FUSION | This is a SWAG Ball??!

[@SheriffLangdon]

Never in my 28 years on this crust of earth did I ever think I've would EVER see swag on this channel. EVER 🎉

[@LukeRosdahl]

Bro that makes two of us . . I couldn't say no fast enough to offers in years past . .

[@onefrombills]

A friend who is a staffer told me this...Even tho new owner swag is run independently, and the other brands are still around and will have releases but considered international releases. So to put it simple California Bowling which was the American distributer under the LF/lanemasters Korean brand, is just renamed to swag and all American operations owed by BM.

[@slydewayz84]

Former SWAG staffer.. They made great equipment, but for every 10 balls, about 3-4 were actually shelf worthy to compete against the big names. They have taken some of the older cores from the better selling balls and renamed them. They are great on flat patterns and house, but they do struggle in volume, even with surface. The other drawback (for some) is that they are high maintenance covers. A thorough cleaning and or resurfacing is needed more frequently then the other brands. B7 users will find the equipment more relatable, SPI guys, I suggest a slightly stronger layout to have a more familiar experience. Also, these are the best balls to use within 3rd arrow. Lastly, if you're able to get your hands on older pieces, look for the Fantasy Daze, any BIG BRO series, the Diamond series and Blizzard series of balls. Been a sub of yours since 2017, thanks for the review!

[@georgechewens1454]

The last 2 years since they moved to my hometown… I’ve honestly grown quite fond of their equipment. It was definitely one of those companies that was never on my radar until I actually started throwing them.

[@TheAdobokid]

I've never ever considered getting a SWAG ball. This video has piqued my interest, might just try this one. Thanks Luke

[@LukeRosdahl]

Still plenty more coming to take a look at too!

[@SkardBowls]

I LOVE THIS!!!! The FUSION of the amazing Luke Rosdahl, and SWAG is the combo we all never knew we needed

[@Jason_P]

Looks similar to the Rattler Big Bite, which means it looks FANTASTIC.

[@01C5SemperFi]

Excellent ball review once again Mr. Rosdahl! You pretty much covered all the boards with this one (both literally and metaphorically). I definitely see this in the near future for me.

[@ScottW102]

I gotta say I really appreciate your videos especially knowing the return vs the time you put in. Great content!

[@its_Kris]

something new. I like it.

[@SuterBowling]

It may not be a meme company anymore, but you can still certainly hear when a SWAG ball is being thrown. 😂

[@TheGuapzilla]

🤣

[@Fluffyguy958]

Ayo SWAG on the LR channel? I'm here for it

[@Fluffyguy958]

And it looks pretty good. Don't compare it to the Hy Road nano, that is one of my favorite balls of all times and I just ordered a 3D Assault haha Seriously though, hopefully BM buying them gives the company a stronger direction instead of whatever the hell California Bowling was doing before

[@LukeRosdahl]

Yeah, I definitely wasn't going to touch any of the stuff before as is, but I remember being kind of confused when I saw them pop up on the usbc approved list, I was like wait, these kind of look normal . . then Cliff got ahold of me and gave me the run down and I was sold to at least give them a shot. They're actually legit, I'm pretty impressed across the board with these "first" six.

[@Fluffyguy958]

@LukeRosdahl hell yeah dude! Thank you for making quality videos. Maybe I will look into something from them soon. Currently running a GB4 Hybrid, Hammer Effect, Envy Tour, and soon the Assault so maybe something will fit. We shall see

[@hoganhargrove]

just ordered one, can't wait to see what the new swag rebrand has in store!

[@justinc5998]

When Luke and even Chris Beans say positive things involving Swag, I'm intrigued!! Lol The Fusion looks like it'll be versatile league ball, though I'm curious about how the Unreal rolls since it uses the familiar Quantum Mushroom core from Brunswick, and Black Dragon rolls. So far Swag looks promising as a sleeper bang for your buck brand outside the big 3.

[@MrJacobbaseball]

Never been interested in a swag ball, but when you said hyroad nano my ears perked up

[@BowlersRant]

That motion looks really good on you bro.

[@virgo7492]

My favorite ball of all time was the Red Sun Storm tour, 2.55 and .033, great benchmark ball for me, get a ball to go over it and one under it and might be in good shape, looks good

[@gattsgodai3]

The famous label rubbing on the lanes sound!

