The good folks over at Storm aimed to outdo themselves with the release of the Storm Marvel Pearl – an aggressive new bowling ball with a lot of flair to its credit. Our Storm Marvel Pearl review will look at this new high-performance bowling ball from all angles, giving you a panoramic view of Storm’s latest offering before you make a potential purchase decision.
Is the Storm Marvel Pearl versatile enough for a variety of different oil conditions and patterns? How does the Storm Master series’ first fully pearlized cover since the original Agent stack up to that classic crowd favorite? Delve into our extensive Storm Marvel Pearl bowling ball review for the answer to these two questions and more!
No products found.
Overview
The Storm Marvel Pearl is the pearlized offshoot of the solid Storm Marvel. It sports the same symmetrical core design found in the previous Marvel incarnation and the Storm Prodigy. Furthermore, the pearlized cover stock is the same formulation on the Prodigy, albeit with the Enhanced Traction Mica removed completely.
If you’re looking for a medium-oiled hook monster, look no further than the Storm Marvel Pearl. Ideal and average oil conditions are where the Storm Marvel Pearl shines. While things get a little bit dicey for the ball as oil conditions verge towards extremes or oil patterns break down, this ball makes up for it by playing as pure dynamite in medium oil.
There are less than a handful of pearl reactive bowling balls on the market which come even remotely close to the total hook offered by the Storm Marvel Pearl. A ball this durable usually sacrifices some strength of overall motion in order to keep the ball on the lanes longer. That is far from the case with the Storm Marvel Pearl.
In addition, the pearlization of the Storm Marvel Pearl’s cover stock leads to a much more efficacious energy-storing capability for the ball. That gives the ball a fiery (and giant) backend hook which causes some insane pin carry and overall pin trajectories when slotted perfectly into the pocket.
Features, Specs & Materials
FEATURES:
The Storm Marvel Pearl’s R2X Pearl Reactive cover stock gives the ball a powerful breakpoint reaction which easily outstrips predecessors such as the aforementioned Storm Prodigy and Marvel solid. It’s aggressive yet can take a beating.
The unnamed symmetrical core within the Storm Marvel Pearl adds needed length for a ball so strong and so predicated on motion down-lane. It pairs fantastically with the cover stock to store energy for some extremely impressive backend crashes.
The Storm Marvel Pearl’s 1500-grit polished finish allows it to easily outdo its Master line sanded finish predecessors when it comes to overall lane length. It’s the perfect finish for some crazy traction antics on medium oil patterns.
SPECS:
Color: Silver, Deep Purple, Maroon
Core: Symmetrical
Coverstock: R2X Pearl Reactive
Finish: 1500 Grit Polished
RG: 2.48
Differential: 0.050
Flare potential: Minimal
Recommended Lane Condition: Medium
MATERIALS
The removal of the Enhanced Traction Mica from the R2X Pearl Reactive cover stock makes the Storm Marvel Pearl much cleaner and smoother in terms of overall reactivity and angularity. It was a fantastic move by Storm because it gives this ball an element of control which serves as a welcome counterpoint to the ball’s overall aggressiveness.
Storm decided not to mess with a good thing with the return of its proven symmetrical core design. The core is so balanced that you won’t feel any odd weight displacement regardless of your throwing style.
Advantages & Disadvantages
Advantages:
The Storm Marvel Pearl has a powerful overall motion which belies its pure pearlized cover stock. In fact, the total hook of the Storm Marvel Pearl is perhaps the highest of Storm’s wide variety of pearl reactive bowling ball releases. You can cover a lot of boards from a lot of different angles, especially when playing on an ideal medium oil pattern.
The ball’s hook takes place farther down the lane than previous Storm Master line releases, leading into an absolute banger of a back-end reaction. This ball is an absolute dream for lower-rev bowlers who aren’t accustomed to getting violent pin carry and pin trajectories due to the limitations of their throws.
In short, the Storm Marvel Pearl provides fantastic durability without sacrificing overall aggressiveness. There are very few pearl reactive bowling ball releases on the market which have as much total hook and firepower as the Storm Marvel Pearl. It truly gives you the best of both worlds when it comes to play life and overall theatrics.
If you play on medium oil patterns for the majority of your games, you won’t find a better ball on the market to tackle such conditions. It’s the perfect strike ball with conditions are ideal and you want an extra bit of oomph and backend fireworks.
Disadvantages:
When oil conditions verge towards extremely dry or extremely wet, the Storm Marvel Pearl becomes less of a marvel and more of a dud. The ball loses its overall length and strong reaction in these conditions. It’s simply a liability which needs to be bagged when oil conditions aren’t balanced.
The ball’s 1500 grit polished box finish makes this ball a struggle out of the box in medium-dry or medium-heavy oil conditions. You’re going to have to be deft with surface adjustments and an Abralon pad if you want to get the most out of the Storm Marvel Pearl in these conditions.
If you’re looking for the strong midlane read of the first Storm Marvel and the Storm Prodigy, you’re going to be disappointed. The Storm Marvel saves its powerful reaction for the breakpoint into the back end, so look to one of the previous Storm Master line balls for a powerful mid-lane read.
Our Thoughts
The Storm Marvel Pearl is a medium oil pattern masterpiece which struggles to adapt when oil conditions thicken or deplete. As long as you know what you’re getting and keep another strike ball on hand just in case, then the Storm Marvel Pearl is a worthwhile hook-heavy addition to your bowling ball arsenal.
No products found.
Overall Score: 7.25 out of 10
