the immortal is a great ball also, my friend bought my immortal pearl (14lb) and he loves it....he had it stack drilled and love the pin action.... i just needed to of bought the immortal solid from the get go cause i lack the revs to use the pearl on our league shot(heavy oil).....

I'm referring to the purple one Cal. As far as I know it's name is Ogre Pearl.

I always called it the Purple Ogre, and the solid the Orange(I knew quite a few people with it). The other pearl is the SS which is suppose to go longer but from the videos I saw snap even harder.

I have decided to go ahead and become a Visionary Test Staff member. Jason Wonders, the head of Marketing, was kind enough to allow me to substitute a 5th ball instead of a 3-ball bag (since I already have a 6-ball bag).

For starters, I ordered one of each of the OGREs:
Orange/Black (solid)
Purple/Black (pearl)
Silver/Blue (pearl)
Pewter/Black (particle)
Gray/Blue/Black (urethane)

I am going to be at Nationals in Vegas next week, so I am hoping they arrive shortly after I return. I will post my ball reviews including layouts, surface prep, etc., here in this thread. If anybody else has any feedback they want to add on Visionary equipment, feel free.

Well depending on when you will be in Vegas, the balls could be there before you return. They tend to be pretty quick with the shipping if I remember correctly.

That would be awesome. I spent the better part of a day mapping out the precise layouts, down to the location of the balance holes, of how I wanted to drill each OGRE, then calculated the ideal Pin to CG length and Top Weight for each. For two of the balls, the Silver/Blue OGRE (pearl) and Pewter/Black OGRE (particle), I requested 4.5 to 5.5 inch pins. The others are in the more "normal" range. If they are able to fill the order without contacting me first to suggest different specifications, I will be truly impressed.

Did you get the equipment yet?

They are expected to arrive today, 7/15, minus the new urethane OGRE, which will be delivered as soon as they have a 1 to 2 inch pin and 2 to 2.5 ounces top weight available. Can't wait to drill them up and test them out this weekend.

Preface to ball reviews:

My new Visionary equipment arrived last week, and I had a chance to drill 4 of the 5 balls and test a couple of them out over the weekend, and last night in league. Before I dive into the ball reviews, I wanted to give you a perspective on my overall strategy.

When I decided to become a Visionary Test Staff member, I knew I was taking a risk not being very familiar with their equipment. But, something intrigued me about the Ogre core. It's appearance reminded me of a jack that would stabilize itself when spun. And, I liked the idea that the same core was available in 5 different coverstocks including solid reactive, pearl reactive, particle, and urethane.

So, for my test equipment, I chose one of each of the Ogres, and calculated how I would drill each to cover a broad spectrum of lane conditions. This is what I came up with:

Pewter Ogre (particle) - strong ball w/ strong layout, out of box 1000 Abralon, sanded to 250, no polish

Orange Ogre (solid reactive) - strong ball w/ weak layout, out of box 600 matte, sanded to 500, no polish

Purple Ogre (strong pearl reactive) - medium ball w/ medium layout, out of box 1500 polished, sanded to 1000, no polish

Silver Ogre (skid/snap pearl reactive) - weak ball w/ strong layout, out of box 1500 polished, sanded to 2000, no polish

White Ogre (urethane) - weak ball w/ weak layout, out of box 1500 polished, will sand to 4000, no polish

The layouts I used below are designed to make the ball arc in varying degrees:

Strong Layout:
3-3/8 PAP to Pin x 5-1/2 PAP to MB with 1-1/2 Pin to VAL buffer, or
30 degrees Angle to VAL, 3-3/8 PAP to Pin, 67 degrees Drilling Angle,
with balance hole 6-3/4 from Pin,
Ideal Pin to CG: 5-3/4, Ideal Pre-drilling Top Weight: 3-1/2 oz

Medium Layout:
4-3/8 PAP to Pin x 6-1/2 PAP to MB with 3 Pin to VAL buffer, or
50 degrees Angle to VAL, 4-3/8 PAP to Pin, 87 degrees Drilling Angle,
with balance hole 5-3/4 from Pin,
Ideal Pin to CG: 3-1/2, Ideal Pre-drilling Top Weight: 3 oz

Weak Layout:
5-3/8 PAP to Pin x 7-1/2 PAP to MB with 4-3/4 Pin to VAL buffer, or
70 degrees Angle to VAL, 5-3/8 PAP to Pin, 102 degrees Drilling Angle,
with balance hole 4-3/4 from Pin (if necessary),
Ideal Pin to CG: 1-3/4, Ideal Pre-drilling Top Weight: 2-1/2 oz

I believe this combination of coverstocks and layouts, plus my plastic spare ball, will simultaneously allow me to test this equipment and bowl effectively on a wide variety of conditions.

You don't think the manufacture is putting the balls out on the street with the correct finish ? I mean you changed every single one.