[@joshg218]

Label friction 4life

[@jessejohnson532]

I’ve always throw all brands, signed a contract with swag awhile back just to find out cause I’ve only heard hate about them. I ended up with 3 swag balls and came to the conclusion that people only hate swag because it’s something new. I had 300/800 with a couple of the balls in league they aren’t absolutely horrible

[@ppipanman]

Not that these were terrible shots but you could tell with a few of your misses that ball was certainly helping make you look better LOL. I'm impressed. Never thought Swag made that dynamic/good of a ball. I wouldn't say no to trying them after seeing how forgiving the Fusion was. Glad to see you're branching out and providing exposure outside the big 2. They can use some competition. Great video with the combo voiceover/on-lane. Really like this format.

[@LukeRosdahl]

Yo thanks. Yeah it definitely helped cover up some nonsense early. Several more still to come throughout the week, so hang tight, some other cool stuff coming that I like too.

[@turtled361]

I've always had a weird interest in swag balls. If nothing else, I just like seeing competition in the market. This rebranding effort might finally push me to get one, especially since the hy-road nano has a special place in my heart.

[@thebigeasy8609]

Oh my!!! That ball looks sa-weet!

[@Mityob67]

Love your style, man. Big fan.

[@marym470]

Been throwing Swag, Lord Field and Legends a long time have always thought they were pretty good. Just hard to find until Bowler X started selling them.

[@BigBoy4life888]

Swag!!! Happy New Year Luke. Love the vid. Where do you think this ball would fit in a 6 ball bag? Sort of sounds like this would be a benchmark ball. Is this comparable to a Motiv black venom / storm hyroad max? That’s what the shape reminds me of.

[@LukeRosdahl]

Yeah definitely, very firm benchmark ball for sure.

[@BigSkyBowler]

That definitely looks much different than what ive seen from swag balls previously.

[@brandonyoon5031]

I cant wait to see how the unreal looks down the lane. shelf appeal for the fusion is not my cup of tea but ball motion looks amazing for a swag ball. Cant wait to see the unreal

[@LukeRosdahl]

I'm putting that one up tomorrow!

[@deanw0654]

This has the same RG and Diff as the Radical Sneak Attack Solid. The sneak attack is marketed at a low end, low volume ball. This seems to be marketed as a high end, medium to higher volume ball. I really like the Sneak Attack solid and its my lower end benchmark ball.

[@LukeRosdahl]

Ah cool, this ball definitely has a lot stronger cover than the Sneak Attack Solid, but I wouldn't exactly say they're marketing it as high end. It is only $140 after all.

[@deanw0654]

@@LukeRosdahl Agreed the $140 is not high end. I don't know anything about Swag balls but when I looked at Bowlersmart, the ball's information says high performance with a medium to heavy oil lane condition. I took that as meaning high end bowling ball.

[@deanw0654]

for a sym ball that is

[@machinethesun9243]

I've never thrown a swag ball and don't know the drama backstory of why so many ball reviewers historically would punch down on a small bowling company. Don't we want small and new businesses? Or do we want mom and pop businesses swallowed up or pushed out, the way blackwater buys up everything. That said, the ball looks great, you really match up to it. And all my favorite balls have either been pink, purple (sorry Angel) and black. So Luke, cool of you to review this brand, I'm intrigued.

[@LukeRosdahl]

Swag never took itself seriously enough to give anyone any confidence in it. Sure, nobody needs to be super serious, but the balls had metal shavings in the filler material that would throw sparks while drilling them, the marketing was awful, the balls weren't really that good, their staff program was basically a pay to play type of deal, etc. Always was a meme or a joke brand that didn't make good stuff, so I wasn't going to review a brand I didn't feel comfortable recommending. Totally different deal now, so I'm good with taking a look at them going forward because I trust Cliff.

[@drg19841]

Great review. But as someone who's owned the Black Pearl Hunter, Legend, Deep Blue Sea and Bloody Ocean re-release I feel attacked 😂

[@aaroncardenas8425]

Luke, will you be reviewing the DV8 Troublemaker solid? The Fusion seems like its equivalent.

[@edosenz575]

Please upload the Black Dragon next!

