Review on GoSports Sticky Baseballs For Pitch N' Stick Game - Set Of 4 Replacement Balls by Karen Smith

Item: GoSports Pitch N' Stick Kids Baseball Pitching GamePrice: $19.99 at time of review on 12 19 22I never would have guess the process and material for the poster. From the feel, look and from the aroma I'd describe the poster as a satin faced, rear-printed polycarbonate plastic film. That’s a good thing as the photo-graphics you see are printed on the backside, thus making the image ‘scratch resistant.’ And so you can adhere this ‘print’ to a surface, they’ve laminated a 3 or 5-mil thick pressure-sensitive adhesive behind the printing. The white waxy paper backing is the release-liner that you can peel off for applying to a surface. I’m guessing it’s a low-tack, possibly removeable type, such that you might be able to remove and reapply to another surface. But to avoid reapplication issues, I’d highly recommend attaching the poster to a light but rigid material that you can then mount, remove and relocate, like a painting. I'd use a rigid card-stock-poster material or even a sheet of acrylic plastic.The balls are more like handling a lump of 'children's toy puddy’, but only with a very sticky outer surface. Luckily the stickiness doesn’t transfer to your hands. but I didn't like the feel. I was expecting something more like a plastic ball with large air holes. For me, the design and ultimate feel of the baseballs made this item a deal breaker. But if you or your kids don’t mind the ‘sticky’, then you’ll probably find this an enjoyable entertainment item. It's certainly appears a safe item to use indoors.The manufacturer does share that, "If the balls lose their stickiness, you can wash off the balls, let them dry, and they should retain that same sticky outer surface. That's encouraging. But it tells me the baseballs will also pick up any loose dirt onto which they land. Thinking about that I wasn't too excited.I took the poster out of the container, flattened it out a bit and temporarily attached it to a wall in my office. And yes, I threw one of the four balls at the poster. And as promised in the literature, the balls do stick, for a short time, and then slowly release all on their own, and fall downward. While I understand the concept, I was lost on the choice of material for the balls. When I took one out of its plastic bag, it was ‘squished’ into a very irregular shape. I expected it to relax and form into a near round sphere. It did not. Possibly with warmth and time it would. But given ten minutes out of the bag I didn’t see any inkling it would. For me, this toy item was too far afield from the feel of pitching a baseball. I'd rather throw fabric covered plastic baseballs at a fabric poster, They stick, don't fall off and hold a firm round shape; more like a baseball.I'd like to add and share that baseball has been a favorite sport since my childhood. Looking at this GoSports item and on their vendor page, I saw similar baseball 'throw for accuracy and fun' items. One of them included a 'target board' with holes backed by a 'catch-net.' The type of 'baseball' and the board design resolved and better addressed my issues with the 'Pitch and Stick' game. Again, I like the concept of 'practice pitch/throw at target' baseball games, but just didn't care for the 'baseball devices' in 'Pitch n' Stick', which for me didn't replicate the firmer feel of a baseball.