The Marvel-S is a Winner!

Our testers:
Layne Sandt (400 rpm)
Brad Crouse (450 rpm)

Lee Sandt of BowlerX drilled our test equipment.

We used a 65 x 3.5 x 65 layout for Layne and a 70 x 5 x 70 layout for Brad. Both bowlers are relatively similar in style, speed, and revs. Both layouts will get into a later roll with a slow transition at the breakpoint. This means the hook phase will be longer, giving the ball a smooth but continuous motion through the pins. Layne’s layout will create a bit more track flare potential.

Remember that coverstock accounts for 70% of ball reaction, but the core will create the dynamic shape. Your drilling will alter the shape to suit your game and conditions you bowl on. Please work with your local pro shop operator to find what best works for you.

Test Patterns:
THS: Modified Kegel Main Street, 41 ft, ~ 20 ml

First Impressions
This ball is smooth as butter and just plain works. I was not a huge fan of the original Marvel, but this Centripetal core added to the NRG nanotechnology cover make this ball a winner. Very versatile and it worked in everybody’s hand.

Price 8/10
Mid-higher priced ball the Marvel S is but it’s worth it for a very nice all-around piece.

Core
Storm has a bench full of great cores. I had been luke warm on this one for sometime as I felt it wasn’t as successful on THS as it was on tougher patterns. I found lots of love or hate with the original Marvel and Modern Marvel. The Marvel Pearl was a great execution which has paved the way for the latest iteration. Either way, the core is inherently stable and smooth with an RG of 2.48 and diff of .050 for a 15 pound ball. These rolly characteristics makes this ball great on tougher patterns as well as tighter shots.

Cover 8.5/10
I continue to like the NRG cover which started on the Virtual Gravity Nano. It has interesting characteristics which are a little different than your typical top of the line snow tire. It historically was clean through the fronts, especially after some games on it. This allows a heavier oil ball to store more energy allowing it to have a bigger backend move. It also is capable in heavier oil which makes it versatile.

Reaction
Layne/Brad
8/8.5

Both testers really liked the Marvel S and found consistent use for it wherever they bowled. The Marvel S, with this core and cover combination gave the ball a relatively clean look up front a nice smooth hooking motion and a strong continuous punch through the pins. Overall very smooth, predictable, and readable reaction. It’s very consistent from shot to shot and will hide release imperfections.
Both bowlers found success on several THS patterns, but particularly those with tighter shots, meaning more oil. They also found a nice control reaction on more competitive conditions.

With that being said, Layne put almost 100 games on it and did find it less grippy on the lanes than when he first got it. Naturally, these surface roughness will decrease over time meaning the ball will not hook as much as it did when brand new. This is fairly typical with high end aggressive oil eating covers. However, the “calming down” of the reaction made it even smoother. That means that over time, the ball will be less of a medium-heavy/heavy oil ball to a medium oil ball. Not completely out of the ordinary.

Digitrax

If you look closely at the Digitrax information, you will see that Layne got about 5 degrees of entry angle and the track creates this nice arch. However, what that doesn’t tell you is how strong and continuous this ball is through the pocket. There’s no quit. To see this, you have to watch the ball finish off the pindeck.

Overall
Can you say success? The Storm Marvel S really is a versatile piece that most bowlers will find success with. The smooth predictable but strong motion is sometimes under played in relation to the big backend hooking hockey stick shape pieces. However, for those that recognize the value of having such a piece for tighter conditions such as your sport shots, top hat house shots, heavier house shots, you will have an excellent go to piece which has that smooth but driving power through the pins.