[@johnthebowlingking9481]

Luke, when you say your moving zones are you moving 5 boards at a time?

[@LukeRosdahl]

Yep, exactly 5 boards with my feet at a time.

[@KC-zz1so]

That ball continually took out the 9 pin..... like a lot...

[@mauricechambers6405]

Tbh before reading the title I just knew this was an old storm ball 😂

[@kellycoffey2801]

It does still have the swag roll over label sound lol

[@LukeRosdahl]

Lol right, scuff scuff scuff scuff haha

[@a530demon]

Looks good, I might drill this for $140 that seems like a steal

[@wesleyricketts789]

I loved the old California Bowling Company balls that did Legends and Lane Masters stuff. After they got bought by the Korean company, I gave up on them. Are these 2 piece balls?

[@LukeRosdahl]

Nope, they're 3 piece. These are definitely different going forward now

[@kellymcmanaway4069]

Those are deep embossed logos, sounds like it's rolling over the thumb hole.

[@LukeRosdahl]

No thumbhole, but yeah the logos aren't going anywhere lol. Kind of a lefty problem too, typically logos get put on a ball to not show "forward" for righties, so the lefties all get to see the logos spinning at them and catch them a bit more.

[@kellymcmanaway4069]

@LukeRosdahl I watched the Hype throw the Swag Ace. He had the same thing happen..lol

[@LukeRosdahl]

Oh well haha. Trademark scuffy scuff I guess!

[@jeffthompson7976]

Do they have a new website? No swag balls listed on old one. That Fusion looks pretty good.

[@LukeRosdahl]

Yes, the link to the new one is in the description and you'll be able to check them all out from there.

[@jeffthompson7976]

Thank you

[@wrongfootbowler]

I would never though you would be throwing a swag ball

[@LukeRosdahl]

Lol me either, this is a totally new situation though. Got lots of details in the video

[@slimguy4990]

That logo is very “Physix like”

[@d3f1anc3]

Must... Reprogram... Brain... SWAG not being a meme brand anymore. Woowee.

[@cmihale]

Fusion looks closer to what Radical Breakaway or Ebonite Real TIme do?

[@LukeRosdahl]

Yeah somewhat, a little less core but a little more cover than those two I think. The Unreal is closer to the Real Time, that video is going live tomorrow.

[@brettrobbins2707]

Did you get on staff Luke?

[@dondrake6847]

If this same ball came out before bowlersmart took over would we be seeing this video. I think not.

[@shadesXL1220]

I'm getting Hy-Road Max vibes from this ball and that's disappointing as I didn't match up well. I'm looking forward to the Craze Solid as it reminds me of a 900 Global Burner Solid. With that being said, I am intrigued by the new swag rebranding. I've owned two swag balls and was utterly disappointed in them. I had both the swag swagger and the fantasy daze

[@LukeRosdahl]

Oh yeah, the Craze Solid is kind of Burner Solid-like actually . . these are definitely different balls too. I was really surprised.

[@drklener]

throw a yolo jomo

[@CurtisL8.3066]

Swag or not, this thing looks good going through the pins

[@mbschleicher0]

Slow response, smooth, and forward. That is swag. Not a single one of these new balls have a new core. All re-named old cores. Just rebranding. I'll wait for an actual release that is a NEW ball with influence from Bowlers Mart if they actually have influence. Until then -- its just Bowlers Mart affiliates pushing Bowlers Mart product.

[@LukeRosdahl]

Yes, they updated older more successful/popular cores to connect the old stuff that had some fans to the new stuff. They're not just renamed, they're also slightly reworked to adjust some of the numbers. The covers are all new, and all of these had heavy design influence from Bowler's Mart because there's no Big Bro, XXXMas, or other wacky nonsense. Where do you see forward? This ball ran the 9 pin over repeatedly, even had another commenter note that. So a solid decade of honest, straightforward, technically sound, objective, high effort reviews, but now I'm just an affiliate pushing product huh? Ok.

[@mattlivetv9246]

@@LukeRosdahlit’s just a funny trend seeing the push from all the BM affiliates pushing Swag. Using terms like new or innovative around the old tech until in the comments it’s mentioned that it’s just the old cores renamed. It’s just not quite the truth. I’m not saying you can’t, and won’t be objective long term. I just don’t see outside from ball name and potentially label design how any influence was added here. They are the exact same cores. And the cover-stocks have names now. Would love to see real details on technical changes on core/cover from any collaboration where Korean manufacturing has been adjusted.

