Caution! NOS Everlast ball hook

[fedora]

Thought I'd throw this up as a FYI type of thing. There are currently some NOS Everlast all metal ball hooks being sold on ebay. I bought one and I think another member here did too. I got mine yesterday and the housing is really thin where the ball swivels and the eye hits on the rebounds. I have an older one and they are like night and day. These are made overseas and are definitely a cheaper model. A while back I remember someone posting about metal chips coming off one of their ball hooks. I don't know if it was one of these or not, but I can see where they would chip very easily.
I don't fault the seller at all. They are exactly as advertised and come in the original box, but if you are looking at getting one of these be forewarned, they aren't like the old ones. I pulled the ball and hook out and put it into a new everlast ball and hook plastic base. It works great and I don't have to worry about the metal chipping.

fedora

[paranday]

NOS = New Old Stock. These do not sound like NOS swivels of the vintage when they were high quality.

[fedora]

NOS = New Old Stock. These do not sound like NOS swivels of the vintage when they were high quality.

Very true. They are NOS only in the sense that even these are not available anymore.

fedora

[Dutchman]

The era that you want to look for as far as the swivels go is anything made prior to being bought out by Active Apparel Group which happened in 2000. There is some indications that the quality of the boxing equipment started to slide slightly before this (it may have precipitated the sale). So to be on the safe side, you're looking for swivels and bags made made up through the 1980's but not much further. NOS equipment from that era is getting rare now,but it's not unheard of. I bought an unused NOS TufWear bag from that era about ten years ago. Usually it was bought and wound up on a shelf somewhere, or was lost in the stockroom of a mom and pop sporting goods store (yes there are still a few out there, but they are getting harder to find).

[fedora]

The old one I have still doesn't have the offset hook. Do you know when they did away with that feature?

fedora

[Dutchman]

The oldest ball hook that I have I bought in the mid to late 1980's (I know it was prior to my son being born in 1989). I can't pin it down exactly but probably by the mid 1990's that this change was made.

[Speedbag]

The old one I have still doesn't have the offset hook. Do you know when they did away with that feature?

fedora

I still have a few ballhooks from the mid 1980's and none of them have the offset hook. The swivel and board in my book were purchased in late 1980's, no offset. In 1979 I bought a ballhook for this footage we shot at shot at Fort Benning (:0 - :59) and it did not have an offset either. I new the base recreation director (we played racquetball together a lot) and he let me change out their chainlink.

From my memory, the ballhook changes I remember were during my time were (1) going from a metal base plate on the board to the black plastic version and (2) cheaper, thinner metal being used, (3) discontinued.

[Dutchman]

Interesting, because I know that I bought that swivel in the early to mid 80's. Old stock perhaps, or were they using different machine shops to supply them?

[Dutchman]

Yes, Ralph you're absolutely right. The Chrome plated ones are hiding a multitude of sins, as they say.

[Speedbag]

...i was duked twice, i was looking for the good ones so i could take to a machinist to make copies and not have to deal with fleabay and if it didn't cost to much, make many and offer them up here, i guess i'll have to use my worn one i got from speedkillz to take to a machinist...ralph

I sent Speedy TommyT a few of my mismatched metal bases I had accumulated over the years. I also have some ball-housings with ball & hook that do not fit any bases metal I had. Either different thread sizes or stripped, but I had. When I can finally get the set screw to turn, (not easily done on old swivels) I take the ball and eyebolt out and put them in a plastic housing.

[fedora]

I got this in the mail today and I really like having the offset hook. It really helps to keep the bag tight on the hook. I got the Everlast 4200 1984 Olympic edition with it. It is a nice size, very close to the Black Title Pro I just got.





fedora