Page 1 of 1

What Ever Happened To......

Posted: April 8th, 2018, 10:46 am
by soupy1957
Hammer and Rhino balls????

They were the cats pajamas back in the 80’s!!

Now it seems that the Storm balls have dominated the market! Where did THEY come from. What’s the history behind what would appear to be a meteoric rise to popularity??

Re: What Ever Happened To......

Posted: April 8th, 2018, 7:49 pm
by EricHartwell
soupy1957 wrote:Hammer and Rhino balls????

They were the cats pajamas back in the 80’s!!

Now it seems that the Storm balls have dominated the market! Where did THEY come from. What’s the history behind what would appear to be a meteoric rise to popularity??
Rhino was a Brunswick ball, they have brought back the Rhino but it is in its Vintage category and it is not the Strongest ball, it is for the lighter oil conditions.
As for Hammer and its lack of popularity today, they are still out there but just don't have the tournament wins as does Storm. When your Pro reps are winning you get more sales so you see their product more.

Re: What Ever Happened To......

Posted: April 8th, 2018, 8:00 pm
by soupy1957
When and where did the “Storm” products come from? What’s their pedigree?

Scented balls?! For real?! C’mon!! (Yes, I did a quick Google search).

The “Pro Shop” guy, sold me on the price point and performance (thus the reasons I bought one), but he didn’t say a WORD about “scent,” and I can’t say I noted any special aroma to my ball.

I simply can’t believe that someone would actually file for a Patent for such a “crazy” idea, nor that true bowlers wouldn’t have laughed him out of town!!

Don’t get me wrong, I love the performance that I get from my “Storm;” but really?!

Re: What Ever Happened To......

Posted: April 8th, 2018, 8:12 pm
by JJakobsen
Storm came around late 80s early 90s, made some good balls, some bad, a few amazing balls, which slowly built their ladder to the top, like Trauma, X Factor, El Niño, T Road, later the Gravity balls and IQ balls.

Re: What Ever Happened To......

Posted: April 8th, 2018, 8:12 pm
by JJakobsen
And ALOT more great and good balls I can't remember atm.

Re: What Ever Happened To......

Posted: April 8th, 2018, 8:47 pm
by bowl1820
soupy1957 wrote:When and where did the “Storm” products come from? What’s their pedigree?
Storm started out as High Score Products (HSP) in 1985, it made a ball cleaner until 1991. Then once they had enough capital, they started making bowling balls under the Storm name later in 1991.

The balls went long and snapped hard compared to everyone else, they got seen on TV on PBA bowling and by 1992 the Storm name was getting national attention and they were selling like hotcakes.

1994 they changed the High Score Products company name to Storm.
Scented balls?! For real?! C’mon!! (Yes, I did a quick Google search).


The scented balls came out 18-19 years ago, The scents are just a marketing gimmick, That's what it still is, a gimmick they hope sells another ball.

When it first came out it was a big topic of conversation on all the boards, because the scents were new and so strong, then the fad of talking about them died out after a few months. Though it comes up once in awhile.

Storm is pretty much top of the heap, Everyone else is still eating their dust. Motiv was making a good stab at dethroning them until Jackelgate happened.

Re: What Ever Happened To......

Posted: April 8th, 2018, 9:27 pm
by EricHartwell
bowl1820 wrote:The scented balls came out 18-19 years ago, The scents are just a marketing gimmick, That's what it still is, a gimmick they hope sells another ball.
Take it as a gimmick or whatever. I believe it is the cover story, but I also believe there is more to the story. It effectively covers up the chemical smell that the ball would have otherwise. The coverstock chemical formulations are closely guarded secrets. I find no reason not to believe that Storm was trying to keep their secrets. I have noticed that other brands have very strong chemical smells. Strong enough that I find my self pulling away from it not wanting to smell any more as if it was toxic.

Re: What Ever Happened To......

Posted: April 8th, 2018, 9:47 pm
by JJakobsen
Sadly, as in professional gaming, where multiple teams have the same owner, who might also own a company that hosts tournaments and leagues, there are few indie companies left. Storm owns 900Global and Roto-Grip, Brunswick got DV8 and Radical. EBI got Ebonite, Hammer and C300. From what I heard, 900G got bought because they make very good urethane balls, which Storm wanted in on

Re: What Ever Happened To......

Posted: April 16th, 2018, 11:24 am
by soupy1957
JJakobsen wrote:Sadly, as in professional gaming, where multiple teams have the same owner, who might also own a company that hosts tournaments and leagues, there are few indie companies left. Storm owns 900Global and Roto-Grip, Brunswick got DV8 and Radical. EBI got Ebonite, Hammer and C300. From what I heard, 900G got bought because they make very good urethane balls, which Storm wanted in on
So in your opinion, given the multiple names made by the same manufacturer are out there, who stands taller in the “great ball” catagory, in your view?

I know I can get a descent battery for my motorcycle at Walmart, for a great price, made by the same manufacturer as the “best of the best” are. Yet some materials used on the “cheaper” ones, are not as good.

Marlin Firearms, makes a Glenfield brand that has Pine Stocks, painted to look like Walnut........

I wonder what corners are cut by ball manufacturers for cheaper balls in their arsenal??

Re: What Ever Happened To......

Posted: April 17th, 2018, 1:21 am
by skfboiler
Gimmick or no gimmick, I love the scent of my Storm balls. The scent stays seemingly forever. I bought my Punch Out 3 years ago and the scent is still as strong now as the day I got it. Still an awesome ball by the way for its price. Probably another reason Storm is strong; Storm and Rotogrip lower price balls have a lot of bang for the buck.