[@LukeRosdahl]

That's fair, but it's a rebrand/relaunch kind of thing, and they want to get the word out, no sense in doing something like this and then staying quiet about it. It's not just the old cores though, they're familiar to the old Swag fans, but tweaked a little. It's a great marketing angle to bring the old fans forward while updating for the new. If you just cancel and dump all the old stuff and do something completely different, then the former staffers and brand fans kind of feel like they're being dumped, or it's like if a smaller company is bought by a larger one and everything completely changes on the employees, leaves kind of a sour taste in your mouth. It's just a bridge from the old fans to the new ones, saying we're not just wiping the slate completely clean and dumping all the people that already liked the brand, but we've still got to update and move on to make them legitimately competitive. There's really nowhere for cores to go anyway, I don't really care if it's a new shape or an old shape, the "old tech" feels just fine to me. Storm's still making IQs, Motiv is still making Venoms, and Hammer has made about 250 Black Widows all with the same old core but they still feel fine. I have a handful of Swag users in my area, so I've seen plenty of them, and while the Fusion seems somewhat familiar, this other stuff that's coming is quite a bit more dynamic than what I've seen from them before, so from my own eye test, the covers seem new, I don't think they're just relabeling old stuff. I have a friend that's been on with them for a while that sees the difference too. I don't know what to tell you, I get the skepticism, but after always thinking yuck every time I'd see a Swag ball go down the lane to throwing these and seeing them legitimately compete with the bigger brands out there, that's really what says something to me. I throw everything out there and drill TONS of stuff constantly, for a solid decade now. These balls feel competitive with the major brands, when before I never really saw anything from them before that was really even mediocre, let alone good, so I'm not going to get bent about the finer details.

[@mattlivetv9246]

@@LukeRosdahlI won’t go in and bash to bash. I just don’t like the overall theme of seeing Bowlers Mart affiliate content creators just push push push so hard with buzz words and saying everything is purely objective, when it is now just “buzz” being created solely by Bowlers Mart affiliates and no one else. I’m happy to give honest feedback and watch how it all plays out. Seeing Chris beans talk about new cores and loving them when they are the exact cores he made video after video bashing…simply because now there is a Bowlers Mart connection…is just yuck. As it relates directly to you - you just got done with only throwing storm and the fresh content of reviewing a variety of things was a big draw for future content. If now it is shifting to push Bowlers Mart products then it will be sad. Content with comparison to other brands, honest talk about cost value (like swag benchmark vs a phaze 2) ratio, showing swag on hard conditions (volume), and up videos on how the swag balls fair after 30+ games would be objective content and I hope that is what is to come. Not just a rebrand and bowlers mart sales push.

[@IAmTheEggMan111]

Little bit of trade mark infringement with Storm’s IQ Fusion?

[@LukeRosdahl]

Nah, every company has done it to a certain extent, and there's only so many names to call stuff too. Motiv has done it with the Primal Rage, Thrash, then Track had a ball called the Synergy, Roto Grip did the Idol Synergy, etc. IQ Fusion is over a decade old and gone anyway.

[@cameronmcisaac1384]

:)

[@KennyGrinols]

Are they paying their employees finally?

[@LukeRosdahl]

Wha? Don't know anything about that. I know they cleaned house and heavily revamped the staff program though. I'm just the pro shop guy here trying to help people make decisions on equipment.

[@JustinMorgan-b7p]

Swag is 🗑️

[@LukeRosdahl]

Old Swag, yes, new Swag, no. Whole new line of stuff now, the information is in the video.

[@mbschleicher0]

@@LukeRosdahl the "new stuff" is just re-named old stuff. No new core designs here.

[@JustinMorgan-b7p]

@ lmao new swag is long and smooth just like you said. I know guys around the world who have thrown their stuff and used to be with them. It’s all about advertising and promoting the company. That’s clearly why people with Bowlersmart make videos to make them look good but majority of folks in the world aren’t gonna waste their money on that 💩

[@joshg218]

We need Angel to throw Swag