Topic: Fireball

[shane55]

Just wanted to say I did some business with Brad Laurine and Fireball and the customer service he provided was excellent!  Hats off to Brad and the Fireball team.  Shane

[Anderson]

Did he get you the new ball? Where's that ball Brad? I can't wait to get my new ball!!!!!   

[Old Meister]

I can't wait to play on Fireball tables again! Washington State Open, here I come!

[BradLaurine]

Thanks Shane! If you want you can go on and on, I won't get tired of reading it...

Balls, I will finally have balls! The balls that Dennis and I developed are going to be available starting next week.
In Seattle, they were introduced and all I heard was good stuff. Most people didn't know of my personal involvement with the balls and they were making great comments. Ease of catching, grippiness and can shoot all the shots with ease. Banks and back pins were great... part of that is because of the foot design but it helps to have a ball that you can shoot everything with and then some.

As a side note. The same balls, all day/night long were played on in the tables. All tables contained 2 balls. I would venture a guess of a 50 games in 12 hours and an hour or two of warm up. Their was only 7 tables for 85 players. After the night was over, I gathered up the balls and washed them. I threw them back in for yet another day of playing. SUPER IMPRESSIVE! They were grippy and came out very clean looking. All but one, I tossed away. It was early on Friday night when I noticed it was not round. All the balls played GREAT!

After the event, I felt that the balls made a great showing. They are fast and grippy but not fuzzy. They are not as hard as the Tornado ball and they are a world a part in terms of catching and controlling the ball.
My belief is that the game is hard enough to control the ball. This ball is very fast but way easier to catch. I think it will make the newer player better faster and appreciate the game more. Older players and Texas players will not like it because it makes those newer players stronger. The advantage the Pro has is diminished. The Texas player like the balls to be hard as nails and slicker.

Thanks for reading this far...

Brad Laurine 

[Anderson]

It sounds like I'm going to love this ball, being a Bonzini player. Can't wait. I've been checking the store every day. I can't wait to get this ball. Sounds like they've got some life to them too.

[TSR_Brad]

I have a question. Did you guys change the handles? The table that was at Tx State seemed to have different handles than I remember and if you did, I don't want to buy them anymore.

And I don't care what anyone says. You will forever be ball-less. (You could try here, though... http://www.bumperballz.com/ Probably the closest you'll ever get)

[foozkillah]

...
Balls, I will finally have balls! .."

Always great to have a pair o nice, working balls...

This ball is very fast but way easier to catch. I think it will make the newer player better faster and appreciate the game more. Older players and Texas players will not like it because it makes those newer players stronger. The advantage the Pro has is diminished. The Texas player like the balls to be hard as nails and slicker....

Dunno bout older players not liking it, since a grippier ball would harken back to the Dynamo TS days.   Or even the Warrior ball, still the best I've ever played with.. and the results: still the same familiar faces winning..  And I'm not sure it would bother Texas players too much... since it still gets going at speed.. at least not any of the Texas pros I know..  In fact I think they'd eat it up and take even better advantage of it in passing and grabbing loose balls.  And a grippier but still-as-fast ball sure wouldn't hurt any rocking-style rollover shooters.. so all those pros, Texas or not, whom already have great control on their rollover motion, can take it to the edge even more.  Really don't think any of them will be in any danger soon...

If there is any real new condition for any hardened Tornado pros.. it would be going up against good expert and pro Euro-style or even old-school power-palm-roll players.

[BradLaurine]

TSR Brad,
Nope, same handle as before. No change. Shoot, I had the table all wrapped up in a pink bow and all for ya.

The ball is grippy and fast. The Warrior ball is never fast. It has so much fuzz that it slows way down.
I see this ball as a much more user/player friendly ball. I will have them up for sale on the website by the end of the week.
I can take the orders...



Brad

[Anderson]

Brad, how are you taking orders? Through foosball.com or through Fireball? I would love to order a few, but I've been postponing my order to foosball.com because I wanted to simplify. I'm not ordering mass quantities for distribution. I just want a handful.

[BradLaurine]

BradA,
Foosball.com will have the balls in a week or so.

Foosball.com and myself will be the only ones for awhile... maybe for a real long time that will be selling parts on line.

Fireball men don't break, rods don't bend and the bearings never wear out. Pins and bumpers? Not going to buy me a big house anytime soon.

Later, Brad

[TSR_Brad]

BradA,
Foosball.com will have the balls in a week or so.

Foosball.com and myself will be the only ones for awhile... maybe for a real long time that will be selling parts on line.

Fireball men don't break, rods don't bend and the bearings never wear out. Pins and bumpers? Not going to buy me a big house anytime soon.

Later, Brad (@) Fireballtablesoccer (dot) com

You're a putz.

(Remember that time I locked you out of your store? That was awesome!)

[jinhopark]

BradA,
Foosball.com will have the balls in a week or so.

Foosball.com and myself will be the only ones for awhile... maybe for a real long time that will be selling parts on line.

Fireball men don't break, rods don't bend and the bearings never wear out. Pins and bumpers? Not going to buy me a big house anytime soon.

Later, Brad (@) Fireballtablesoccer (dot) com

Brad:

Were you successful in redesigning your unbendable rods to fit on a Tornado?  If so when will those be readily available?

[foozkillah]

BradA,
Foosball.com will have the balls in a week or so.

Foosball.com and myself will be the only ones for awhile... maybe for a real long time that will be selling parts on line.

Fireball men don't break, rods don't bend and the bearings never wear out. Pins and bumpers? Not going to buy me a big house anytime soon.

Later, Brad (@) Fireballtablesoccer (dot) com

Brad:

Were you successful in redesigning your unbendable rods to fit on a Tornado?  If so when will those be readily available?

;;
Interesting... always thought that the Fireball rods already DID fit on Tornados, except for that open ends (away from the handled end) disappeared into the bearing at full extension.

[Anderson]

Fireball rods will fit a Tornado just fine. Tornado rods need to be cut about a quarter of an inch to be easily interchangeable on Fireball, ie if you don't want to remove the men in order to get the rod in and out. All that means is that when a Fireball rod is put in a Tornado(and to do that you will have to remove the men) the end of the rod will disappear into the bearing hole when fully pulled, but that will not cause any issues because it will still ride on the bearing. The only issue would be whether the Fireball rod is too thick in diameter, but I'm pretty sure that they are nearly the same, so much so that the bearing won't register a noticeable difference. In fact, that is terribly important, because it's not only a matter of getting the rod in the Tornado table, but having the Tornado men and pins fit the Fireball rod.

[Anderson]

Fooball.com, WHERE IS MY NEW BALL?!!!