All:

Just got off the phone with my distributor and was inquiring as to when Urethane Pearl Hammers would be available as my distributor only has 16# in stock. Rep told me the distributor received an email today from Brunswick that Urethane Pearl Hammers would be made soon, but with a cover formula change. Rep told me USBC changed the hardness requirements (I was unaware) and any new urethane balls must meet a higher hardness requirement. Brunswick took a period of time to tweak the cover formula to make it harder, and expected new pours to be at distributors within 3-4 weeks.

Wonder if the reaction will be changing much with the harder cover? Will be interesting to see.

Most of the Brunswick videos of the new Hammer vs Kentucky had the Brunswick version hooking a little more. If that changes going forward it maybe closer to the Kentucky pours in reaction minus the softness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFkJ3zpn8T8

Will definitely be interesting to see how much difference there is when the new ones are finally available.

My understanding is the ball just needs to be made within the past 2 years. So if Belmo wants to throw a Pitch Black he just needs one produced within the past 2 years. Otherwise the Pitch Black would be outlawed because of when it was first introduced.

Quote from: bradl on January 07, 2023, 10:59:37 AM

Something else to consider.

Since the PBA put a 2-year rolling ban on urethane now, the Purple Pearl Hammer is coming up on that, based on release date (May 2021). So they'll need to update and release the ball for it to stay current. We should start to expect this from Hammer every 2 years, let alone any other ball company that makes urethane pieces, as their release dates will be coming up on the ban as well.

BL.

The year is on the ball to be within two years not the release date of the ball. As mentioned with the Pitch Black, the Storm mix etc.

That’s what I am meaning. As the first batch were poured with a 2021 year, they will be coming up for the time for them to be phased out. Those that are will need to be replaced, and this batch would be the ones to replace them.

BL.

Brunswick didn't just pour a single batch in 2021 and no more. Brunswick made several more batches as the initial run sold out quickly. There are plenty of urethane Purple Hammers that were made in 2022 which are still legal under the 2 year rule through a point in 2024 (next year)...so Brunswick making this batch had nothing to do with the 2 year rule.

For example, ebay item 134313227953. That is a 15# Purple Urethane Hammer made with a serial number starting with "GP". The first letter of Brunswick's serial #s are the month poured, and the second letter is the year. G is July, and P is 2022. This ball would be legal until July 2024.

Same with Pitch Blacks....Storm has several runs of these as they sell out.

I understand that. What I am getting at is that the first batches that they did pour in 2021 are the ones that are coming up, which this new release now takes care of that. That batch poured in 2021 are the ones that are coming for replacement, and this new piece serves as that replacement.

BL.

Interesting note here about the pin color change.

“We are happy to announce that we have finalized the reapproval for the Hammer Purple Pearl Urethane with USBC at the new hardness specification of 73.0D, and we will be producing and shipping these balls within the next few weeks.
In the interest of full transparency, minor adjustments were made to the manufacturing process to hit the new USBC hardness specification while maintaining the special performance the Hammer Purple Pearl Urethane is known to provide. Additionally, there will be no change to the part number, but we will be marking the "new" Hammer Purple Pearl Urethane balls with a light purple riser pin for easy identification.
We are excited to get back to producing and shipping the Hammer Purple Pearl Urethane.”