I can only speak for myself....but I have never taken into account the name, color, logo of a ball. Everytime I bought a new ball, whether it was when I was in high school till now, it was based on the performance of the ball. Now, it was a bonus of the ball looked cool going down the lane, but it never played into if I would get it or not. For me the "uglier" a ball looked, the better it seemed to work for me. A perfect example was Nu-Line's follow-up to the Excaliber, the Genisis. It was an ugly gold colored ball, but first night with it I shot 289 (with a solid 8 pin no less) and over 1000 for a 4 game set.

Personally, yes and no.

I prefer more solid looking colors, though I will occasionally throw a "swirly" piece (think some of the Track pieces) if it seems to be a homerun for multiple styles.

I've noticed on equipment like my DV8 Diva (which is my most colorful ball) I tend to watch the ball and its color pattern as opposed to noting the ball motion.  I think it is easier to watch ball motion with a solid color ball.  I always have black grips and a slug to minimize seeing the grips rotate.

I DO NOT believe that color swirls etc really have much of an effect on ball motion.  Keeping the colors relatively solid is just a PREFERENCE.  I would never advise anyone to purchase based on color alone.  With the number of pieces on the market today, I can create a full arsenal based upon the more solid colors I prefer.

If I truly need a new ball, I will buy the one that I think will fit my needs the best.  I am over 220 average.  That being said, If I think I will need a ball in the next few months and a real nice looking ball comes out that will probably fill a need in the next few months, I will buy it.  If an poor/average looking ball comes out and it may fit a need, I will hold off hoping for a better looking ball.

No, I could not care less. However, I do prefer darker balls and I ALWAYS use black slugs and no grips (off the press). This is the snob in me, but guys that use balls with colored grips and slugs make me take them less serious as its just a "sloppy" look to me.

Personally, for me it would come down to performance first, then any other eye candy. Two stories from me.

In 1992, Resin came out, and everyone flocked to either the Brunswick Rhino Pro, Nu-Line's Excalibur, or Ebonite's Turbo X. I went with the latter two, mainly based on how they performed on the lane, then the colour. Those wiped the pants off of my Blue and Blue Pearl Hammers. Then roughly 9 months later, everyone flocked to Ebonite's Crush/R. I didn't. The ball performed nice, but I didn't like the colour. It just wasn't me. Since then, Storm came out with both Sun Storms (one of which was the same colour as the Crush/R), 2 different Rhino Pros, The Rhino RE, and Columbia's Beast all came out. None of them appealed to me as far as performance or look went. Then Ebonite brought out the Nitro/R. That colour popped, and the performance on that ball sold me on it.

Same thing pretty much with Columbia's Pearl Quake and Blue Pearl Pulse. The latter reminded me of the colours of my Blue Pearl Hammer, so I ended up buying that one more for colour. Should have known better, but I did, and it still worked for me.

That was 1996/1997. Fast forward 4 years. Looked at Columbia's Tour Boss. Liked the blue colour, but didn't perform well. Zones didn't appeal to me. Ebonite's Omega looked terrible. Matrix was meh.. Apex was meh. they just didn't perform as well as I was needing for my game.

Then the Optyx came out. That brought back the eye candy that the Gold Rhino Pro and Pearl Quake had, and hit like a truck. Picked that up immediately. Same with the TPC Warrior. Loved the colouring on it, and it performed unbelievably well. Still have those two in a couple of my joeys to this day.

So for me, it isn't name. Case in point: Mission X. Didn't work well at all. Pursuit and Pursuit S.. not good at all. Nice colours, but not good. If the ball performs well, it gets my attention. If it performs well enough for my game, I'll get it. I get cocky if it performs well, goes great with my game, and is eye candy to top it off.

Me too . . but it's easier to read ball reaction without all the distractions.  If you've got swirly colors and grips flying everywhere, you could miss the little jump or wiggle at 30 feet and pay for it next time . .

The only thing I can say that argues the other side of this, is that if someone is looking for ball motion in relation to where their grips are down the lane, tilt, etc., having grips that you can see could help. But my limit with that is to at least make the grips the same colour as the lettering of the logo or name on the ball. I mean, at least have some sense of aesthetics! 

BL.

I can only speak for myself....but I have never taken into account the name, color, logo of a ball. Everytime I bought a new ball, whether it was when I was in high school till now, it was based on the performance of the ball. Now, it was a bonus of the ball looked cool going down the lane, but it never played into if I would get it or not. For me the "uglier" a ball looked, the better it seemed to work for me. A perfect example was Nu-Line's follow-up to the Excaliber, the Genisis. It was an ugly gold colored ball, but first night with it I shot 289 (with a solid 8 pin no less) and over 1000 for a 4 game set.

Jorge can speak for me, too. I have used mainly Columbia balls in recent years: the Power Surge (solid neon purple), Full Swing (solid black), and the Freeze (swirls of blue and orange). The Surge was a nice ball and had an additional plus---with its purple coverstock, the Surge looked great going down the lane.

I would add to what Jorge stated: If I had to choose between 2 balls with similar specifications and capabilities, I might consider color.

Obviously it does play a factor, otherwise companies wouldn't be worried about coming out with all of these crazy colors and making sure it has a solid name.

People on these boards generally aren't your average bowler, so the idea that it doesn't really matter to most of the posters doesn't surprise me.

Just in general from what I have noticed, the less experienced or skilled you are, the more it matters. There is a reason companies started coming out with these wild plastic balls with images and things in them, regular joe wants something that looks cool.

I would say it breaks down pretty close to this:

1. Average guy off the street that bowls maybe once or twice a month for recreations - very important, probably the most important thing tbh.

2. One league a week guy - Still important, but what the ball can do will play a bit more of a role.

3. Multiple Leagues a week - Still plays a part, but more than likely will be used to choose one over another, or as a reason not to buy a certain ball ( for instance I never bought one of the old Green Messengers because I thought it looked hideous)

4. Tournament/Pro bowler - Won't matter at all, unless there is multiple option inside the same line ( ex. Strike King or Slingshot)

The reason I feel pretty confident about that break down is because I have been 1-3 in my life, and there enough of you that are #4 around here to be able to figure that one out.

I think there is one condition though that trumps either color or name though, price point. The last two I bought were a Arson Low Flare and a First Blood and it was because I got both balls drilled with inserts for under $250