Mikasa VSO2000 FIVB Replica Volleyball,Blue

I bought this ball for my church youth group to use during recreation time. I got a couple "wows" when some of the kids who play volleyball at school noted that it was a nice ball. I guess they expected something "cheap."It has been holding up well to weekly outdoor use. We play with it on concrete and the ball does have some abrasions after 3 or 4 weeks of use. Very superficial scuffs.I'm betting this will give us well over a year's worth of use.

Purchased this volleyball to replace a Wilson that had popped. So far, so good. Ball is soft to the touch, plays well and seems to be durable so far. A good value for the money.

Brought it to Haiti for the local kids, but it broke within a month. Wish there was a durable volleyball out there for real outdoor conditions.

I joined a church league volleyball team and found a need to replace my ridiculously old volleyball that would give everyone bruises because it was so old and hard. This Mikasa ball has a very good feel to it. Everyone on my team likes the ball a lot especially when I told them how little I paid for it. The one downside is because it is so soft, it is viable to rip or puncture a hole in it if you are too rough. During one game, my buddy kicked it VERY hard against a rough brick wall and it left a little rip in it. My dog (a 65 pound black lab) almost punctured two holes in it when he grabbed it in his mouth. Keep that in mind, but for it's normal use will be more than capable of withstanding a heart-pounding spike. :)

Used in a dozen of games already, seems to be holding up well.

This ball seemed nice in the beginning but became pronounceably egg-shaped over the course of 6-8 weeks. Played a total of < 10 games with it. The nipple part also became skewed and the stitched started coming apart.

My previous Mikasa lasted about six months of gentle use, and I was fine with that since it is not very expensive. However, I had a big surprise today when after only about an hour of play on a soft, grassy park with my kids, I noticed the skin of about a corn grain's radius plucked out. The ball was never near any sharp object or edge (of a wall) or any such thing. Note it was the first day of use--I got it two days ago--and I took my kids to try it out on the neighborhood park. My only guess is that the quality of this product is now very poor--either it has considerably declined because of cheap raw materials in some new manufacturing plant (?) or such that the seller is now pushing cheap, substandard product. The only hard surface the ball ever touched would be the small tree barks on the park or the round tree trunks very sparsely standing in the park! The floor was so inviting that we even took off our shoes to practice this ball. And yet, we returned home with a damaged ball--on the first day of use. Think twice before placing your order.

The reviews led me to think this ball would be a soft hit, but it is only barely tolerable. I did not want to pay for a leather ball because I am not an avid player, but it seems that leather is the only type for a comfortable hit. I do realize volleyball isn't a pain free sport, but I have played with balls that are much better. In a nut shell, the outside material of this ball is soft, but that does not mean little sting.