia has a Powerful Ball here!
Those of you who want to get the Best of Both Worlds? Then the ICON is
your Ball! Keep in mind Shell adjustment is still very important here!
And when it comes to drilling this ball, go ahead and use your favorite pattern. But those of you with alot of hand, (Cranker Types) Keep the drilling simple!

We will Recommend this ball to all bowlers and to our customers!

BowlPro
www.discount-proshop.com

 

Columbias new muscle coverstock is a winner. ICON from
Columbia was left shined 4x4 drill and used on AMF synthetic
with medium track and heavy oil in the middle and the ball
goes long and flips. Second ICON R&D from distributor left
1000 grit scotchbrite and drilled 3 3/8 x 3 3/8 was used
on AMF synthetic with heavy middle oil and dry outsides;
ball can be sent from inside as far outside as you want
and still recover with explosive power; in fact I shot 300
the 6th game on this condition in league with the ICON. I
don't beleive I've ever had a ball that recovers that strong
and doesn't lose power.

Much like thegame had reviewed, this ball didn't move alot on the heavy oil out of the box.  I had drilled it up 3.5 x 4 and left it in the box condition.  I took it on the lanes that had a good 10 or more games on them and this thing just lay the pins in its wake.  I then took it out for the summer league, long heavy oil and it nearly went straight.  I took it to the back dulled it down on the resurfacer.  I brought it back and i wouldn't have known it was the same ball if i hadn't let it off my hand, this ball when down my mark, and took a strong arcing left turn, struck-out the last six frames.  I can't wait to take it to some lighter oil patterns because although it hits good when dull, it really shows muscle with the "out of the box" finish.  9 out of 10 dull/10 out of 10 {currently} shine.

I’ve had my original Icon for a couple of weeks, and I decided to get another one. The original one was drilled with the pin and CG stacked just barely to the right of the ring finger. I threw it for about a dozen or so games with the original factory shine, and liked the reaction – BUT – it wasn’t a big enough difference with my Spirit in the three houses I used it to warrant carrying both in the same bag. Sooo – I cut down some of the shine using my can of turtle-wax rubbing compound. I prefer the reaction with this slightly-dulled finish. It still gets through the heads OK but has a touch more bite in the back. I could break out the sandpaper and turn it into a premier “oil-ball”, but I already have a couple of Reaction Arcs, so I don’t need to fill that niche.
   The new ICON was an experiment. I love my Faball Berry Razor, and I’ve been wanting to find a PBA legal replacement – something to go real long but still have some serious hit at the pins. I think the Razor is around a 2.59 or 2.6 RG ball, and I figured that drilling up a 2.544 Icon right over the bridge would give me a ball with an effective RG of around 2.58. Not perfect but close enough. I drilled up a 16# Icon with a 5” pin. This one was laid out 6-5/8 x 6-1/4, which place the pin just a fraction of an inch left of my centerline, and about 1-1/2” above the fingers. I threw it in league today and a few practice games afterwards, and it looks like it’s going to work out just the way I wanted. It goes looong and arcs easily into the pocket. The Razor is about a foot longer, but the Icon will probably be even better when the carry-down would force the Razor back into the bag. With this drilling, I will be limited to shots right of the 15 board, but it is going to be a great addition to my arsenal.
   For those of you who were following the 7x5 thread in the Columbia forum, with this 6-5/8 x 6-1/4 layout, I am still 1” away from the thumbhole on the first oil ring. No danger either of hitting a finger hole. I think a 7x5 would have worked for me, or even a 7x6. However, the reaction is so mellow now that going into the “negative” region would be counter-productive. It would be akin to neutering a million dollar race-horse.

Wonderful ball.  I drilled this 4 X 4 with an 8 inch hole and it goes long and really moves on the back end.  The things that has amazed me about this ball is how is throws pins around and carries.  First night out in league I shot a 300 with it.  That isn't the amazing part because 300 isn't too hard.  The cool thing was that I did it a a bowling center famous for corner pins.  But, with this new ICON I had no problems getting the 10's out!
  I recomend this ball to anyone who is looking for that extra edge.

nice ball.
i drilled sort of a leverage. pin a little down and out from the ring finger with the cg kicked slightly towards pap and below the midline
tried it out of the box first and for me(a tweener with spin in the fronts), it was squirty on wood lanes with new oil(dont exactly know what kind. heavier viscosicty).
i took the polish off with 1000 wet sand and wow what a difference.
the ball is alot of ball when slightly dulled. revs in the midlane and has no problems with recovery.

i then took it to a synthetic house with the same oil. a week earlier i had a hard getting a rev to hook on.
this time the lanes were a bit drier(i had learned they shortened the oil that day).
i moved into the 4th arrow and had no problems getting the ball down the lanes and recovering. still had plenty of hit left.

 i then took my hand out of the ball and moved all the way to the right and noticed that the ball was very versital to releases as well as surfaces.
again, no problem getting this 1 through the heads and still had hold and room right.
i then took it to another league on wood lanes and when the carry down got to my rev, this ball stood up and read the lanes like a champ.
cant wait to get it on more oil.

just to sum it up, great ball that can fit any style with any surface.