This is from a Bowlingball.com auction on Ebay about a Columbia Trooper:

"THIS BALL IS AN X BLEM FROM COLUMBIA. COLUMBIA RELEASES THEIR HIGH PERFORMANCE BALLS UNDER THE X-BLEM LABEL WHEN SMALL NON-PERFORMANCE ISSUES OCCUR. THE CORE AND COVERSTOCK COMBINATIONS ON THIS BALL ARE IDENTICAL TO THE FIRST LINE BALL. A BALL IS LABELED AN X-BLEM FOR ANY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

-COLOR PIGMENTATION
-SMALL PITTING CAUSED BY AIR BUBBLES
-UNIQUE PIN PLACEMENT, TOP WEIGHT, OR BOMB LOCATION
-LABELS ARE ENGRAVED IN UNUSUAL PLACES
-SWIRL PATTERNS OF THE BALL ARE NOT CONSISTENT"

My question is about the "Small pitting caused by air bubbles". If this is the only problem the ball has and all other specs are normal, will this cause any issues in performance?

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Buck '05

I have a track rule that I bought as a Blem on ebay. It has pitting. Everything else is in order except the serial is printed wrong. That may have been done after the fact to help distinguish the fact that it's a blem, I have no idea.

But the pitting from what my pro shop guy tells me is most likely from a dull bit used when turning the ball down to spec. Air bubbles make sense too but basically they are hardly noticeable at all. It actually takes close inspection on mine to see the inperfections at all. My rule cost me 75 shipped, which is still a huge savings.