Ok, this is my first review in a while so here goes.

Bowler: RH Tweener
RPMs: 320-350
Ball Speed: 15-17 off my hand

Ball Specs:
15lb
top weight pre-drilling was 3.4oz
2-4" PIN
Drilling: modified version of drilling #4 on Hammer's Big Blue/Pearl drill sheet. PIN is 3 1/2" from PAP
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wNTc0NDc0NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE=.jpg
Surface: Out-of-Box

I used this ball at 2 different houses, so here are the specs for both.

House Specs/Lane Conditions:
House #1: (Home House)
3 year old Brunswick Pro Anvilane
League Pattern:
Fresh 34' Christmas Tree, Buffed out to 37' (medium-heavy oil)
Double-oiled 5-5, so there isnt unlimited recovery when missing outside

House #2:
2 year old Brunswick Anvilane Synthetics (not the Pro, these are a lighter color)
Pattern #1:
33' Top Hat, no buff
Oiled 10-10, medium to moderate carrydown. (medium oil volume)

Pattern #2:
44' Reverse Block, no buff
Oiled 4-4, moderate carrydown (medium oil volume)

Let me start by saying this that this ball is versatile in terms of reactions on different conditions, as well as hand positions and lines played, and has given me a different reaction on each condition and changes in hand position/release. now on to the good stuff.

House #1:
At this house, i have only been able to get the 1st game or so out of this ball, as it does not take too kindly to any amount of carrydown that i've encountered, but a slight scuff with a 1000-grit Abralon pad should cure that.

I was able to play up 10 with no swing and less hand than i normally have, with a somewhat of an arcing motion at the breakpoint, as well as a slight swing, with my normal release/amount of revs, from 12 at the arrows to 6 or 7 at the break, with beautiful reacovery and a moderately strong flip, which is also easily controlled. once i run in to any carrydown however, it's time to put it away.

House #2, Pattern #1
By the time i got the lane i was bowling on the shot had already been bowled on for the better part of 4 hours of open play, and had what would be considered a little more than medium carrydown.

On this shot, i was only able to get 2 games out of the ball with a consistant reaction, playing 11 at the arrows to 4 at the break. I had to keep my speed down and make sure i hit the ball because of the carrydown problems with the OOB surface. After those 2 games, the ball would get down the lane, start to flip and then hit the carrydown in the middle of the lane and just stop turning and not get back to the pocket.

I finally decided to get a little further left to avoid some of the carrydown, and with keeping my speed down, playing 16 at the arrows to 11 at the breakpoint the arcing motion came back in to play and i was able to get another game and a half or so out of it with a consistant roll and reaction.

House #2, Pattern #2
This is the longest of the 3 patterns this house puts down, and again by the time i got to bowl on this pattern it was about 2 hours later and had more carrydown present than pattern #1, due to having a little more oil on it when fresh.

On this shot, which is a reverse block, i had to play straight up 8 with my BBP, again keeping my speed down and hitting the ball to keep it from going dead straight once it hit carrydown. I was able to get a consistant arcing motion out of the ball for about 6 frames and then had to move in to 12 and hit the ball a little more, getting my RPMs to about 370, and having the ball turn over and flip at the 9 board at the breakpoint, only to lose carry after going through all the carrydown.

I eventually started getting deeper and putting the ball around 14 at the arrows, out to 8 at the break, trying to create a little more angle to get the corners out, but that didn't work as planned. I ended up having to the the BBP away for the rest of the afternoon.

Pro's
Predictable
Controllable
Reaction changes with hand position/releases on a given condition
Readable breakpoint
Smooth motion for a pearl particle
Doesn't "jump" off the dry


Cons
Doesnt like carrydown (which a slight scuff may take care of)
Speed sensitive. over throw it and watch it skid
Not overly forgiving. miss right and i cant get it back

As you can, the pro's are greater than the cons in this case.
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The following is based on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest.

Controllability: 9
BBP with my layout is VERY easy to control and does not "jump" when it comes out of the oil.

Predictability: 9
VERY true and predictable roll. i know exactly what the ball is going to do 90% of the time (blame my lacking ability to fully read my shots for it only being 90%)

Hook Motion: 10
As i stated, i can easily alter the reaction of my BBP by changing hand position/releases and playing different lines on a given condition. always a plus in my book.

Carrydown Ability: 6
I gave the BBP a 6 for carrydown as it can only handle very light amounts of carrydown. again a slight scuff with a 1000 grit abralon pad should do the trick here.


Versatility: 8
As stated in the main portion of my review, i was able to play a variety of conditions and lines with varying degrees of success. I was able to score well with the BBP on each of those conditions while constantly moving around on the approach.

Oil-handing ability
I would consider this ball to be a medium oiler with the box surface, but i would also expect to get some use out of the BBP on medium-heavy with a scuffed surface.

Looks: 10
I absolutely LOVE the way this ball looks rolling down the lane. the colors can make it hard to read if you dont know what to look for, but it looks great none the less.

Overall: 8.5-9
I gave the BBP an overall of 8.5-9 because it would be unfair to just say 8.5, but i would also not fully rate it a 9 because of the problems i've been running in to as previously listed.

