Remaking an extinct bowling ball

Dec 19th 2022

With the recent trend of remaking bowling balls, it makes me wonder why certain cores are brought back into the market place.  

I am sure each person reading this can think of several bowling balls that sold well and/or were staples in the bag, but haven’t been reproduced.

Several years ago, when Mo Pinel release one of his asymmetrical layout systems, I decided find some new in box old asymmetric balls and try new layouts in them.  The first ball was a JPF Black Urethane Axe.  The second ball was an Ebonite Omega LM X-Out, so the ball was actually pin out.  

I spun both balls on a Determinator to for the PSA. I drilled both balls with the knowledge of asymmetric layouts at the time.  I tested the balls on a typical house shot.  Everyone in the pro shop was amazed at how well they rolled.  The drawback was neither of these cores would absorb today’s lane oils.  

So looking at the market place today, with most companies starting to reproduce old core, I have to wonder why some cores are being overlooked. I know that core models are extremely expensive, but there are many many options out there.  Ebonite International and Storm have the most asymmetric core options to chose from. 

A lot of the “Vintage” remakes that have been release to date aren’t the original core, which I think is a shame.  If you are going to remake a ball and change the inside, then maybe call it - Ball Name v2 or Ball Name Reborn, etc.  

With the Urethane Black Widow, and the Hot Cell; it is a great time to see a Urethane Phantom with a True Motion or Tactic Control type coverstock wrapped around a Blast Zone/Phantom core.

Balls like the Track EMB and Machine series were lost to the landfill after the EBI purchase of San Antonio. Other potential remakes would be tied up in legal red tape.  Cores like the Faball 3D Offset and the AMF XS core will never be remade.    

If the company JPF released the Axe in today’s market place, it would be very interesting with the knowledge that pro shops and bowlers have today.

I guess most of us will continue to wonder what our favorite core would look like with a modern coverstock.