Every ball I ever owned with TEC turned to turdsville after very few games -- like 40. I've got Ebonite stuff that dies, but it does so at the 100+ game mark, which is an entire season of league, so I'm not going to throw much of a fit about that. But 40 games is just ridiculous.
The problem you get into with "retro" releases when there's a different company making them now than there was when the original came out, is there is no way to approximate the original reaction. It's just too hard to do after a company switchover.
I have two Lane #1 balls right now that I place above the rest -- the Tsunami H20 (a Brunswick ball) and the G-Force Evolution (a Columbia ball, and I would assume it's pretty close to current 900G). Big difference in those two balls and I can easily tell that one was not made like the other.
My Evolution is much weaker than I expected. However, that turned out to be a good thing since it filled a hole in my arsenal. But that leaves me wondering if I now have to adjust my purchasing decisions in regards to Lane #1 (i.e., do I buy one step stronger than I would ordinarily in order to make up for the difference).
In regards to the Teal THS, I think Lane #1 should have just sold it as "Teal THS," no "retro" in there because I'm going to bet it doesn't react in the same way as the original coverstock made it react. There would have been nothing wrong with letting it just stand alone on its own.
I often wonder if this is why a lot of people report the Buzzbomb as being weaker than they'd hoped. There are some people that might just not match up to the 900G covers and it leaves them feeling shafted. I've got to admit, it's kept me from trying the Buzzbomb already. I probably will at some point down the road but it's got me wondering. Same for the Supernova XP.
Jess
