Jake:
Unfortunately the market for standard urethane is not extremely large. In today's game, having a strong core inside of a urethane ball sort-of defeats the purpose. Most throw urethane to alleviate over-reaction and to play in higher friction areas. Creating a core that revs up quicker and flares more will cause the ball to be that much more responsive to the friction. Generally, what you get is a ball that is too strong for the dry, but the coverstock is too weak in the backends to be able to move inside. There are definite times when urethane would work, but those times are too infrequent to create the demand needed to be able to properly market the ball.
In answer to the question of the Blue Tornado, yes, we have sold many Tornados, both the Blue/Violet and the Red/Silver. These balls are designed mostly for entry level bowlers that are looking to develop a hook. Think of them as the Maxims of reactive balls. The majority of Tornados are sold to relative newcomers to bowling although the core design will allow accomplished players to play on the light to medium patterns. Kim Terrel used the Tornado to win the US Open last year, needing a ball that retained energy in the shorter pattern, then reacted strongly to the friction in the back of the lane. There is nothing special about the Blue/Violet compared to the Red/Silver, other than the color sold better. We change colors in the Tornado line to keep pace with the colors that are popular in sportswear.
Brian Pursel
Product Manager
Ebonite
