Bowler’s Stats:
18.5 mph
450 rpm
10 degree tilt
35-55 degree tilt

Layout:
70 by 6” by 20
No hole
OOB Surface

Purpose:
With my lower tilt and higher rev rate, I often have issues getting a ball far enough downlane when the pattern gets blown apart. I bowl tournaments in houses where 5th arrow comes into play relatively quickly and I need to get it and wheel it with the big boys. I went with this layout to let the ball really scoot downlane before letting loose on the backend.

On the lanes:
To this point, I’ve only had the pleasure of throwing the DV8 Misfit Pearl on two house shots. At my home house with pro-Anvilane and medium volume/medium length pattern, the Misfit Pearl was the clear option as the pattern broke down. With so little friction on the fresh, the Misfit Pearl scoots a little too much through the midlane for my liking. That is not what this ball is for. This is the ball for dry heads and when you need to move inside and still send it out right. During one early afternoon practice session with some friends, I was bowling on a pair that hadn’t been oiled since league the night before. I saw two people throw shots that checked up in the 30-35ft range and really flattened out at the pins. I immediately grabbed the Misfit Pearl and turned some heads. Aside from the sexy appearance, this ball has the performance to back it up. In that instance, I could play 4th arrow with a comfortable release and never had to worry about the ball checking up early. The ball got to the correct breakpoint downlane, flipped hard, and finished through the pins with authority. This ball was sending messengers flying for me while some of my buddies were having trouble getting the 5 out. As if the color of the ball didn’t get enough attention, the reaction it gives sure does. I bowled several games that day and ended up right at 5th arrow. Not one weak 10 left all day. During the last fill ball, I lofted the gutter about 6th arrow out to 12 at the breakpoint and still slapped the 10 out. Not many bowling balls give me that much excitement over one shot. The original Misfit that I owned (Blue/Orange) definitely rolled up slightly earlier than I expected and wasn’t a true dry lane ball in that aspect. This Misfit Pearl for me gets at least 3-5 feet further downlane for me and gives a superb amount of backend reaction. Now this is a true dry lane ball! From my original Misfit, I have the Misfit Pearl being right at 5-6 boards weaker overall (however my layout on the original Misfit was a little stronger). This reduction in hook all came from the extra length. I will also add that the backend strength of the Misfit Pearl is slightly stronger than the original due to the pearl additive. In comparison to the Brunswick Meanstreak, once again the Misfit Pearl is about 6 boards weaker overall and a foot or two longer downlane. My Meanstreak also has less angle than the Misfit pearl but the Meanstreak does have a stronger and more arcing layout.

I also recently bowled a tournament on “mystery” synthetic overlays. The only thing I know about them is that they are soft and hook a lot! They flooded them with enough oil to give me a good look with my Aura on the fresh. Once the pattern blew apart (which only took maybe 3 games), anything strong had no chance.  The Meanstreak looked good for about a half game then I had to call in the Misfit Pearl. The Misfit Pearl gave me the length needed to get downlane and still pop, a reaction that mostly only the high tilt guys had. After that, everyone wanted to know about “that yellow ball”. For the next tournament there in 2 months, I’d be willing to bet that I’m not the only one with a Misfit Pearl on the racks!

Overview:
This ball really delivers on its promises. The Misfit Pearl glides effortlessly through the fronts and has plenty of reaction in the backend. When all your other equipment starts picking up early and losing energy, this is the ball your need to be able to pull out of your bag next. Just after a couple weeks with it, I can’t imagine going deep in a tournament without it. While the Misfit Pearl won’t usually be in play on a fresh pattern (save for a high rev and/or low speed player on drier patterns), it exceeds all expectations when the pattern burns up. If you’re like me and struggle on drier conditions when it’s harder to get the ball through the fronts, do what I did and get you a DV8 Misfit Pearl. The weak end of any arsenal will be vastly enriched with the addition of the Misfit Pearl.

Thank you for reading. Good luck and good bowling!

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer and not of Brunswick Corporation.

LANE CONDITION

Kegel Mean Street

Length:41 feet

Volume: 19.30ml

Type (THS, Sport Pattern etc): Typical House Shot


COMMENTS

Likes:  See Video

Dislikes: See Video


PICTURES AND/OR VIDEOS


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I have drilled 2 Pearl Misfits and they are so bright that they don't even need blacklight to glow!  I would recommend ball drillers invest in a purple or black pencil when laying these babies out. 

Misfit Pearl #1 45x3.5x45 (pin just right of ring finger)
The purpose of this ball was to give me a ball that I could use on a dry house pattern.  We have a few older houses in town with old lane surfaces that are only capable of putting out a limited amount of oil or else they experience ball return problems.  The Misfit pearl with the leverage layout gives me enough length so I don't have to worry about the ball burning up and gives me plenty of strong arcing backend to see the ball recover on wide shots.  I have always liked how high rg balls roll with strong layouts and this ball was no different.  This ball reminded me of my C system 4.5 but with even more length, and that is a compliment.

Misfit Pearl #2 55x5.5x45 (pin over middle finger)
There are balls meant for heavy oil, balls meant for versatility but this ball is set up with the sole intent of creating length late in the day on worn surfaces.  It is a couple of feet longer than my leveraged misfit with an even stronger response off of the dry boards.  This ball is not of much help to me during league, but looked amazing on scorched lanes after the league.  Here is a ball that is definitely in the bag for long format tournaments.

The Yellow Pearl Misfit is the longest ball I have ever thrown and has a very strong move off of the friction.  If you have difficulty getting the ball far enough down the lane to get that nice finish in the back end in your league or at tournaments, this ball is for you. 

