REIGN review
5 1/8 pin to PAP, 4 1/8 "MB" to PAP, 4 pin buffer (MB in this case just a point 6 3/4 from pin through CG)
Pin is over bridge with "MB" kicked a little right. About 75 degree drilling if you use that method. Very small hole at 6 inches (just past VAL) to get it static legal. This is my favorite strong drilling for balls to get down the lane and make a strong move.
I have been able to throw the REIGN a few games on a fresh house shot on fairly new Brunswick Pro Anvilanes and in a tournament on Kegel Highway To Hell on older Brunswick Anvilanes.
I had heard some say the REIGN is like the FIRED UP but the folks in Utah said it was aimed to be more like the original orange FIRESTORM, which was a huge favorite of mine when I first signed with Storm in the mid-1990s.
After my first experiences with it I would put it closer to the original FIRESTORM.
The REIGN definitely is stronger in oil than a FIRED UP, which is not surprising considering its R2S Pearl vs. Reactor. It’s not quite a VIRTUAL ENERGY. I would put it more like a stronger, less skid/flippy T-ROAD PEARL, which it shares the R2S Pearl cover with.
On the house shot, I was about 6-4 inside my FIRED UP with the REIGN and another 3-2 in with the VE from the REIGN.
If forced to choose for score I would have gone with VE because it was a little less angular and left a touch fewer 10-pins. What amazed me was how strong the REIGN went through the fresh oil – there was no skid/flip as there was with the FIRED UP (or is with TR PEARL).
On Highway to Hell, I went FURIOUS, REIGN, VIRTUAL ENERGY, FAST and T-ROAD PEARL over qualifying, semis and the stepladder title match. The VE and FAST were just thrown for a few shots.
The FURIOUS was perfect on the fresh starting between 10 and 15 for 227 to start but it only produced 177 in game 2 with two pocket splits. It was a bad mistake to not make a ball change quickly as the lanes were changing rapidly. I went to the REIGN on the fill ball and for game 3 and the result was the front 10 and then a gas-face 4-6-7 split that I just grabbed too hard.
The REIGN was perfect between 15 and 20, gliding easily to the break point and making a strong move that was not skid/flip. It was more like turn sharp and quick and then and roll into the pins – the kind of angle that usually results in great carry.
It was only another game or two before the REIGN was too strong for what oil was left. (Highway to Hell is so flat that is not totally surprising but it was when the switch ultimately to the TR PEARL was perfect and led to a win in the title match.)
The REIGN core obviously makes a difference in how it goes through oil compared to the TR PEARL.
On as few a games as I’ve used the REIGN I’d give it a great endorsement for post-fresh conditions and perhaps fresh when the puddle isn’t too high. But I don't see it as useful on the total burn and would go with the TR PEARL or FIRED UP there.
Edited on 9/16/2009 2:43 PM
