Just found one of the glow balls that I had in White Water. This was in the game from about 8PM Friday to Saturday morning. Somewhere between 250-300 games were played with this ball. There was no glowing since the game has no UV. I just tried them to see how they played and how they would hold up. They play fast, real fast. This is how they looked after those games. These are untouched images other than to set the WB to flash and cropping the image to show just the ball.
Quoted from Aurich:Hmm, that seems pretty beat for that few games.
Yeah. Maybe nice for a captive ball or an old single ball EM, but damn, I imagine on Tron this thing would be hacked up in no time. That's too bad. Physics wins again.
-Wes
So they get beat to hell in a few hundred games, and they apparently play different than regular balls ("they play fast, real fast")? Yeah, no thanks... I appreciate the post.
They play like powerballs (makes sense since they are both ~60 grams), which in itself is not a bad thing. Tron plays awesome with powerballs.
Quoted from calvin12:They play like powerballs (makes sense since they are both ~60 grams), which in itself is not a bad thing. Tron plays awesome with powerballs.
Ah, okay, that makes sense. Not sure why anyone would want to play with these balls then, unless it's for a game that uses them already (VND, TZ). Then again, people here seem to be enjoying using flipper rubbers that feel nothing like a normal rubber too. To each his own.
Quoted from tamoore:Maybe not enough testing went into these prior to launch?
In this industry? Impossible!
Is anyone else impressed by the fact that he fit 300 games in over like 12 hours? I'd have torn Bigfoot's head off after game 100.
Thanks for the review.
Sad to hear that I just blew a bunch of cash on 2 sets ;(
I bought them mainly so I could drop them in some tournament game in the future to make a game different/harder.
Oh well, lesson learned for being an early adapter I suppose.
Quoted from Whysnow:Thanks for the review.
Sad to hear that I just blew a bunch of cash on 2 sets ;(
I bought them mainly so I could drop them in some tournament game in the future to make a game different/harder.
Oh well, lesson learned for being an early adapter I suppose.
For something like that they would probably be ok.
I do't have a problem with the smudges, but on that last pic you can see dents in the surface. Bummer.
Wow, tough crowd....
Anybody ever take some close up pics of regular pinballs after 10-12 hrs non-stop playing?
Yes, we've seen them - they get kinda thrashed too (under the lense).
Are these balls the VERY FIRST VND compatible replacement balls in 15 yrs?
Will it take about 1 year in common home use only environment to equal 250-300 plays? 
Well f(){k, why is everyone b!t(hing? 
Does anyone have any real original VND balls that they are willing to put into a pin at a show and take pics of after a day? That would be a worthy comparison. Probably nobody would, since they cost alot more than these aftermarkets, and would end up about the same.
Go ahead, everyone give me a thumbs down - the reality is ~ it's innovating! 
If you can make it better, please do. 
There is at least a small crowd on this thread that'll buy them. 
Sorry, I am just feeling way too much hate after a show evening. I brought my BK2K to PAGG 2013, and it was played almost non-stop. It received more damaged than it would've in a year at my own home - was it cool to share? HELL YEAH.
I bet alot of people were WOW'd by having a blue ball in WH20.
Quoted from mrbillishere:I do't have a problem with the smudges, but on that last pic you can see dents in the surface. Bummer.
i agree the dirt isn't an issue, the issue is the actual dings. I did not clean the ball on purpose before I took the pics. I wanted to leave the images unbiased. I'll have a vid posted shortly.
Quoted from devlman:In this industry? Impossible!
Is anyone else impressed by the fact that he fit 300 games in over like 12 hours? I'd have torn Bigfoot's head off after game 100.
The game was at expo in freeplay. I didn't personally put that many games on overnight.
Quoted from calvin12:The game was at expo in freeplay. I didn't personally put that many games on overnight.
Heh, OK that makes sense. I thought maybe you were just hell-bent on testing these things.
damn i was gonna buy a set, guess i'll stick with regular balls.
i think it's not ready for market, more testing needs to be done.
Thanks for posting the sound difference. The blue ball sounds like a train coming versus the standard is smooth as butter. In full game play not sure it will matter at all though. Wonder if that extra sound is causing any addtional friction on the playfield to cause more wear over time.
Quoted from vid1900:I would not even worry about little dings on a plastic coated ball.
