Customer Reviews

Gamma Ballhopper Whopper 140, Silver

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The only thing I don't care for with this product is that after you fill it up with the 140 balls, it is a little heavy. Otherwise, it is great.

This is a review for the Gamma Whopper 140. It's a great ball hopper.

It is shaped just like a traditional ball hopper but has a ball capacity of 140 balls. It has been perfect for us. We are a family of 5 and like to go to the courts often. Since our children are still learning, it is great to be able feed lots of balls and minimize the amount of time we spend picking up balls. Plus, it easily fits in the back of our minivan.

Overall, it seems very solid. It can be a bit heavy when it starts getting full during the ball pick up process. But, it's no big deal.

In summary, I give it 5 stars. If things change after we use it more, I will update this review to keep you informed! But, my initial impressions are very positive.

REASON FOR MY PURCHASE: My daughter began tennis lessons last year and this year, she gotten a bit more serious. She runs through about a hundred serves, a hundred backhands, etc. Having a ball hopper seemed like a good idea. Pick up time is cut by half.


MY THOUGHTS: I'm a huge fan of Gamma products. I've mostly purchased their tennis balls and this is my first tennis ball hopper. While unpacking the box, I was impressed with its sturdiness. Meaning, the wires/bars are reasonably thick. My only complaint is with the handles. They detach too easily when the basket is full. I have to be careful carrying the basket back and forth from the court to the car. Also, the metal is easily scratched. We practice on the free courts which don't have the nice paving.

To this amateur, the basket doesn't look like it will fit 140 balls. It does though. The balls are sandwiched in tight, but 140 will fit in there.


BOTTOM LINE: I'm pleased with my purchase. If I had to do it over again, I'd purchase two 75 ball hoppers. This one is heavy!

Great Hopper. Seems Sturdy and not like the Old 30 dollar wilson I had which broke in less than 1 month. This one seems like it will last for years to come. Great value at a great price.

I agree with the other review, it is very well made - the bars are much heavier than the usual 75-ball hopper - which also makes it quite heavy when it is full. It becomes a good curling bar as you pick up balls. The other issue is the handle inserts are a little short and pop out very easily. But for a medium capacity hopper it's a great choice.

I bought a Gamma 75 Hi-Rise Plus hopper for cheap, and boy was it cheap and useless. So given I have more balls I decided to try this more robust hopper.

Upon receiving it, I was pleased of the feel of the material - definitely stronger and less prone to bending then the flimsy cheaper brother. The handles plugging into the hole was a traditional design that had worked for generations, so it was good. The basket is light without balls, but I'm sure it will be heavy when full. With the handles up in carrying/pickup mode, I felt it's very solid (doesn't twist and pop loose).

However, when I tried to convert it to serving position (standing up), it was challenging to snap the sides of the legs in. Sometimes one side would pop loose, and sometimes it would pop right back out. I needed my leg and hand to squeeze both to secure both rods of each leg in place. Then standing up, sometime one side would just POP and the whole thing fall to the floor! For the times that it stood, just one of my kid running by it (in my home on the hallow floor) would jolt it enough to POP-AND-FALL again and again.

I don't know if it's mine that is not built well, but looks like some reviewers identified the same problem. This is my second failure of Gamma hopper. (I'm sure the Wilson one isn't any better) It's really disappointing. I'm going to try the Gold 75 and hope that will work the best.

since this is the first 5 star review. I've had my Gamma 140 ball hopper since February 2010 and it has been great. I keep it stuffed to the max with close to 140 balls and use it to walk my balls and ball machine to my local courts. It is about a 4 minute walk each way and the Gamma has never let me down. This hopper is built MUCH sturdier than the Wilson 75 ball hopper I used to use. That ones metal wire cage looked and felt like they were made of coat hanger wire and the handles constantly came out of their holding slots and fell off.

On the other hand, I have never had the Gamma handles come out of their slots and the wire it is made of is much thicker than what the Wilson used. I will admit that I do not use the handles as legs as the primary reason I have the hopper is to reload my ball machine. One other nice feature of this hopper is that since it is pretty big, you can often pick up more than one ball at a time if they are close enough together. This doesn't sound like that big of an advantage until you start picking up hundreds of balls in a hitting session. I typically run 3 loads of 140 balls each though my machine each time I use it which means I get to pick up 520 balls each time too. Anything that will make that process go quicker is a good thing.

The only negative of the hopper, which really stems from one of its positives, is that it is relatively heavy. It is heavy duty, so therefore it is naturally heavy. It doesn't weigh a ton but it is significantly heavier than my old Wilson 75 hopper. This one should last me a long time and I'd happily buy it again.

My son and I were so excited to get this hopper because we have over 100 balls we practice with every day. However, the arms don't stay in their alotted holes and when trying to pick up the balls the arms keep falling off. This causes the main part of the hopper to fall to the ground and then the top opens and all the balls fall to the ground.
AND if you try to use it as a stand the arms pop out and yet another mess of the tennis balls. ARRRGH!
Definitely not worth the money. Good for storage of balls, that's it.
HIGHLY NOT RECOMMENDED!

This ball hopper does what it says. It holds a lot of balls. However, it can get heavy. If you have younger kids, this hopper when half full will be too heavy for them. I recommend the Pete Sampras plastic ball hopper if you are looking for a great ball hopper that is light and maneuverable.