There is always going to be people that don't like certain bowling balls or that just don't seem to work for them.  if you posted a poll and asked people to list their favorite bowling ball of all time, and then did another for people to post their least favorite, there will definitely be people listing the same ball on both lists.

You didn't like the Hy-Road, I loved it.  That's just one example.  I haven't been able to score with any C300 products made since the Beast line.  People put up big numbers with C300 equipment all the time.

Just some examples.

Virtual Gravity, one flared a quarter inch, the other, 8 inches.  I had two and neither worked.

As Spider Ball points out, different balls work well for certain bowlers and others do not. Sometimes you just need to change things up to make all the difference in the world.

Case in point: I was so happy with the results when I demo'd the 503C that I bought one and had a similar weak layout put on it as the demo ball, yet I hated the results with my purchased ball. It rolled lousy for me! I then plugged it and changed the layout to something much stronger and it became my favorite and most versatile ball!

I hated my Major 52 and my 716C balls, which both had fairly rough surfaces. I then had them both polished and now they work wonders for me. Same ball and layout, but just a surface change made all the difference for me.

I hated my Track Project drilled pin-up, then plugged it and changed the layout to Rico and now it's my #1 go-to piece on sport patterns.

Of course, it doesn't always work to change the ball layout or surface. I had a Flipside Wow that I hated, so I completely changed the layout and I still hated it. I know that other people loved it, though.

Which bowling balls in the last few years did you maybe talk all up, just to be disappointed with how the ball aged? 

Me was the Hy-Road.  The Totally Defiant is boarderline for me, too condition specific....

Do you mean which ball didn't age well as in last and remain like OOB, or which one was disappointing for other reasons to do with performance or expectations?

I've never had a ball age poorly...tend to take care of them and maintain them well, except for a couple cracking, I still have every one I've ever bought some are 10 years old and still work.

If the latter question, then I'd say the only ball that really disappointed me was the Hammer Taboo, it was just "twitchy" for me...I found it very hard to control consistently.

I promise I haven't thrown enough of them to make a judgment call.

One non KY ball that died quickly for me was the Phenom. Was great, then it was a dart.

Original Cell.  When I was running a pro shop I had 3 of them with a total of 6 different layouts and multiple surface adjustments trying to force myself to like that ball. I guess I never threw it well enough to get a good reaction out of it.

Original Cell.  When I was running a pro shop I had 3 of them with a total of 6 different layouts and multiple surface adjustments trying to force myself to like that ball. I guess I never threw it well enough to get a good reaction out of it.

I bought the Original Cell as well.  OOB surface, I only was able to get it to move on two shots.  I bowled extremely well on those two shots, but in league, no such luck.  It needed really heavy oil, so besides a couple tournaments, it was a waste in my bag.  I threw some polish on it, and it made it more useable, but I had other stuff for THS that gave me a better look.