It's not like a steel ball where the dings are chewing up the playfield.
I wonder if once they are "fully dinged" how they will look?
I agree that dings on the coating are not near as damaging as dings on steel since the coating is softer but it was pretty deeply marked. Not sure if i can get my micrometer to measure it though. you can hear how rough the ball was in the video. Also those pics are just fast snaps of the balls, I didn't play withthe lighting at all to make them look better or worse. I'm sure I could have worked the lighting to better show the dings, but like I said I was jsut giving an unbiased review on what I saw.
This is vid of the balls
Quoted from fishmanrob:Thanks for posting the sound difference. The blue ball sounds like a train coming versus the standard is smooth as butter. In full game play not sure it will matter at all though. Wonder is that extra sound is causing any addtional friction on the playfield to cause more wear over time.
The sound don't matter at all in gameplay, but the reason its noisy is because the ball is bouncing on the dings.
Quoted from Jvspin:I think some games have more exposed metal edges than others, so I imagine the speed and extent to which the glow balls get damaged will vary significantly from machine to machine.
It would probably take about 30 times longer to see this damage on a single ball EM, and about 10 times longer on a single ball SS. Just a guess
great write up, pics, and review Calvin!
Thanks very much for taking the time to share.
I met the developer at Expo and he was a really nice guy. I am sure he appreciates the feedback and review as he talked about how he wants to make the best product available!
It is really cool what he has done to make these already and I am guessing he will try to make future improvements.
Maybe it's just because I'm so used to them, but...
Gents, these are Glo-Balls. They have a plastic coating. Shoot a plastic anything at targets at a high rate of speed, and you're going to get dents and whatnot. It's like the dimpling argument, "oh no, the playfield is dimpled! Why doesn't the _______ old game I get do this?" Well, it did until it got so dimpled you didn't notice it any more.
Below is a picture of my Glo-Balls. If I hold them up and look at them carefully, I notice that none of the balls are perfectly round, they have these little flat areas all over. They have little edges that collect that black gunk on them. They are lighter than a steel ball by a considerable amount.
And they work great for what they do. My VND has had more than 3000 plays since I got it, including being at shows with the Glo-Balls in, and no one has once told me that the balls don't roll quite right. I bought (indirectly) a set of actual glowing balls, and I expect to install them in my VND sometime soon (all my VND boards are currently in SST). The wear pattern that you're showing me after 300 or so games looks outstanding to me, and I'm quite excited to know that I'll be able to save these nasty old relics and play with balls that actually react to the light properly now.
Now, if only someone can fix the cool playfield mylar appearing glowing effects in the future and repro the raccoons, I'd be able to make my VND nicer than new 
IMAG0998.jpgQuoted from boogies:It would probably take about 30 times longer to see this damage on a single ball EM and about 10 times longer on a single ball SS. Just a guess
These dings are not ball to ball contact. In a single ball em I'd expect less damage since everything is slower. I'd expect an em to have slower damage since they generally move slower.I would expect any ss to have similar damage to this. Depending on that table even worse, saucer kicks like pinbot and Space shuttle will drive the small kicker end right into the ball. Actually now that I think about it this is likely from the trough eject, WH2O has that style eject, not the newer trough style like road show or MM.
Quoted from calvin12:» YouTube video
this lets you hear the difference between steel and the used glo ball.
hard to tell with those crappy super bands on. They were on all the games at the show. Not a fan at all. Will not be purchasing any super bands ever.
The sound difference has nothing to do with the flipper bands.just listen to it roll down the pf compared to the steel.
Quoted from goatdan:That's true. It's normal if you're using VND not-really-round balls.
I don't hear the balls at all in my VND but then with the volume up and the Pinball Pro speakers all I hear is Speed Parade.
The dings on these balls are no big deal. Looks like they need cleaning at about the same rate as original glos.
Speaking of, Dan - your glos need a really good cleaning!
viperrwk
Quoted from goatdan:Maybe it's just because I'm so used to them, but...
Gents, these are Glo-Balls. They have a plastic coating. Shoot a plastic anything at targets at a high rate of speed, and you're going to get dents and whatnot. It's like the dimpling argument, "oh no, the playfield is dimpled! Why doesn't the ______ old game I get do this?" Well, it did until it got so dimpled you didn't notice it any more.
