Not meaning to stir the pot, but regarding Columbia Beast's coverstock, I have to agree with rotomike on this one.
While I cannot definitively prove that the original Beast's coverstock was urethane (don't have the box and spec sheet), I distinctively remember purchasing one and than sometime later purchasing the newer, glossier flexel version (both excellent balls, incidentally).
Ironically, I still have the glossy reactive, but wish I'd kept the original which I ended up giving to a friend of mine a long time ago.
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Regards,
BowlingWolf