LANE CONDITION

Length:40ft

Volume: n/a

Type (THS, Sport Pattern etc): THS


COMMENTS
Bowler info: Medium rev rate, 16.5mph, PAP 5 1/2> 1/8^

Layout: Pin above ring finger, CG kicked next to the ring finger

Likes: With this ball I was looking for something I could get outside with and play with the lower rev and speed dominate guys where they play and that dominate my home center. This ball allowed me to do just that, get into my comfort zone, right of 3rd arrow and play where the big scores were/are coming from. With the layout on this ball it was immediately clear that it was very clean (sometimes never even saw) the front part of the lane but never jumped off the extreme dry to the right of the pattern. This ball allowed me to go very straight on the fresh and still stay either on 3rd arrow or right of it second shift on the burn on old wood lanes. Don't let it fool you though, this ball will drive just as hard as any assymmetric ball on the market and carry just as well too. The smooth yet quick response to friction was a great thing to see on wood since wood has more friction than most synthetic houses and gives each lane its own characteristics, with this ball every lane seemed to even out for the most part. This is a ball everyone, speed dominate, rev dominate, anyone should have in their bag, if not for a benchmark ball atleast for when you have to play the dry or need to completely skip over the heads on the burn.

Dislikes: The only problem I saw with this layout on this ball is, as with most lower level reactive bowling balls, the carry down from urethane and plastic balls from prior leagues or guys you are facing seems to be its worst enemy, on carry down it will sometimes go to long. This however could be combated with adding surface (before league or tournament play).

Jon "JVD" Van Dyke
DV8 advisory staff


The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer and not of Brunswick Corporation.

PICTURES AND/OR VIDEOS

Lane Condition:  Cheetah

Length: 35 Feet

Volume:

Type (THS, Sport Pattern etc):  PBA Pattern

I am a Left Handed.  My Ball Speed is 16 mph.

Drilling on this ball:  My Pin is left of my ring finger and the CG is kicked out just a bit.  The pin is 3".

Wow DVA you did a fantastic Job on this ball.  The color is bright and I have had a lot of great comments on the color of this ball.  The Pearl Misfit is a ball that lets me play the extreme outside on a lot of patterns and hits extremely hard.  This misfit is much straighter than the other misfits.  Since this ball has come out I have had 7 scores over 279 and 4 series of 780 and higher.  This is a ball that I use on medium to short patterns.  This ball helped me win the City Tournament Doubles title this year.  Since I have been throwing this, I have had a lot of people ask me about this ball, and it has sold well since it has been released.  I have seen about 8 people get this ball in the past 3 weeks.

I have hit the ball surface with a light 4000 Abrolan Pad.  If you  need a ball for medium to light oil patterns, you will need to get this ball.  I will probably get a couple  more of these balls.

This ball is my first ball out of my bag for short patterns.  If I get any carrydown at all I go to my Diva.

Another Fantastic Ball DV8!!!

Doug Cutler
DVA Staffer
1-PBA Regional Title

Likes:  This ball is so smooth, and hits so hard.  Works great on Medium to Light oil Patterns.

Dislikes:  Not good on Heavy Long Patterns

BALL SPECS
Pin Length - 3-4
Starting Top Weight - 2.2 oz
Ball Weight - 14.3 lbs



BOWLER STYLE
Rev Rate - around 300
Ball Speed - 15 mph
PAP/Track - 4 1/8> 1/2 ^



SURFACE PREPARATION
Grit - OOB
Type (Matte, Polish, Sanded) - Polished

LANE CONDITION
Length - 40 ft
Volume - low to medium
Type (Wall, Xmas Tree, Sport) - THS

BALL REACTION
Length - LONG
Back End - STRONG
Overall Hook - Not too much, but enough.
Midlane Read - Very little
Breakpoint Shape - SHARP


COMMENTS
Carry - The carry on this ball was very surprising. For a ball that doesn't visually look to be covering a lot of boards, it really hit the pocket well, and had very good continuation through the pins.

Likes - I really like the fact that this ball is so easy to get down the lane, yet still packs a punch on the backends. Add in the fact that this thing is BRILLIANT yellow and easy to find on the rack. Not going to lose this one, lol.

Dislikes - None so far


Other - Got it drilled up right before league, so no chance to throw it before league started. Not knowing where to start, or what to expect, everything was guesswork at first.
Having heard that it was pretty mild, I put my feet on about 25 and my target was the track area around the second arrow. Surprisingly, it went straight to the 1-3 pocket and blew the pins off the deck. Hmmmm, not bad I thought.

After practice was done, we started league. Had the front three, then the balls "jumpy" nature showed up. Fourth frame, I left the greek church, struck, then left the greek church AGAIN in the sixth frame.

After even another wide open split, I ended the first game with a measly 163, and started to give up, but decided not to. Moved my feet to open up the shot just a bit. Now going from 27 to 12, and out to the breakpoint on 7, and the ball is money. Ran off the front 7 before operator error took over. Still, I was able to finish the game decently for a 239.

Last game, the ball started to get a little touchy. Instead of fighting it, I weakened my release a bit, and moved out into the track area, just rolling the ball up the dryish part of the lane, and it came back to life. After the first two bad frames, I ran off another 7 bagger, only to open on the tenth, for a 225.

Considering that I have been struggling mightily this season, and that I am actually averaging only 189 at this time due to some physical problems I've had this year, it was actually amazing the ease with which I was able to shoot a 600 series.

This ball isn't for everyone, but, if you are struggling with dry conditions and balls that are just too strong, and balls that just hook too much, this ball is a very good option that just might be what you need.