First post here, apologies if this is not the best spot for the question.

To keep it short and to the point, I've been trying to figure out what sort of ball I used to have as a kid, only remembering that it was "candy apple" red, a shiny dark swirled red with pink sheen. My dad had allowed me to pick it out after I bowled my first 200 game in 1994, but I couldn't even guess at a brand. Sadly it was lost in a house fire.

I'm wondering if anyone can point me toward any sort of archive of old bowling ball catalogs to browse? I've been scouring online, but I feel like none of the major manufacturers have older promotional materials available.

I've been dipping my toe back into bowling after not having been to a lane in 20 years. I absolutely lived at my local alley when I was around 10 years old, but we moved and I had nowhere to play so that was kind of the end of my interest in it. But man oh man did I love that ball.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Unfortunately no, I really couldn't tell you anything beyond the general exterior (very shiny and kind of pearlescent) and the color itself being labeled "candy apple" in the catalog, which is why I was hoping to find some of the old catalogs that they had showed me at the time when I got it.

I'll have a dig through that site, thank you for the suggestion Lyal!

I think the Brunswick Phantom Crimson was around that time.

http://123bowl.com/bowling-balls/brunswick/phantom-crimson/

Could it be a Columbia Pulse (not sure of the release date)?

Pulse came out later, closer to 2000.  Still think Excaliber is a good bet.  First reactive resin ball that was immensely popular during early 90s.  Don't have a picture but color was similar to old yellow dots.

I remember the X-Caliber being more purple than red:



Unless you are referring to this one, which doesn't seem to have much swirl:



Or maybe this one:

The original Columbia 300 Pulse came out in 1996. A later version emerged around 2000.  I had 2 of the original versions. For me, this ball was very smooth and predictable. A great piece and one that, at the time, was my benchmark ball.
 

 

Lol same with me and the Red Razor but have a few more days to wait for it.  Going to have to nut up and throw a 16lb as 15lb for that ball is very hard to find.