The Bowling Ball Globe, Brunswick Globe Viz-A-Ball
You know you are a diehard globe collector if you have ever gone bowling and stood at the ball return wondering, Why on Earth doesn’t someone make a globe bowling ball?
Wouldn’t it be fun to hold the world in your hand and hurl it down the lane to knock down the ten pins for a strike? Well, you can do that now, because somebody at Brunswick had a bright idea to turn Earth into a bowling ball. I recently inspected a randomly and anonymously acquired sample of the Brunswick Globe Viz-A-Ball, and here is what I found.
The image on the Brunswick Globe Viz-A-Ball takes the natural approach with an unlabeled satellite representation of Earth. The surface is covered with a clear, high-gloss finish that resembles the Earth’s atmosphere and gives the ball a clean, shiny, and polished appearance.
On the sample I reviewed, the image quality was a little disappointing. The image was a little too dark and a bit grainy. The dark blue oceans did not contrast well with the dark green landmasses; however, the tan desert areas of Africa and Australia did show up well. What also showed up well against the dark oceans were the clouds. The cloud coverage was representative of a typical day on Earth. The problem is that normal cloud coverage obscures too much of the land, and this bowling ball would have been better with about a third less cloud coverage.
On the bowling ball I reviewed, the image did have a noticeable seam that ran along the prime meridian and the international date line. The image was a little misaligned, causing a vertical image differential of about a half an inch at the seam. This problem was visible only when looking at the seam and was primarily noticeable near the poles.
The designers of the Globe Viz-A-Ball thought ahead when laying out the image on the bowling ball. The heavy spot (CG), serial number, and logo were located on Antarctica. This is the perfect location for display or actual bowling. On display, the printing and holes will be mostly out of site. Bowlers will like having the holes at the South Pole, because when the ball is held in the ready position, the globe image will be upright with the North Pole facing the ceiling.
The most obvious issue when discussing bowling balls is the finger holes. The Globe Viz-A-Ball comes undrilled like most quality bowling balls. This is good for serious bowlers, because they always prefer to have their bowling balls custom drilled to perfectly fit their hands. This is also good for globe collectors, because collectors have the option of having the balls drilled or leaving them smooth.
Before ordering your Globe Viz-A-Ball, you need to decide what you plan to do with it. The big choice is weight. The ball comes in weights of 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, and 16 pounds. If you are buying the ball for actual bowling, you will obviously want to buy whatever weight ball you normally use.
If you are a globe collector buying the ball for display only, you might want to consider ordering a much lighter ball than you would normally purchase for bowling. Since bowling ball weights are varied by core composition and not size, the outer dimensions of bowling balls do not vary. Since size is not a consideration, you might want to save a little money on shipping by going with a lighter ball. Also, you probably don’t want a 16-pound bowling ball sitting on your display shelf.
When you get your bowling ball globe, make sure to display it on a good sturdy stand. You do not want that bowling ball to get loose and come crashing down. Just imagine what would happen if your bowling ball fell a few feet from a shelf, and let’s certainly hope you wouldn’t be sitting under that bowling ball at the time.
If you are both a bowler and a globe collector, you’re probably thrilled with the thought of a globe bowling ball, and you might consider buying two Globe Viz-A-Balls. This will give you one ball for display in your collection and one ball that you can use to impress your friends at the bowling alley without having to worry about all of the scuffs and scratches that will eventually accumulate on the ball after hundreds of high-speed trips down the lane to crash into pins.
The image on the Brunswick Globe Viz-A-Ball takes the natural approach with an unlabeled satellite representation of Earth. The surface is covered with a clear, high-gloss finish that resembles the Earth’s atmosphere and gives the ball a clean, shiny, and polished appearance.
On the sample I reviewed, the image quality was a little disappointing. The image was a little too dark and a bit grainy. The dark blue oceans did not contrast well with the dark green landmasses; however, the tan desert areas of Africa and Australia did show up well. What also showed up well against the dark oceans were the clouds. The cloud coverage was representative of a typical day on Earth. The problem is that normal cloud coverage obscures too much of the land, and this bowling ball would have been better with about a third less cloud coverage.
On the bowling ball I reviewed, the image did have a noticeable seam that ran along the prime meridian and the international date line. The image was a little misaligned, causing a vertical image differential of about a half an inch at the seam. This problem was visible only when looking at the seam and was primarily noticeable near the poles.
The designers of the Globe Viz-A-Ball thought ahead when laying out the image on the bowling ball. The heavy spot (CG), serial number, and logo were located on Antarctica. This is the perfect location for display or actual bowling. On display, the printing and holes will be mostly out of site. Bowlers will like having the holes at the South Pole, because when the ball is held in the ready position, the globe image will be upright with the North Pole facing the ceiling.
The most obvious issue when discussing bowling balls is the finger holes. The Globe Viz-A-Ball comes undrilled like most quality bowling balls. This is good for serious bowlers, because they always prefer to have their bowling balls custom drilled to perfectly fit their hands. This is also good for globe collectors, because collectors have the option of having the balls drilled or leaving them smooth.
Before ordering your Globe Viz-A-Ball, you need to decide what you plan to do with it. The big choice is weight. The ball comes in weights of 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, and 16 pounds. If you are buying the ball for actual bowling, you will obviously want to buy whatever weight ball you normally use.
If you are a globe collector buying the ball for display only, you might want to consider ordering a much lighter ball than you would normally purchase for bowling. Since bowling ball weights are varied by core composition and not size, the outer dimensions of bowling balls do not vary. Since size is not a consideration, you might want to save a little money on shipping by going with a lighter ball. Also, you probably don’t want a 16-pound bowling ball sitting on your display shelf.
When you get your bowling ball globe, make sure to display it on a good sturdy stand. You do not want that bowling ball to get loose and come crashing down. Just imagine what would happen if your bowling ball fell a few feet from a shelf, and let’s certainly hope you wouldn’t be sitting under that bowling ball at the time.
If you are both a bowler and a globe collector, you’re probably thrilled with the thought of a globe bowling ball, and you might consider buying two Globe Viz-A-Balls. This will give you one ball for display in your collection and one ball that you can use to impress your friends at the bowling alley without having to worry about all of the scuffs and scratches that will eventually accumulate on the ball after hundreds of high-speed trips down the lane to crash into pins.
Posted by Editor @ 12:05
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