Author Topic: Game Pearl (Read 9645 times)

admin · « **on:** December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM »

Ball NPS Score: Not Available
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The GameTM Pearl is a great looking complement to the original Game which was designed for heavy oil. Game Pearl is designed to get down the lane easier and make a strong, continuous arcing backend motion. The extra length comes from the pearlized shell which has a lighter loading of the TEC2TM particles. Game Pearl has a low Rg core (2.480) and high differential Rg (.051) for 5-6 inches of flare.

Specifications are as follows:

Coverstock: TEC2

Color: Red/Blue Multi-Pearl with Silver Sparkle engraving

Hardness: 75-78

Factory Finish: Polished

Hook Rating: 22

Available Weights: 12-16 Pounds

UNObowler01 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 18, 2002, 10:30:27 AM »

I got this ball for Christmas, and was waiting for it to come up on the site so I could express my thoughts.

I drilled my Game Pearl (out of box specs=> 15 lb. 3 oz., 3 1/2 oz. top, pin out 2-3") for length and snap. A 5 3/4 x 3 3/8 pattern, with the pin just below the bridge and CG kicked way out.

The ball hit REAL hard, but was very very inconsistent. I could not get a consistent reaction, so I plugged and redrilled it in a 3 3/8 x 4 stacked leverage layout.

I've tested the ball on a regular 7 to 7 house shot, oil 36 feet buff to 39 (wood), and a 29 foot pattern buffed to 36, from 10 to 10 (synthetic), and many other conditions. The ball is excellent to read the lanes with, its smooth, controlable reaction is just what i was looking for. Even though it doesn't snap hard, it rolls very powerfully and carries very well. I can usually slide on about 20 and hit 15 at the arrows, and expect a smooth, powerful break to the pocket.

It doesn't like heavy oil, but it's a great ball for normal house conditions, and medium tournament conditions. I think I'm going to get another one and drill it this way out of the box, just to have around.

A solid ball from Columbia once again. I give it 8.5 out of 10, loses 1.5 points, because it really doesn't go very long for a pearlized ball, and doesn't handle oil like a particle. Think of the Game Pearl as a strong resin.

Richard M Maloney · « **Reply #2 on:** March 04, 2002, 11:29:45 PM »

Hi this ball i put a 4x3 drilling on it and didnt touch it out of the box, left the factory shine and had to put a sall weight hole and it was on my axis. This ball is a very strong ball in the back and clears the fronts pretty good for a particle pearl coverstock. I used it on a frsh and it is enough ball to get back to the pocket and even late in the series by the 3rd game it was still able to be used and was very good choice of balls. Just another good pearl ball by columbia keep it up.

ArubaG · « **Reply #3 on:** March 08, 2002, 06:57:38 PM »

I bought this ball on February 27. Drill with the pin between my fingers. I find this ball has a good backend on mid-dry lanes. I have yet to bowl with on mid to med-heavy oil. I have bowled with it for 2 weeks on mid-dry and I had trouble carrying the 10 pin. Over-all it is a very controlable ball. This is my first time bowling with Columbia. Go get this ball. It is worth the cost.

Lurrabq · « **Reply #4 on:** March 24, 2002, 09:19:42 PM »

I've had this ball about a month now, drilled approx, 3 3/8" x 4", Cg kicked rt 1".

Have been really impressed with this ball. Bought it to complement (or so I thought), a Collosus that I got the week before. Was surprised when I realized that, on two out of the three different conditions/houses I've used it on, it outhooks the Colossus. It clears the heads cleaner, and has a huge, yet very readable move on the backends. Seems to carry the ten pin a little better than my Rock Pearl too.

Over all, for the price, this ball rates a super deal, especially if you don't have a lotta hand in your shot, like me. 9.5/10

pbafire · « **Reply #5 on:** March 27, 2002, 06:32:45 PM »

15.4 3oz top 4in. pin

drill this one at a 45degree twist...pin ended up a good two-three inches above middle of the two fingers, small extra hole was needed (edit..have since widened that extra hole, was 7/8 side, is now 1/2 side and 3/8th thumb weight).

This ball is a well kept secret from Columbia...used to be a Track man myself for a while (track/columbia same balls right..not in my opinion).

Got this baby drilled up during the Kingdom of Bahrain International Open in Feb. after seeing another bowler with a similar stlye to mine use it. Crushed the pocket during the semi's..opened with 267,267 (finshed the 8 games w/ +271).
Started the finals (16 games match play 277,258)...had a few 150's in the middle but that was all MY fault (slipped on the approached and fell on my butt start of game 9 and my mental game was shot from there). Still finished 12th...out of 140+ bowlers.

Very versatile ball. Can play straight down the boards or open the lanes up. Out hooks the first Game a little (according to columbia, not speaking from experience here)...but I do believe it is due to the Pearl Tec2 coverstock.

Have since polished it a bit with some Track Particle Polish after having some 100+ games on it. Still a winner in my books after all those games.

A MUST for the price.

9.8 out of 10 from Columbia

Edit... A Year plus later... a 290 and 300 to this ball's credit, did increase the weight hole to keep this one in play longer, and this ball is still performing...so much for Tec death, but then again this is a much lighter load particle from Columbia compared to the Arc and others.