Below is a picture of my Glo-Balls. If I hold them up and look at them carefully, I notice that none of the balls are perfectly round, they have these little flat areas all over. They have little edges that collect that black gunk on them. They are lighter than a steel ball by a considerable amount.
And they work great for what they do. My VND has had more than 3000 plays since I got it, including being at shows with the Glo-Balls in, and no one has once told me that the balls don't roll quite right. I bought (indirectly) a set of actual glowing balls, and I expect to install them in my VND sometime soon (all my VND boards are currently in SST). The wear pattern that you're showing me after 300 or so games looks outstanding to me, and I'm quite excited to know that I'll be able to save these nasty old relics and play with balls that actually react to the light properly now.
Now, if only someone can fix the cool playfield mylar appearing glowing effects in the future and repro the raccoons, I'd be able to make my VND nicer than newIMAG0998.jpg 982 KB
I second the repro of the racoons. I am so glad that I did not remove the mylar on the playfield on these. I figured the glow effect was printed on it.
Quoted from viperrwk:I don't hear the balls at all in my VND but then with the volume up and the Pinball Pro speakers all I hear is Speed Parade.
The dings on these balls are no big deal. Looks like they need cleaning at about the same rate as original glos.
Speaking of, Dan - your glos need a really good cleaning!
viperrwk
We have seen some dings in the balls after a few hundred plays, this does not effect the play of the ball and would be considered normal wear. They do mark if you have black plastic in the machine but you can clean 90% that off. The thing I am carping on with the factory is that not all of the seams are polished out the same. This can cause some to pick up dirt in the seam while others don't.
We do want everyone's feedback on this product and we stand behind it. If you got these at the show and have not used them and want to return them, please let me know as I will refund your money. We don't want anyone to be unhappy.
As to the sound, this has nothing to do with usage, they sound different than steel balls even when they are brand new. You need to have a video from the same camera position with steel balls in to hear the difference. When you play with the glass and sound on, I don't hear any difference.
Every machine is going to treat these balls differently. We will continue to search for other materials that may/may not be more durable. These are MUCH more durable than the originals and don't pick up the dirt like the originals as these are made of plastic and the originals are made of rubber. Even if you clean the originals, after about 10 minutes of play, they look pretty much as dirty as they did when you cleaned them. I have had these side by side in a machine.
We realize that these will not be for every machine or everyone. We hope that these will make your playing experience more fun by giving you variety. We are currently sold out and it will take around 8 weeks for the next run to get here as they have to come surface shipment from China.
Thanks for all of your feedback!
Brian
Quoted from BSavage:We have seen some dings in the balls after a few hundred plays, this does not effect the play of the ball and would be considered normal wear. They do mark if you have black plastic in the machine but you can clean 90% that off. The thing I am carping on with the factory is that not all of the seams are polished out the same. This can cause some to pick up dirt in the seam while others don't.
We do want everyone's feedback on this product and we stand behind it. If you got these at the show and have not used them and want to return them, please let me know as I will refund your money. We don't want anyone to be unhappy.
As to the sound, this has nothing to do with usage, they sound different than steel balls even when they are brand new. You need to have a video from the same camera position with steel balls in to hear the difference. When you play with the glass and sound on, I don't hear any difference.
Every machine is going to treat these balls differently. We will continue to search for other materials that may/may not be more durable. These are MUCH more durable than the originals and don't pick up the dirt like the originals as these are made of plastic and the originals are made of rubber. Even if you clean the originals, after about 10 minutes of play, they look pretty much as dirty as they did when you cleaned them. I have had these side by side in a machine.
We realize that these will not be for every machine or everyone. We hope that these will make your playing experience more fun by giving you variety. We are currently sold out and it will take around 8 weeks for the next run to get here as they have to come surface shipment from China.
Thanks for all of your feedback!
Brian
I have to disagree on the sound difference not being from usage. With the glass on you probably won't hear anything at all. But the sound that I recorded of the glo ball and steel ball. that difference in sound was clearly from the glo ball essentially bouncing on the nicks. I understand that the balls will sound different since the materials are different. But a smooth rolling glow ball will have a smooth sound (different than steel) The sound in the video is clearly not from a constant smooth surface rolling down the play field.
