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Anyone Else Miss These On The Bay?


orbboy

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Holy Mollies!!!

They were a bargain... But, at about a hundred bucks a piece, not a bargain to pine over...

I was really worried someone got 'em for a couple hundred bucks...

NICE group, nice colors and patterns... Good buy!!! :music-rocker-001:

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  • 4 months later...

First one got here. Super condition. At 3/4- it is the smallest I have had.

IMG_0181.JPG

These have been called gutta-percha or paper mache marbles for as long as I know, but they are not made of either material. Gutta-percha is a rubber like compound, specific gravity (S.G.) of around 1. Paper mache is even lighter and probably somewhat fragile.

These marbles are cold, hard and robust, like bakelite, except more dense. I have one that has had some paint chipped off, and the base is jet black. It is 22 mm in diameter and weighs 7.7 grams, which gives it an S.G.of 1.4. Bakelite is 1.25.

Anyone have any good ideas on how to figure out what this marble is made of? I would offer it for a "destructive" analysis, if necessary.

Thanks.

Hansel

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The density calculations are a good start. Still relatively light at 1.4. Some type of polymer is my guess but I haven't seen one. Is it really a paint coating? To get that pattern, the construction (how the surface bonds to the core) might tell more about the material than the density. Paint doesn't stick too well to some polymers.

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I could have an analysis completed if you don't mind it being cut. Seeing as I am a Quality Manager at a world known plastics company, I could send it out to be tested. Let me know if you are serious. If it is plastic I can tell you what it is, if not plastic then no report will be created as the lab is only for plastic analysis.

SNYD

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I could have an analysis completed if you don't mind it being cut. Seeing as I am a Quality Manager at a world known plastics company, I could send it out to be tested. Let me know if you are serious. If it is plastic I can tell you what it is, if not plastic then no report will be created as the lab is only for plastic analysis.

SNYD

Perfect! An offer I can't refuse.

Please send me your contact information and I'll email you pics before sending the marble.

Would it be possible to send back what's left of the marble?

regards,

Hansel de Sousa

[email protected]

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My first thoughts are that ;"If its too good to be true it usually is" Upon observing these, several thoughts came to mind, Where in the world would ANYBODY stumble across this many Gutta Perchas? (a very early game box perhaps?) My thought are that these look like bouncey balls too..If Im wrong well good golly you really scored on this one! (and I'm jealous) haha

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They did use Gutta Perchas on game boards. They also have the same interior look of some Gutta golf balls. I would probably give odds on a bet they are made of gutta percha.

When you say they used gutta percha on game boards, are you relying just on the looks of the inside of the marble, or do you have additional information?

The reason I don't think mine are gutta-percha is because, even given reasonable leeway for measurement error, this one has at a density of 1.4 gm/ml, and gutta-percha (at least the stuff dentists put in teeth) has a density of around 1.0.

Perhaps we are dealing with two types of marbles.

Anyhow, since you have an already damaged marble, how about putting it in hot water to see of it becomes malleable?

"Gutta-percha is the evaporated milky juice or latex produced from a tree most commonly found in Malaysia. It is hard and non-brittle and becomes soft and impressible at the temperature of boiling water. Gutta balls, were handmade by rolling the softened material on a board."

http://www.thedesignshop.com/history.htm

I'm still waiting for SYND to get back to me...

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I call that type marble gutts perchas and I do so after comparing them to the Gutta golf balls I have hade. All have been so old and dried out I do not know if it is possible to get them soft again. The latex dries out over the years and looses a lot of its traits. There were many uses for gutta Percha and there is a wide variety of items that were made from it. It seems there was also a different quality to gutta when used in different ways. It was used like an early plastic and made in a fine textured(smooth)hard variety then a less refined coarser variety galls to what we call marbles. Here are a couple hard gutta items. And if you look close there is a chip on the top of the golf ball that exposes an interior that is just slightly more refined(denser,less voids) than the chipped marble. I have never done scientific tests and am just using a comparison to the many gutta golf balls I have had. They may be a similar latex as I believe there were several plant and tree saps used to make items in that time period. The broken marble is not mine.

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