Traumatize · « **Reply #6 on:** May 01, 2002, 05:27:24 PM »

I purchased this ball in early December, but didnt decide to review it until now because i hadnt seen this balls true potential until yesterday. I have had it redrilled once and the new specs are the pin under my ring finger and the cg kicked out just under 4 inches, with a big weight hole to balance it out. I love this ball as a compliment to my Trauma ER. When the backends get a little too dry for my Trauma ER, i pull this ball out and it does the trick. I have it polished a little to give it some extra length, and to help it clear the heads a little bit better and it does this quite nicely. It revs up during the midlane and when it hits the breakpoint, it makes a hard smooth arc to the pocket. And when you get it to the pocket, LOOK OUT! Flush hit kicks out the 10 all day, and light hits will almost guarantee a messenger. Does leave a few 10 pins when I have to swing it more than 12 boards, but what ball doesnt.
All in all this is a great ball when the backends have a dry spot on them. If there is too much oil in the midlane the ball will skid to far and never turn the corner. The control on this ball is also excellent. Very easy to read. I give this ball an 8.5 out of ten, only beacause it needed some work for it to fit my needs.

<Traumatize>

Da Truth · « **Reply #7 on:** September 14, 2002, 11:55:36 PM »

Weight: 14lbs

I have my Game Pearl drilled with the pin in a 12:00 position. It
is a 90 degree layout. This places the pin above and between my ring
and middle finger, five inches from my PAP. Also, I had the ball
polished in order to get it down the lane.

I have tested this ball on four different oil patterns. The first was
38 feet in length and medium volume. The surfac was wood. The Game Pearl
really shined on this shot. It cleared the heads beautifully and hooked
hard on the backend. In league, I used the ball all three games and rarely
moved my feet.

The other pattern was similar to the first, however, the surface was
Brunswick Pro Anvilane synthetics. The ball worked great once again. It
cleared the heads and reacted hard on the backend.

The other two patterns were both about 40 feet in length. One house was
wood lanes and the other sythetics. On the wood lanes, I played up the
boards, swinging the ball from 8 board to 2. The ball gave a nice backend
once again. On the Brunswick synthetic lanes, the ball did not budged. However,
there was carrydown from the previous league.

The Game Pearl is a great ball for fresh backends and high friction lanes. The
backend is splendid. Great ball!! I rate it 9 out of 10.

Bjaardker · « **Reply #8 on:** October 25, 2002, 09:13:59 PM »

This was my first reactive/particle ball ever. It was reccommended to me by a highly reguarded local pro-shop. I went in looking for a ball that would react similar to my old Columbia Stingray/C, but have a bit more carry though the pins. This ball fit that bill.

The reaction is very predictable & has a nice even arc similar to a sanded urethane. You can put a lot of finger in the ball, get a good lift & it won't "overreact" and crossover. While not necessary to get a lot of spin on the ball, I can see where it would benefit from a 50%+ release angle. Speed is not a necessity with this ball, the pearlized coverstock does a good job of keeping the reaction controlled yet lively on almost any surface up to a medium-heavy oil.

This ball's handicap is heavy oil. Whether it be gutter to gutter, or a big slick down the middle, you will need to adjust your shot accordingly. If it's 10-30 oiling or a X-mas tree pattern, I would suggest a deeper shot to make sure the ball has enough time in the dry to come back.

If you have the means for another ball made for heavy oil, I would suggest picking one up to compliment this ball. The Game makes a GREAT 10 pin ball in those situations though, getting just enough bite to stay on the lane & pick up the 10 without swinging out too far into the moat, or biting too hard & missing to the inside.

I only gave the ball an 8 because I'm a tough judge & no ball I've ever used could score a 10 unless it throws itself for me.

The only reason I didn't give it a 9 in that case is because I really was hoping for a little more action on oil.

This should be the first ball out of your bag. It's infalliable consistancy makes it an excellent ball to judge lane conditions with & it's reaction to oil can tell you exactly where the slick/dry spots are to help you to select a different ball or adjust your line.

Total score 8.9 out of 10.0

amflitepinnacle · « **Reply #9 on:** March 28, 2004, 07:15:20 AM »

I recently was given this ball by a friend of mine about 2 months ago. Had it plugged and redrilled for me as my friend was a lefty. I have it drilled wht and Axis leveage drill with a 29/32nd balance hole about 2 in deep. I normally use this ball for spare shooting as I find that with it higly polished even though it is a particale reactive it sets up nice ly for corner pin spares. With the surface of it dulled down I can use it to created a greater amount of hooking power especially when the lanes are dry. Overall I would have to give this ball and 8 out of a sscale from 1-10 as It is a pretty good ball but it is condition sensitive

Author Topic: Game Pearl (Read 9645 times)

admin

Game Pearl

UNObowler01

Re: Game Pearl

Richard M Maloney

Re: Game Pearl

ArubaG

Re: Game Pearl

Lurrabq

Re: Game Pearl

pbafire

Re: Game Pearl

Traumatize

Re: Game Pearl

Da Truth

Re: Game Pearl

Bjaardker

Re: Game Pearl

amflitepinnacle

Re: Game Pearl