I think these looked really good. If you need reactive balls for a VND, these are available and will work at least as well as originals. If you want something different to throw in games for parties and such, these are great. But as a long term ball in games, I'm not sure yet. There aren't may exposed edges in a White Water and they got pretty beat, but as I said earlier, I think most of the damage occurred at the ball trough eject. The older style "bayonet", for lack of a better term, slams a small metal contact point into the ball to eject it to the shooter lane. The newer style with the coil plunger directly contacting the ball spreading the force out would likely cause much less damage to the surface. Looking at pics of VND on IPDB that game appears to use the newer trough style.
No wei
Quoted from Don_C:Goatdan, your balls are on my kitchen table. Does that sound weird?
Don C.
No weirder than people at the show asking to touch your balls...
Still gonna buy.
My game might get 30-50 plays a month in home. At the texas pinball festival it got 850 playas over 3 days...
Compared to VND balls, theE show similar or better wear.
And the blue is NOT a glow ball. It's fluorescent ball. They just come labeled as glow balls since they are made by them.
The only UV reactive glow balls are off white and cost $60/4 . All other colors are $48/4.
They weigh less than a standard ball, but no where near as light as TZ power ball. It's somewhere in the middle of that....
Anyways, super impressed with the product and can't wait to get my greens for TMNT.
Quoted from Jared:Still gonna buy.
My game might get 30-50 plays a month in home. At the texas pinball festival it got 850 playas over 3 days...
Compared to VND balls, theE show similar or better wear.
And the blue is NOT a glow ball. It's fluorescent ball. They just come labeled as glow balls since they are made by them.
The only UV reactive glow balls are off white and cost $60/4 . All other colors are $48/4.
They weigh less than a standard ball, but no where near as light as TZ power ball. It's somewhere in the middle of that....
Anyways, super impressed with the product and can't wait to get my greens for TMNT.
actually the other colors are UV glo balls, they are not GID balls. The other colors to not absorb and re-emit light. They do fluoresce under UV.
Both glow balls and powerballs *are* 60g. The weights are essentially identical.
Quoted from calvin12:I have to disagree on the sound difference not being from usage. With the glass on you probably won't hear anything at all. But the sound that I recorded of the glo ball and steel ball. that difference in sound was clearly from the glo ball essentially bouncing on the nicks. I understand that the balls will sound different since the materials are different. But a smooth rolling glow ball will have a smooth sound (different than steel) The sound in the video is clearly not from a constant smooth surface rolling down the play field
I posted videos with pratically new balls on a very clean clearcoated playfiled (seperate thread). They have a different sound no matter what. Seperate from any nicks from game play.
Granted that the plastic coating is suspect to having nicks and etc, but with these balls you are also more able to see these issues . I can show you plenty of steel balls that didn't look so good after 200-300 plays if you really looked.
For what it's worth.....
Quoted from Jared:They weigh less than a standard ball, but no where near as light as TZ power ball. It's somewhere in the middle of that....
My previous weigh-ins:
VND Glo-Ball (NOS)
Composition: Plastic over steel core (VND manual page DR3 refers to them as "Plastic Glow-Balls" and the balls can be picked up with a magnet)
Weight: 58.1 grams
Diameter: 1.06 inches
TZ Powerball
Weight: 60.8 grams
Diameter: 1.062 inches (1 1/16")
Regular pinball
Composition: Carbon Steel
Weight: 80.7 grams
Diameter: 1.062 inches (1 1/16")
If they weigh 60 grams as has been previously stated, just under a Powerball and a little more than an original Glo.
viperrwk
Quoted from BrianZ:I posted videos with pratically new balls on a very clean clearcoated playfiled (seperate thread). They have a different sound no matter what. Seperate from any nicks from game play.
Granted that the plastic coating is suspect to having nicks and etc, but with these balls you are also more able to see these issues . I can show you plenty of steel balls that didn't look so good after 200-300 plays if you really looked.
For what it's worth.....
I know they will sound different being different materials, I said that. but this sound difference was because of the nicks, watch the video that was posted. The PF that was in the video was a new clearcoated Mirco field I got last year at expo.The steel ball that was used had nearly 500 games on it from expo, and was from the set of balls I had in the machine at home since I got the game over a year ago. scratches on a steel ball are not the same as gouges on a coated ball. You won't be able to feel a scratch on steel balls by your fingernail being hung up in it. That is what happened with the coated ones.
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