lavincen Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Are these Akro snakes? The one one the left looks like it has two flecks of yellow trapped in bubbles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 The one on the right strikes me as unusual. Is the base a translucent yellow? What does it look like backlit? Okay, about your actual question ... some would call the one on the left a snake. I don't think the right would be called that. "Snake" is a collectors name. Akro's name for the one on the left was Spiral. So that's what I'd generally call it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavincen Posted June 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 When it is backlit, it you can see the bubbles, but not through it. It has a more vaseline look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Neat. I'm gonna say that's a somewhat less common type. I don't know what to call it other than corkscrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavincen Posted June 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Thanks. I really like the feedback and hopefully in the future will be able to contribute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sissydear Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 That one on the right could be called a snake. Ann is right that collectors had their own names. The one on the right has a surface cork that wraps around like a snake and little boys would call it that. It also can be called a "tight line" cork because it wraps around the marble so many times. Pretty one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ann Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 I agree that since it's a collector's name it doesn't really matter, but I save the term "snake" for just those corkscrews that have transparent bases, like the one on the left. The base can be colorless or colored (a little harder to find), but transparent. The one on the right I'd put with my translucent-based corks -- which are harder to find! For me, anyway. And they come in some pretty odd colors. But then I've become obsessive about my transparent-based Akros . . . warning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mibcapper Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 i like the .. snakes also. multiple colors, especially more than 2, are hard to find .. bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 There's a reason I try to stick with the names Akro gave the marbles. But I don't know what name Akro gave the one like Lavincen showed above ... or the somewhat similar one Bill just posted with the blue and translucent green. (That's yummy, Bill!) Interesting to hear that some classify them as snakes. The cork ribbon really pops against those translucent bases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavincen Posted June 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Since I'm new to this, I went with the vernacular. As a coin collector, the glossary is a lot less in volume. Now I am wondering about value. Would the one on the right be worth more? And what would be that worth? I now it's about what a buyer wants to pay, but is it like: A standard Akro corkscrew is worth $X, so the one on the right is worth $X + a small premium? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sissydear Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Just depends on who wants it and how bad they want it. Nice corks, Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 There's a very wide range in cork prices. Did you check out Bob Block's book yet? Does it have updated prices? In his older edition he would give prices for basic corks in different categories (such as prizename and popeye, if I recall correctly). And then he'd give multipliers for when they had special features. Like it might be worth 2 times as much or 1.5 times as much with a certain feature. I once used the multipliers in his older edition -- used about three at once which I thought applied to the same marble -- and ended up with an estimated value of about $2500. I eventually sold the marble for $80 to someone I trusted to tell me straight what the value was. I wasn't sure about my grading at the time, and so I asked about that and about what he really thought the marble was worth. It was a wet mint marble (which I had been afraid to say in my description) and he said he would have paid $100 for it if he had a chance to view it in hand at a show. My point? Ummm ... not sure .... oh yeah ... there's really not a simple formula -- there's not even a standard corkscrew. The most common corkscrews probably sell for less than a dollar. Others sell for hundreds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Maybe someone will yet be willing to take a swing at an estimate for that particular corkscrew. You have to keep condition in mind though. I think I see some tiny fractures. Are there any other condition issues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavincen Posted June 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 To give condition issues, I would have to really look at it under a loop, which I don't have right now (another tool purchase for me . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ann Posted June 23, 2014 Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 There's a reason I try to stick with the names Akro gave the marbles. I'm trying too. I only really allow myself the liberty with the transparent-based spirals . . . even then I only have three: the basic snake; the ribbon snake (super thin & horizontal, kinda HTF), and the auger. I'm a born (and then trained) classifyer, so it's hard, hard . . . Lately I've been trying to write "spiral" instead of "corkscrew," I'm trying. Total failure in post # 8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sissydear Posted June 23, 2014 Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 I'm a trained classifier too. (Biology). They call us lumpers or splitters. I tend toward the "lumper" end. The splitters separate minute details. The lumper's generalize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome Punter Posted June 28, 2014 Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 To give condition issues, I would have to really look at it under a loop, which I don't have right now (another tool purchase for me . TO ME Neither has value as an akro buyer The damage on the left has it going in my crap pile. The annealing on the right...it would have to be a REALLY rare marble for me to take one with annealing,but I would take annealing over holes. 0.00 on let 1.00 on right Snakes are nice marbles. I have a large pile of them. I am not into the CRAZY color desire in my Akros, like others, so I tend to sell off my 2 color augers and snakes. It is funny how collectors vary. I had a baby blue snake with an oxblood rivulet tracing the cork. Marble had a chip...trash to me...but sure enough someone paid 25.00 on ebay for it. People vary in want and acceptance. I am sitting here with 50 or so marbles in bags I am going to list. Most have minor scratches and a few of the rarer ones have pocket wear or small pock marks. But I am to the point the marble has to be pretty much perfect to keep since the market is listing and marbles are out there to be had. The solid mint marble just has more appeal. It survived 80 years of kids and other random happenings to come to me and look the same it did the day it rolled and dropped down into the bucket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavincen Posted June 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 I didn't say there was any damage, but that the flecks of yellow are trapped in bubbles, like two 1mm by 1mm pieces of yellow glass got trapped inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome Punter Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 I didn't say there was any damage, but that the flecks of yellow are trapped in bubbles, like two 1mm by 1mm pieces of yellow glass got trapped inside. you do not have to, I can see it clear as a bell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sissydear Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 I'm not sure where that ring is drawn or what you see. I see a marble with a thin layer of clear glass near the bottom. I also see that ring drawn around the shadow of the marble on the bottom part of the marble pic. I do not see an annealing fracture and I do know what they look like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstmmrbls Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 I can very clearly see what appears to be 2 annealing fractures in the circle running 1- 7o'clock. Problem with photos is they are probably just reflections from what they are sitting on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausman Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 I agree! I see two annealing fractures in that circle. And I know what they look like. But I am not saying that it could be a reflection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome Punter Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Not reflections Do the math The angles of the annealing VS the surface and then the "C" Scratch Also, not sure where the " And I know what they look like" came from. I did not imply otherwise I Re-DLed he image, zoomed in 185% I could see where the right line COULD be viewed as a possible reflection, but zoomed in, there is nothing for the left line to "Mirror" They are annealing cracks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstmmrbls Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 I sure wouldn't want to gamble that they are not fractures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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