Ok so I promised this a couple of weeks ago, but I have finally gotten around to taking a picture and have had a chance to throw the Solid Cobalt enough now to give a decent mini-review.  My specs are in my profile.

Here is a pic to compare the Pearl Cobalt Bomb with the Solid Cobalt Bomb:

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wMTMwNDEwMDZzNDEzZGZkMzF5NTQx.jpg


As you can see, these two balls are drilled very similarly.  Box condition on both.

I was throwing the Solid Cobalt along side the Scorchin' Inferno and the Tsunami.  What I found was a new reaction for me: a hard backend reaction out of a solid reactive ball.  I have never had a ball this strong off the breakpoint that wasn't a pearl reactive, but this one is STRONG!

This ball does on medium-heavy oil (60 units) what my Dirty Bomb (pearl) does on medium light or broken down conditions.  That is, find dry and bounce.  Not quite skid-snap, but close enough with a very hard arc.  Although the hard arc was aggressive, I was able to control it pretty well.

I was throwing 18-7 with my Scorchin'.  I was hitting the pocket, but having trouble with carry (ball was not creating quite enough entry angle for my style on this night).  So I switched to the Tsunami in the hopes that I would be able to square up a little more and maybe drive through the pocket a little better.  No dice; there was a little too much oil on the still-fresh condition, so the reaction was a little squirty.

Finally I decided to pull out the Solid Cobalt, and I went back to my original line I was using with the Scorchin'.  Problem solved.  I got the recovery I was lacking out of my Scorchin', and the cover was aggressive enough to solve the squirty breakpoint from the Tsunami.  I immediately began stringing strikes and finished the night out strong.

The best part for me was that I was able to stay aggressive with my speed on fresh medium-heavy, and have good success!  I am more accurate when I can let it fly as opposed to finesse-ing it.  I also experience slightly better carry with a touch more speed, so this ball really helped me open them up a little and not worry as much about imperfect pocket hits.

Compared to the Pearl Cobalt, this ball is not as aggressive off the breakpoint, but obviously can handle more oil.  You'll get a clean move through the heads, a bit of midlane, but plenty of energy on the backend to recover nicely.  The Pearl Cobalt on this fresh condition has always been VERY over/under for me, and stays in the bag until the oil breaks down enough that the Tsunami is too strong.

I have several balls that would fit above the Solid Cobalt in the same spot as the Scorchin', including an Awesome Hook, Solid Uranium, and Strike Zone.  Come to think of it, the Solid Cobalt is very close to my Strike Zone, with just a bit more on the backend.  I didn't have the SZ with me to compare side by side, however.  I do believe it would handle a touch more oil than the Solid Cobalt.

I have heard other users mention how SMOOTH their Solid Cobalt reacts.  I can see how that would be the case with another layout, but of the 3 balls I was using on this particular night, the greatest angularity came from the Solid Cobalt by far.  It gave me a different look from what my other mostly arcy equipment gives me.  Stronger off the breakpoint and plenty of energy for the backend.  This ball is going to be special!  Hopefully this gives you an idea of what you can expect of this ball with a layout similar the one I used.
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-SawFreak

~Predicting my next opponent runs into a BUZZSAW!

~Proud original member-  F.O.S.