Cyclop Hyperion Pool Balls

[lfigueroa]

All I know is that some time back I bought a set of Hyperions from them and all went well.

Christine was nice, prompt and clear in her emails.

Lou Figueroa

 

[rexus31]

What happened with Cyclops? Did they just get underbid by Predator when they came out with their own balls? When I was last active on this site, they (Cyclops) were still fairly new. Bought a set myself. Love them. Now, all the big tournaments have been taken over by Predator, using Predator balls, Cyclops are nowhere to be found in US events anymore

I've got a couple of sets of Cyclops Aries balls. They spent about 2 years in a private room with six good tables and high quality carpet. When I got them they looked like they had low-crawled through Khe Sanh in early '68. I tried to buff then out, but the surface, which must have been some kind of coating, wouldn't budge. I called a buddy at PoolDawg and he said that there had been serious issues with the early runs of the balls and that they were backing out. Point is that Cyclop had quality control issues that probably pushed them out of business

Cyclop was one of the choices for Predator to manufacture their Arcos II balls before they landed on Aramith. Cosmos was the other manufacturer Predator was considering and who actually made the Arcos I sets that were never made for sale to the public. John Schmidt used one of the Cyclop made Arcos II prototype sets during one of his record attempts. The Cyclop brand folded soon after Dynaspheres hit the scene. Both Cyclop and Dynaspheres are/were manufactured by the same company. I have 3 sets: Original Skittles, Athena and Hyperion. All three play and look great.

 

[Mick]

What happened with Cyclops?

The way I understand it (which means I'm 70% talking out of my ass) is that Cyclop basically rebranded and reinvented itself as Dynasphere. I'm assuming it was to shed itself from the stigma of the problems with the early Cyclop cueballs, and reports of poor QC. If this was indeed the way of it, it seems to have worked. Dynasphere's reputation is sterling compared to Cyclop. FWIW I was/am a fan of both companies.

 

[rexus31]

The way I understand it (which means I'm 70% talking out of my ass) is that Cyclop basically rebranded and reinvented itself as Dynasphere. I'm assuming it was to shed itself from the stigma of the problems with the early Cyclop cueballs, and reports of poor QC. If this was indeed the way of it, it seems to have worked. Dynasphere's reputation is sterling compared to Cyclop. FWIW I was/am a fan of both companies.

My understanding is two separate companies manufactured by the same manufacturer. But, I could be wrong.

 

[Terry Aeschliman]

I have a set, still in cellophane, $350 shipped.

 

[TwistedTexasStyle]

I really like the dragon side of the money balls, but the other side with the HUGE number on has to go. If they got rid of those numbers I'd buy a set.
Thanks for posting the pictures.

20 ball set- you can play with the standard balls if you don't like the money balls. Why would you want them to look the same?

 

[garczar]

My understanding is two separate companies manufactured by the same manufacturer. But, I could be wrong.

Xin Bing is the manuf. The parent co. of Dynasphere(they also own Molinari, Gabriels) wanted a ball in their line-up. They went to XB and Dynasphere was born. Cyclop was no more after this deal was done.

 

[NUMBnS1L3NT]

My Cyclops are now collectables!!!! I'm going to start out at $600 selling price I think.

Ok. Do you have the hyperion? Haha but seriously

 

[Sheldon]

What happened with Cyclops? Did they just get underbid by Predator when they came out with their own balls? When I was last active on this site, they (Cyclops) were still fairly new. Bought a set myself. Love them. Now, all the big tournaments have been taken over by Predator, using Predator balls, Cyclops are nowhere to be found in US events anymore

Cyclop offered a deal to CSI, and they took it. It lasted for several years, and then they switched again. I heard that Dynasphere is in the factory that Cyclop balls were made in, and that someone bought Cyclop out, but I'm not sure. "Predator" balls are made by Aramith.
I know a guy with half a dozen good used standard Cyclop sets if anyone is interested in buying some.

 

[Boxcar]

For a roll test I like to do six tries for each ball with a different axis to the left on each roll. I use a small arrow marked on the ball so I can control the orientation.

It's also good to do a separate test for roundness which the roll test is not guaranteed to find. I have gauges for this -- round holes in steel plates.

I have seen a tool for this also -- the ball sits on three bearings and a dial indicator gauge touches the ball at the top. The ball is rotated in various positions and changes in the dial are noted. I suppose you could calibrate the dial to tell you diameter but it's not exactly a diameter. More expensive commercial machines can measure sphericity to one microinch or better.

Trivia: it is possible for something that's nearly a sphere to have all diameters equal but not actually be a sphere.

Any solid ellipse.

 

[garczar]

Cyclop offered a deal to CSI, and they took it. It lasted for several years, and then they switched again. I heard that Dynasphere is in the factory that Cyclop balls were made in, and that someone bought Cyclop out, but I'm not sure. "Predator" balls are made by Aramith.
I know a guy with half a dozen good used Cyclop sets if anyone is interested in buying some.

The company in Europe than owns the Dynasphere brand wanted a ball in their line-up but didn't want to build from scratch. They struck a deal with XinBingRubberCo. in China(maker of the Cyclop brand) to make their balls. Cyclop is no more due to this new partnership. Dynasphere designs and oversees QC. BTW, when Cyclop first came to the US Diamond was their distributor and because of the ties between D'mond and CSI they used the balls.

 

[fastone371]

Ok. Do you have the hyperion? Haha but seriously

No, just the skittles set.

 

[NUMBnS1L3NT]

No, just the skittles set.

Ok thank you

 

[NUMBnS1L3NT]

Cyclop offered a deal to CSI, and they took it. It lasted for several years, and then they switched again. I heard that Dynasphere is in the factory that Cyclop balls were made in, and that someone bought Cyclop out, but I'm not sure. "Predator" balls are made by Aramith.
I know a guy with half a dozen good used Cyclop sets if anyone is interested in buying some.

I am interested in a set. I am looking for a set of the cylop hyperion dragon tv color set. As new as possible. Please let me know if your guy has a set or put me in contact with him. I may be interested in a different set if the quality and price are right. Thank you