I would definately recommend the Big Blue Pearl to med/med tweeners as well as high end tweeners and med/med strokers for a medium oil ball. don't expect the BBP do handle anything over medium-heavy even if you take the surface down.

The Big Blue Pearl is an above average medium oiler and would be a great addition for several bowlers. Keep up the good work Hammer.
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HB



Proud to have blue balls...

HB's cheap plug of the month:
http://www.bowlingballexchange.com

hey all, just got this ball in a trade with bigearv14 and my pro shop guy drilled it up, and sanded it a little, i read the specs off of hammerbowling.com and it said this ball will work well with carrydown, well i went out bowling today and it stopped in the carrydown, stopped hooking, is this normal, i think it was a normal house shot and it still just kinda revved up and stopped when it hit carrydown. should i sand it more or posish it, it was sanded with the grey pad(dont know what grit), and it kinda disappointed me the first day ive had it, if anyone can give me some pointers on what i should do pm me or email me @ bowler_dude300700@yahoo.com. thanx.
rotofan
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KILL THOSE PINS!!!

This ball is great this is another review on a different ball.  

Just drilled this oe.  Specs 15lb 30z top and 3in pin.

I am a lefty that is a tweener with above average speed.

I drilled this one with pin above and to the left of the ring finger with cg stacked underneath with small balance hole on my val.  I have thrown this one on dry heands and dry backends on wood.  Synthetic wet dry with fresh backends.  Last condition was synthetics with 40 foot flat condition.

    This ball is very versatile.  On the wood with dry heads carry down and dry backs it was fine i played 26 to 10 and this ball got thru heads great read the midlane well and made a hard controled turn at the breakpoint.  Second codition, wet dry on synthetics, i played 20 to 5 .  It got thru heads clean read the dry and made really hard turbn to pocket really easy to read this ball and its breakpoint.  Third condiiton was on the 40 foot flat synthetics.  I played with it up 10 and in .It went thru head and midlane and once hit back it made a controlled turn to pocket with good hitting power.  In my experience with this ball it doesnt mind carry down unless there is a mass excess of it but most balls are that way.  It isa great compliment to the big blue for me.  My big blue hads a strong midlane  move and when the lanes break down when the  blue starts jumping early i put it down and the pearl takes over in its place. Suggestion is to get the blue and the blue pearl great two ball combo. As like my first review of the first blue pearl give this a solid 9 of 10.
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I have a few hammers and know how to nail the pocket with them!

i was a devoted hammer head until i got this ball for christmas and compared to the vicious strike i had this ball is a good spare ball

I have tried many different bowling balls on many different sufaces and patterns.  This ball is the most forgiving and versatile balls that I've ever had.  It's the first ball I pick up and the last ball I ever put down.  This ball can turn hard like a heavy oiler yet will go long when you apply a little extra umph.  I'm not a big cranker.  I play any line that's there, from straight down the 3 board to a VERY big swing(standing 44, rolling over 21, breaking at 4).  Nothing special about speed (16.23 1st ball ave). Low tracker with very good timing, smooth release, medium-high revs, and a 207 average with sizable increases every year(5-10 sticks).  I'm not asking you, I am telling you.  If this ball does not work well for you, get someone else to drill your ball for you, because this truly IS a high quality ball.

Just so I makes things clear as far as balls that I've tried:

Roto Grip Apocalypse, Silver Streak;
Most Storm X-Factors, Paradigm, Passion Paradigm;
Visionary's older Gargoyles;
Most of Brunswicks Infernos(INCLUDING the Radical), ALL newer Zones;
AMF Triumph TNT, Titan;
Tracks Rule, Robo Rule, Freak, Freak Out, Phenom, Phenom Unleashed, Animal;
Circle's Hard Core(not bad at all, BTW);
Ebonite Primal Instinct, Jaguar, TPC Shooter, V2 Sweet, the One, Ice;
LaneMasters NS2, Absolute Power, Yeah Baby;
Columbia's Complete Chaos, EPX T1, Backyard Bully, Bully, Scout Reactive;
Lane 1's Uranium Buzzsaw;
Hammer's Sharp Blade, Sling Blade, Vicious Particle Pearl, Big Blue Spare, Vicious Strike(yet another one of those all round bad asses.  Ulitmately flawed due to the fact that it has too much hook for practical utilization), and of course The Big Blue Pearl.

Pin 1/2" above MF and CG in middle of the palm.
Right hand: 18 mph, power stroker.

I have had three of these and I just wanted to say this is a great ball.  Those of you who don't know, The widow line is based off from Big Blue (Blue Pearl) core concept.  No surprised I like this ball.  This cover is Low Load particle pearl which I think gives it a little more versatility than any of the widows today.

The layout on this ball allows me to play outside of the track area with relative ease.  In the bowling center where I use this ball there is the minimum units of oil outside of 5 so don't miss out there or wow does it jump.  Anything would though.  I can also play the track area with out any problem, but I like to stay outside of there, nobody plays there and if they do, they are straighter than I and don't mess with my break point.

With a stronger drill this ball could make the corner from almost anywhere.  Great cover and a proven core.  If you can get your hands one, get it.
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GO BIG OR GO HOME
Arsenal:
Big Blue Pearl, No Mercy
The Rising
Break Pearl, Creature Pearl
LevRG, Nsane LevRG
White Dot