Just got the email blast on this, and it is all over Ebonite's FB page.

Interesting bit of marketing on this one. They're treating it like the launch day of a new series of gaming cards (read: Yu-Gi-Oh, World of Warcraft, etc.) with a contest on top of it to boot.

Looks like they are all going to have the same specs, regardless of color of the ball: GB 12.7 coverstock, Mission core, 500/1000 Abralon polished, asymmetric core.

They marketed the contest as not even EBI knows what is packed into what, let alone who gets what, with Black being common, Red being rare (less than 10% of the balls made were red), and Gold being ultra-rare (less than 1% of the balls made were gold). If you get gold, you get a free Black Unknown and a jacket.

WWRD: 9/20/2016. Video is below.


BL.

nothing at all against you or your pso.

i see this a marketing gimmick, hence why i have not and will not purchase these for my shop. reason being, its a gimmick, and most of my customers buy pre release, have me drill them, and come in 1-2 weeks later to pick them up. my customers know me, i am old and cynical and have all been told if you want one of these buy online and bring it in, i am not incurring carrying charges for a ball.

if you think i'm holding off drilling, say, 40-50 balls to wait for my customers to come in and be there for a "box opening" you are nuts.

its a gimmick. as for ball motion, solids and pearls are rather different but thank you for the insight.

It is marketing. Blame the consumers that lack knowledge for allowing this to take place. It's a smart move by Ebonite understanding the customer base in bowling. Hell I'll even go as far as to congratulate them on doing something no one else has done.

Maybe you're shop is just an outlier where your customers buy pre-release and wait 1-2 weeks to pick up their ball. I don't know many shops that have a customer base similar to that

Quote from: mstevens on September 18, 2016, 04:47:48 PM

nothing at all against you or your pso.

i see this a marketing gimmick, hence why i have not and will not purchase these for my shop. reason being, its a gimmick, and most of my customers buy pre release, have me drill them, and come in 1-2 weeks later to pick them up. my customers know me, i am old and cynical and have all been told if you want one of these buy online and bring it in, i am not incurring carrying charges for a ball.

if you think i'm holding off drilling, say, 40-50 balls to wait for my customers to come in and be there for a "box opening" you are nuts.

its a gimmick. as for ball motion, solids and pearls are rather different but thank you for the insight.

It is marketing. Blame the consumers that lack knowledge for allowing this to take place. It's a smart move by Ebonite understanding the customer base in bowling. Hell I'll even go as far as to congratulate them on doing something no one else has done.

Maybe you're shop is just an outlier where your customers buy pre-release and wait 1-2 weeks to pick up their ball. I don't know many shops that have a customer base similar to that

How ironic!
I said this 2 weeks ago and everyone said I was just jaded or full of BS.
Now the idea is beginning to settle in.

"We grow old too soon, and too late, smart."

i do blame consumers for participating in these stupid games, much like the facebook nonsense if i get 100 more likes i'll give a towel away, 1000 comments later a towel is given.
most of the folks that buy pre release we have specific layouts for some balls and others they stash away based on what the feel works best for them. i.e. J bought 4 rebels pre release we drilled 2 he has 2 blank at home. been that way for a long time.

Quote from: mstevens on September 18, 2016, 04:47:48 PM

nothing at all against you or your pso.

i see this a marketing gimmick, hence why i have not and will not purchase these for my shop. reason being, its a gimmick, and most of my customers buy pre release, have me drill them, and come in 1-2 weeks later to pick them up. my customers know me, i am old and cynical and have all been told if you want one of these buy online and bring it in, i am not incurring carrying charges for a ball.

if you think i'm holding off drilling, say, 40-50 balls to wait for my customers to come in and be there for a "box opening" you are nuts.

its a gimmick. as for ball motion, solids and pearls are rather different but thank you for the insight.

It is marketing. Blame the consumers that lack knowledge for allowing this to take place. It's a smart move by Ebonite understanding the customer base in bowling. Hell I'll even go as far as to congratulate them on doing something no one else has done.

Maybe you're shop is just an outlier where your customers buy pre-release and wait 1-2 weeks to pick up their ball. I don't know many shops that have a customer base similar to that

We just had the chance to review the new Mission Unknown, the ball definitely is clean through the fronts and it has a strong angular motion. Here is the review, I hope this helps!

The Black Mission, the only one out is definitely longer with more back end hook than the original red. The deal is, when they are gone, they are gone.
And today's  pearls and solids can be finished in such a manner, that there is little difference  in performance.

Going back to the coverstocks, has it been confirmed what type the Mission Unknown has yet? The Red and Gold sure look like pearls from the pictures, although it's hard to tell with the black and it's just named the GB 12.7. Then there's the bit about it being the longest, most angular motion the Mission series has ever had.

I realize the companies can make solids react like pearls and vice versa since it's more of a pigment thing than an actual difference in coverstocks, but would still be nice to know for reference or maybe what to expect with the possible next release in that series.

Not yet. But as I mentioned earlier, the PSO I have stated that even the pigment used to make the Red and Gold look like they are pearls can cause the ball to perform slightly different than Black. Whether you'd be able to see that difference is a good question. I'm guessing not, but if so that could be fixed by surface adjustment or a slightly stronger drill to compensate.

But as Average Joe Reviews also said, Black is the strongest and most angular out of them, which gels with what my PSO also said.. so if you're wanting the strongest and angular, hope that you get Black; the one that actually would be shut out of that, funnily enough, is someone who gets Red.. Go figure.

BL.