Three Good Buys on Today's Ball Market

I have studied some of the recent bowling balls on the market, and some stand out more than others. If there's any three that stand out as nice additions, it's the Radioactive Vibe, Royal Diamond, and Magic Gem. The Radioactive Vibe has been available since July 13th, Royal Diamond was recently released on October 9th, and Magic Gem has yet to be released on October 20th. First, here is a side-by-side comparison of each ball:

Radioactive Vibe

This ball uses the same symmetrical Vibe core that other balls in the Vibe series use, but also has a variant of the hottest coverstock on the market that Brunswick prides itself on: the HK22. I tried a strong drilling for this ball at 35° by 3.5" by 30°, and it is so smooth and controllable for me. It is great on high-friction surfaces; I play inside and open my angles up just a little, and the ball does the work for me. Not only does this ball have length and delay in motion, but it can still snap out corner pins and show continuation.

Royal Diamond

My goodness, do you need to consider this ball and check it out. Reviewed by JR in the video below, this is a rare ball that is smooth and clean when playing straight (like its predecessor, the Secret Diamond), but can also recover when moving inside and opening up angles, making it very versatile. JR says the last ball he was reminded of with a reaction like this was the Black Widow Legend, release back in 2014. Like the Radioactive Vibe, it is a symmetric solid, but with this ball having both a higher RG and differential, it yields more of a unique roll. The higher RG causes the ball to clear the fronts even more, while the higher differential makes the ball flare more on the back end. This is exactly the reaction we want to see on challenging sport shots and the like. Simply put, this ball is awesome.

Magic Gem

There was a Gem, then an Exotic Gem, and finally a Magic Gem. Third time is a charm, right? Yes, especially when you combine the previous two. The Gem was introduced in 2022 and regarded as possibly the highest hooking ball on the market. What some may not know is it utilized the rare particle coverstock. According to the Ten Pin Doctors knowledge base, it was the first ball in 10 years to exploit such a coverstock, and is still the latest of its type. The Exotic Gem is a pearl coverstock with the same core, so it will store energy a little more than the Gem. Well now, Storm decided to blend the MicroTrax Solid (Gem) coverstock with the MicroTrax Pearl (Exotic Gem) coverstock, yielding a final product of the MicroTrax Hybrid coverstock. If you want a combined coverstock exploiting nanoparticle technology along with the Defiant LRG core, the Magic Gem is for you.

Recommendations

If all three of these balls are of interest to you, my recommendation is to decide between the Radioactive Vibe and Royal Diamond to add a symmetric solid to your bag. If you bowl on a league with low to medium oil, choose the Radioactive Vibe. If you bowl on a league with medium to heavy oil, choose the Royal Diamond. If your house shot is really tight and you wish to carry those corner pins, the Magic Gem would benefit, given its asymmetric core. Then again, if you are on that same oily pattern and don't have an issue powering down the pins but struggle with a consistent and blended-out reaction, the Royal Diamond is your ball.