The original purple beast was supposed to be plain urethane with a bulb shaped weightblock in it. I had one of these and it would be pretty weak on todays conditions.
The next one looked exactly like the first issue except that the cover was changed from pure urethane to the Flexel derivative. A more aggressive ball that could still be used on today light oil shots with some success.
From there it gets confusing. Columbia had many beast series issues after that but they all were on the weaker side ( except for the da*m Super-Beast ).
They had:
1. Purple beast ( urethane )
2. Purple beast ( flexel )
3. Purple pearl beast ( pearlized flexel )
4. Blue Beast ( High friction urethane, whatever that is )
5. Blood beast ( A red version of the beast. Not sure of the coverstock )
6. Ti-Beast ( A dark blue urethane with a titanium nugget weightblock )
7. Super beast ( Blue pearl reactive. Super-flex cover I believe )
Then there were a few special releases, like the purple beast LTD. It has a purple pearl cover ( not sure which one ) with mica flakes in it to enhance the oil handling capabilities, almost like a mild particle added to the cover.
If you go to bowlingballreviews.com and do a search on beast and check the discontinued box, you will get many results.
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"TOO SOON THE POWER, TOO LATE THE WISDOM"