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Author Topic: Brunswick Mark X  (Read 16674 times)

strikeking

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Brunswick Mark X
« on: September 26, 2014, 10:13:58 AM »
Can anyone tell me the RG and Diff of the old Brunswick Mark X?
What ball available today would match up with it the best for reaction?
Anyone have one for sale?

Thank You
Strikeking

 

Urethane Game

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Re: Brunswick Mark X
« Reply #1 on: September 26, 2014, 10:20:15 AM »
LOL.  Any 3 piece plastic ball should do it.  Cover was probably a bit softer but on today's conditions, I don't think you'd notice.

Aloarjr810

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Re: Brunswick Mark X
« Reply #2 on: September 26, 2014, 10:27:30 AM »
Yep about any plastic ball, would replace the Mark X it's plastic ball.

Unless you mean the "Maxx X":
Reactive Solid with a Symmetrical core
Minimum RG    2.480
Maximum RG    2.522
Total Differental    0.042
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strikeking

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Re: Brunswick Mark X
« Reply #3 on: September 26, 2014, 02:12:57 PM »
You are both wrong. The Mark X  had a plastic cover but, the weight block was no pancake! It had dual weight blocks. One for the thumb and another for the fingers. They were so hard you had to use a carbide drill to drill them. The carrying power was much more than any plastic with a pancake block!
Strikeking

spencerwatts

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Re: Brunswick Mark X
« Reply #4 on: September 26, 2014, 02:49:15 PM »
I remember the Mark X being a ball that Carmen Salvino popularized. It was great if you used it on a shot 10-board out to the gutter. Anything inside of it the ball was a putz. (This also reminds me of the Columbia Orange Dot, its first foray with urethane: great if you were playing 10-board out to the gutter.) Also, the Mark X cover was very brittle and cracked; that was the second biggest complaint about it.

Besides, the LT-48 was such a game changer, who needed a Mark X?
« Last Edit: September 26, 2014, 04:01:27 PM by spencerwatts »
Ball speed avg. (18.25 mph)
Rev rate avg. (400-428 rpm)
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Aloarjr810

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Re: Brunswick Mark X
« Reply #5 on: September 26, 2014, 03:16:11 PM »
You are both wrong. The Mark X  had a plastic cover but, the weight block was no pancake! It had dual weight blocks. One for the thumb and another for the fingers. They were so hard you had to use a carbide drill to drill them. The carrying power was much more than any plastic with a pancake block!

While it may be a dual weight block, it is in basic form just a pancake type block.
imgs from 123bowl.com



Update: Correct core picture.



« Last Edit: September 27, 2014, 08:33:12 AM by Aloarjr810 »
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JustRico

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Re: Brunswick Mark X
« Reply #6 on: September 26, 2014, 03:53:18 PM »
The main reason they cracked were due to the insecurity of the weight blocks in the mold...
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Mongo

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Re: Brunswick Mark X
« Reply #7 on: September 26, 2014, 04:09:31 PM »
That cover was really brittle.  I even saw a couple warp and get ridges in them.

Great ball for the time, but on todays conditions it's not going to be any different than a White Dot/Maxim/Target Zone
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JustRico

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Re: Brunswick Mark X
« Reply #8 on: September 26, 2014, 04:30:16 PM »
The cover was brittle as most soft polyesters were but most if not all of the cracking was created by the instability created by the inconsistency of the weight block placements
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avabob

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Re: Brunswick Mark X
« Reply #9 on: September 26, 2014, 05:21:19 PM »
A friend of mine won a PBA regional playing straight up off the gutter using a Mark X.  Not really a very versatile ball however. 

JustRico

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Re: Brunswick Mark X
« Reply #10 on: September 26, 2014, 05:30:11 PM »
Look at the winners from the 81-82 season on tour....out of 16 it was over half that won using that ball including Earl and Cook won the ToC
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strikeking

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Re: Brunswick Mark X
« Reply #11 on: September 26, 2014, 09:46:12 PM »
The photo of the Mark X that was posted is NOT the true representation of the ball that I referred to. That photo shows a "pancake" weight block. The ball that I am referring to had a "TWO" Piece block and the ball had really good pin carry when it hit the pocket.
Carmen did come out with another 2 piece block with a urethane cover, but it never came close to the Mark X in hitting power.
Strikeking

spencerwatts

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Re: Brunswick Mark X
« Reply #12 on: September 26, 2014, 10:34:40 PM »
Strikeking, some of us are old enough to remember the original stuff when it was introduced. If there was a urethane or reactive incarnation of the ball, I didn't recall there being one. It sounds like the Mark X you're describing is akin what's been done with the Blue Hammer and LT-48. I'll just leave it at that.
« Last Edit: September 27, 2014, 12:54:30 AM by spencerwatts »
Ball speed avg. (18.25 mph)
Rev rate avg. (400-428 rpm)
Still refusing to accept AARP eligibility and membership cards

Juggernaut

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Re: Brunswick Mark X
« Reply #13 on: September 27, 2014, 05:25:09 AM »
Strikeking, some of us are old enough to remember the original stuff when it was introduced. If there was a urethane or reactive incarnation of the ball, I didn't recall there being one. It sounds like the Mark X you're describing is akin what's been done with the Blue Hammer and LT-48. I'll just leave it at that.

 He isn't talking about a urethane version of the Mark X, I believe he is referring to the Ebonite Thunderbolt Dual Block, which Carmen Salvino designed.

 It had a weightblock shaped sort of like a curved "T", where the finger holes were meant to be drilled into the upper crossbar, and the thumb into the lower post.

 Check out the link below to see what I am talking about.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wuHi_2c-2LM
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Aloarjr810

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Re: Brunswick Mark X
« Reply #14 on: September 27, 2014, 07:40:55 AM »
Well I'd say it's to the point where your best bet is to email Brunswick and ask them.

It's unlikely though there will be any info on RG or Diff. for a ball that old.

(A poly Ball from back then, the RG will be high and the diff. practically nothing.)

As for the weight block, you can have a 2 piece "Pancake" . There was a dual density one I remember. One half was heavier  than the other lighter side .

I'm not saying that's what it is and hey maybe that isn't the correct core picture for that ball. Just that it's possible.

Interest note: according to the Mark X ad, it was "Dynamically Balanced to Eliminate wobble"

Wobble was what they called Flare back then (and was thought to be a bad thing), so it was designed not to Flare.

« Last Edit: September 27, 2014, 07:43:52 AM by Aloarjr810 »
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