Topic: Black light ball help

[bammon]

Now that the Tornado blacklight parts are discontinued, I'm looking to find the best available replacement ball that is similar in weight and control to the standard Tornado balls.

Of course the pink/red models don't fluoresce at all, but I'm hoping that perhaps some of the other/more brightly colored options out there might react well. I've heard good things about the Warrior and Fireball styles – can anyone verify whether they show up under black light? I asked the staff at foosball.com, and they didn't have a light they could use to verify.

For what it's worth, I picked up a couple of supposedly genuine Tornado blacklight balls from another online store, but I doubt they were the real deal. They are sprayed with a coating that picks up the light, but unfortunately they are noticeably lighter weight, their color is quite mottled, and little chunks of the paint tend to flake off on the playfield while playing.

Any help is much appreciated!

[xmanicmattx]

I have both yellow fireball balls as well as the warrior ball. I'll do my best to check for you tomorrow. I have an awesome glo in the dark ball that has great weight and control and I know is reactive, unfortunately it came in an ebay mixed lot and I have no idea what it is. :/

[bammon]

Awesome, thanks xmanicmattx! I'll look forward to seeing what you find.

[xmanicmattx]

Neither yellow or orange Fireball balls are uv reactive. (I'm using a urine finder uv flashlight. It's stronger than a black light so it should show if it were reactive.) Unfortunately, I seemed to have misplaced my Warrior ball, though it's similar color to the Fireball ball so I doubt it is either. The only ball I have that is reactive is the glow ball, which, unfortunately, is of unknown origin. Bought from someone on Ebay as part of a four pack he had purchased years prior. Sorry. Any glow in the dark ball should work if you can find one that rolls true and you like the weight/grip of. Good luck and please let us know of your findings. Sorry I couldn't bare more results for you.

[bammon]

Thanks again for confirming that. Unfortunately, I can't seem to locate a good source for the glow balls on the internet.

My next course of action will be to experiment with UV reactive clear coat – I'm hoping I can find something that will add a thin, durable, matte coat to the standard balls so they will glow.

[johnwallan]

Thompson sporting goods might have 2 or 3 types

[kman22]

If you are still looking for these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Tornado-Black-Light-Foosball-OEM-Part-RARE-Impossible-to-find-/221465383019?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33905d906b

[bammon]

Necro-ing my own thread here (which I hope is ok), in case of it's of help to anyone else out there.

At some point, Warrior came out with a line of black light balls (meant for their own black light table) that are pretty brilliant. I just discovered them, and found they compare very favorably to the standard (non-reactive) Tornado balls that I'm used to. They are the exact same weight (to the 1/10th of a gram) and similarly textured to the red ones (though slightly more rough/sandpapery). Control and balance are rock solid, and they glow very brightly. The only thing I have mixed feelings about is the printed logo on the balls, as I'd prefer them plain.

Thompson still carries Tornado brand back stock, but frankly they are crazy expensive and don't compare favorably in play.