Blue Circle cue balls and faith in Mankind
- Thread starter Michael Andros
- Start date
Thanks Fran... your opinion on the photos I posted? The one in the center in both photos, I bought a few weeks ago directly From Brunswick. Do you think all 3 are Blue Circles?
michael
regardless where this goes
my intentions were in your best interest
B - Personally, i think all three are BCs. The person who sent the other 2 told me they both came from Centennial sets. So... seemingly all three are legit. The difference between them is, one is brand new Centennial, the other two from 20 to 25 years ago.
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Michael, I have 4 sets of new Centennials unused and still in the box I've ordered within the past year. When checking out the blue circles in those sets, which were ordered directly from a reputable longtime Brunswick dealer, they indeed look like the one in the middle of your photo - whiter and a slightly thicker blue circle that appears a little bluer than the older ones on the right and left in your photo.
Those other two look just like all my older blue circle centennials I am the original owner of, which I also originally purchased from the same longtime reputable Brunswick dealer. I would say with certainty, that all 3 cue balls in your photo are indeed true blue circle Brunswick Centennial cue balls. The newer ones look just slightly different than the older ones.
Thanks Chris! You rock!!! :dance:
The Brunswick billiard business is now part of the Fitness sector of their business. I suppose this was necessary because they no longer do bowling which used to be reported with billiards. Billiards would have been lonely and indefensible in the larger corporate culture if it was totally isolated. Here is an excerpt from Brunswick's annual report, which is really easy to find if you know it's there:
Our Fitness segment is comprised of the Fitness division (Fitness), which designs, manufactures, and markets a full line of reliable, high-quality cardiovascular fitness equipment (including treadmills, total body cross-trainers, stair climbers, and stationary exercise bicycles) and strength-training equipment under the Life Fitness, Hammer Strength, Cybex, Indoor Cycling Group, and SCIFIT brands. The Fitness segment also includes our active recreation business, including billiards tables, accessories, and game
room furniture.
They believe they are the largest manufacturer of commercial fitness equipment -- they own the Cybex brand among others. The sales of the Fitness segment of the company (including billiards) was over $1 billion in 2017. Billiards is also in with table tennis and Air Hockey as well as game room furniture.room furniture.
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Well, there you go... thank You, Bob, much appreciated. As I posted in a later addition to the thread, I actually went into Wiki's Brunswick page and their info said Brunswick ( proper ) was still independent but your post clears it up with nothing hanging in the balance.
Yes, the two on the outside look authentic to me. You've already confirmed the middle ball. The outside balls were made to fit older sets of Centennials while the one in the middle would match well with the newer sets.
Unfortunately, I don't know when the older version stopped and the newer version began. I also don't know if the specs or composition has changed from the older to newer versions. I've played with the newer set and they felt just fine to me, but I was also using the newer blue circle that matched the set.
I imagine the specs would be close enough if you wanted to mix and match the old blue circles with the new set of Centennials or the new blue circle with an older set. It's far better than trying to use a red circle cue ball with a set of Centennials.
Oh, and by 'older' I don't mean worn out. I mean an older version. Worn out sets that have been used for years have probably been worn down to a smaller size. There will be a difference in size between a new cue ball and a worn set.
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Fran - Thank you kindly for all the info. I've wanted one of these for well over 30 years and now I have three. On a side note, I believe we spoke for a short time, many years ago. The past is somewhat fuzzy at times in certain things but if I remember correctly it was at one of Grady's all-arounds back in the early eighties in Tampa or possibly at Baker's at one of the tournaments there. If not, then age has simply gotten the better of me once again. Either way, thank you for your input.
LOL! The past gets more and more fuzzy to me too as time goes on. I've been to tournaments in Florida so it's indeed possible that we talked.
:grin: :yeah: :grin:
I'm fairly certain we did. At any rate, if we didn't, I would have liked to ( and that, I think, covers all the bases! ). :wink:
I'll take 3... do you take cash?
I tried to erase the ball...pic too big....but I couldn’t.
Tomorrow I’ll be at my computer...I’ll dig up that ball article you couldn’t open...
....it’s a good one
In the immortal words ( word, actually ) of that fine, classically trained actor, Jake LaMotta: Check!