This review is for the Columbia Messenger Black (urethane):
Summary: Early, mild, extremely controllable, hard-hitting ball for short oil and reverse block. A solid 8.
I bought it to play on one particular condition in one house - a short oil/flying backends condition that's too flippy for a high RG resin. It's wood, 35 units inside, 28' buffed to 32' and stripped daily. Everyone gravitates outside, so the house track burns up quickly. Speed control is important; the wood surface plays like synthetic, and rapid carrydown make it easy to throw the ball through your breakpoint. So far, Messenger Black seems to be a good solution to these backends and breakpoint issues.
I redid my TFlash in a strong drilling and missed having a low-flare urethane. I agonized for a couple of weeks over what to do with the ball, and ultimately went with the advice of the Columbia rep, which was to put pin above the ring, CG stacked, placing the mass bias just right of the thumb. It's a 5 1/2 x 5, and for anyone who's interested, it has a pinout of 3 1/8, final weight is 15.2, 3/4 side, 7/16 finger, 1 1/8 top.
There's not a lot of data about this ball on the web. After what I'd read and heard, I half-expected MB to be a junk ball. Nothing could be further from the truth. My expectations were very low, and I have been positively surprised on all counts.
After 40 games, my feeling is that MB is a super nice, mild, arcing ball that goes where you put it with no surprises. In box finish (600), the best phrase for its arc-set-roll reaction is "disturbingly early", more so even than a TFlash. On short oil, it goes into a roll just past the arrows, maybe moves 3 - 4 boards all the way to the pin deck - without burning up. Very strange look to it; disconcerting even for someone used to urethane. With its mild backend reaction, you give up any chance for recovery on a miss outside; conversely, perhaps a miss inside will hold. About a 10-board ball overall, it sits between your spare ball and your weakest resin.
I would strongly advise against drilling it early roll - it's early enough as it is. BTM characterized it: "Out of the box (dull), good length on medium/dry conditions". I really disagree. I would hate like hell to see what a half-axis would do. It would probably want to go into a roll on your second step.
So far, the biggest surprise is how well the MB carries on fresh backends. I threw it in a house where you really have to steamroll the pins, and it hits like you'd expect of a Messenger, which is to say very well. You think of a 5 1/2 x 5 as something to play inside, but I got good reactions out of it from pretty much everywhere between 1st and 4th arrow. On messier backends or longer oil, it doesn't carry as well as a ThunderFlash, but on fresh ones, it unquestionably carries better.
What this is for: Short oil/stripped, reverse block, and not much else. It's as good an answer to short oil as I've seen. In the reverse block case, the core is strong enough that I would have no concerns about the carry deep inside. No good in box state without some head oil, nor on very dry lanes. Every surface is different, but just as a benchmark, I'd say it's ideal for something like 30 - 35 units in the middle, but not enough for, say 50 units where Thunder Flash is in its sweet spot.
I'll also be trying it on what's being billed as a short-oil sport shot in about a month (late April, 2002).
Who will like it: an accurate, end-over-end player. It will tend to cover problems he may have throwing through his breakpoint.
Who will not like it: The early start will kill the player who only likes to come around the ball. I had to bring my track up to within 1/4" of the fingers before I had success with it. The person who wants a GLSH ball will hate it, as it does neither. Maybe a cranker could use it polished like a steel marble, but he has many better choices.
For someone who's shopping for urethane, the natural comparison is to the Storm Thunder Flash. They are very different. My advice would be to get the Thunder Flash as your first urethane. The similarities and differences I've noticed include:
1) All else equal, TFlash is several (5 - 6) boards stronger and can handle a bit more oil in the midlane.
2) TFlash is a much more general purpose ball.
3) All other things equal, TFlash goes longer
4) Neither can handle dry heads
5) MB hits better on clean backends, not as well on spotty or oil.
6) MB is a better control ball
Rating: Solid 8 overall
Control: 9. Great predictability and control. The second best control ball I've thrown, right on the heels of the Track Magic. I'm capable of getting dialed in with it on some challenging conditions.
Versatility: 6. Frankly, most people buy urethane as a spare tire anyway. MB in particular is a condition- and style-specific arsenal ball at best. Most people will not want or need it.
Hit: 8. Hits like a Messenger, compares favorably to TFlash on dry backends.
