CATS?

[Homes454]

Here are a couple of pics of some groupings offered on ebay .....one inch+ cats....they(some) kinda look like some "german sparklers" I have seen...what do you think? Or are these new cats I am not familiar with....hate to talk about marbles, but oh well.....lol.........

Pax Jon

[jlmoriarty]

Jon~~

From here, they *all* look like German Sparklers.

John

[cvdv]

Jon~~

From here, they *all* look like German Sparklers.

John

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I also think German Sparklers, do they have a U- or V- pattern on the poles?

Cees

[SplattmanSS]

Ditto

[Guest marbleus1]

Sparklers

David

[FIRE81]

David ? You think/know those are Sparklers ??? I'm curious because of

the U.K. provance ???

And I don't know DIDDLE-DOO-DOO about these..........UNLESS !!!!!!!

I have them in hand and can "FEEL" the surface.....Smooth vs. Seedy

or rough.....RUFF !!!!

HELP..............!!!!

RAR...................

[Homes454]

OK...thanks, so what are german sparklers worth, I bought an old bag of them a while back, but individually they would be worth less right?

pax Jon

[jlmoriarty]

Jon if by "less" you mean less than AA Sparklers, yes considerably less. They haven't found their market yet and don't compare in terms of color and construction.

John

[Guest browse4antiques]

The German sparklers are not, on average, as nice as the Akro sparklers, but they are found in a variety of forms, some of which are just as nice as any Akro. ... Roger

[acraven]

The German marbles I've seen in bags (often called "sparklers") may be from the same source as the sparklers you show above--perhaps even from the same time period, but to me they look rather different. The bagged marbles seem to have a single color on each vane/rib, whereas those in the groups you pictured look more variegated (somewhat more like AA sparklers). The other day I was looking at a photo of a naked ribbon core handmade without much twist, and it reminded me of the type of sparklers in your picture. I wonder if that was intentional.

There seems to be increasing interest in the sparklers of the type you show, but the prices are generally still modest by Akro standards. Most of them show up in European eBay lots, often mixed with other German machine-mades. There's the impact of shipping cost to figure in, and the fact that they vary in size from 5/8" to over 1". It's hard for me to say what the going price is.

Ann Craven

[GLSS]

They can also be found with aventurine and the german version of oxblood..

Gary

[cvdv]

The German marbles I've seen in bags (often called "sparklers") may be from the same source as the sparklers you show above--perhaps even from the same time period, but to me they look rather different.  The bagged marbles seem to have a single color on each vane/rib, whereas those in the groups you pictured look more variegated (somewhat more like AA sparklers).  The other day I was looking at a photo of a naked ribbon core handmade without much twist, and it reminded me of the type of sparklers in your picture.  I wonder if that was intentional.

There seems to be increasing interest in the sparklers of the type you show, but the prices are generally still modest by Akro standards.  Most of them show up in European eBay lots, often mixed with other German machine-mades.  There's the impact of shipping cost to figure in, and the fact that they vary in size from 5/8" to over 1".  It's hard for me to say what the going price is.

Ann Craven

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Hi Ann, I think your right, there are more kinds of these German marbles and I also think that they are from the same period and source. The marbles showed in these topic, are the same I find here in Holland and (by eBay) in Germany. I call them foreign Sparklers ( knowing the AA-one is the real Sparkler?)

I was ones told by a lady, who lived in Holland and France, that these marbles were packed in bar's of soap for the children in France, but I'm not sure if that's true? What I do know is: she returns every year for her vacation to France and brought back many times these Sparklers for me, all found in France.

Cees

[kris7047th]

I am putting up the German Sparklers that I got off of ebay not too long ago. The big one came in a group last summer and for the longest time I did not know the origin until Alan told me. Many of these including the shooter have oxblood. You can not apreciate the real beauty until you have it in hand. Pics do not do justice to these. I think my favorite is in the one pic by itself. It has such a wild, busy pattern with a blue wash on it. Given time, I think the value and apreciation of the German Sparklers will elevate. We haven't seen that many of them listed or they get misidentified.

[VTAndrea]

You're right, that single one is a killer. I think we'll be seeing and buying more European marbles as the hobby grows across the ocean. Here's a German sparkler with oxblood that Paul Williams, bless his soul, sent me a while back.

[Homes454]

Thanks again to all of you that took time to post and answer my questions, the 8 lots sold for $8.95 each, and one for 13.00.....probably to some of you...lol, I got one!

pax Jon

[jlmoriarty]

This has been a great thread because as Kris said these German (or "foreign" Sparklers will see their day.) There are however a few loose ends I will try to tie up.

Cees~~ As it pertains to the US made Sparklers and Master Made Sunbursts the "U" or "V" cut-line is not consistent and therefore not a reliable indicator of anything useful. I haven't seen enough "foreign" Sparklers to able to conclusively say the same but I'll go out on a limb and say that looking at the seam is only indicative of the sharpness of the cutting shears. By way of example I just bought a Sunburst from Dani (Zaboo) which has a perfectly straight cut-line.

RAR~~ The best way to determine "foreign" Sparklers is construction and glass. Not much help unless you have them in hand, I know. The best example of a classic AA Sparkler is my avatar. The "foreign" ones tend to have less going on and tend to have internal transparent ribbons, usually of one color. The German glass is generally considered to be of lower quality than the "foreign" and has an orange-peely like surface. Just a guess but I think the so-called "foreign" ones are of Czech origin, but I don't know that for sure.

Ann~~ I think your conjecture about similarities is right on the money. Using the early AA Sparklers and MM Sunbursts as examples these were (I've been told) intended to imitate the more expensive German made Onionskins. I think these Sparklers started out the same way so your seeing a similarity between them and the naked ribbon core is not coincidental.

After seeing Kris' group of Sparklers I would like to amend my comment about these foreign/German Sparklers not being as interesting as AA Sparklers. Here I agree with Roger that they are (as interesting - we just haven't seen enough, or perhaps the better examples) and Andrea that we haven't seen many of them because of, well there is an ocean between us.

Sounds like a FIELD TRIP!!!!!

John

[kris7047th]

Mine came from a seller in England and I LOVE them. They are very beautiful and better quality then you would expect. Some do have that orange peel surface and some do not. The shooter is a wonderful example that the pic does not do justice. It has a smooth surface. The group that I bought was listed on the modern thread on ebay but as "vintage". Why, I do not understand that the vast majority of foreign marbles are listed as modern. So I sugest that if anyone is interested in finding these to buy, check the modern thread as well.

Kris

[cvdv]

Here's one with the name AJAX one it, so it might be true that they were packed in soap bars? This is the only one I have seen with a name on it, also found in France.

Cees.

[GLSS]

Here is a Euro 'oxblood' Sparkler with BONUX printed on it. I have been told that this was a give away with soap as well. I recently purchased a larger one but it hasn't arrived yet.

Gary

[handymon]

Both of those are neat! what is a large size for these sparklers? yep, Paul had some real nice ones and he got me interested in collecting them! Paul lives on, mon

[cvdv]

Both of those are neat!  what is a large size for these sparklers?  yep, Paul had some real nice ones and he got me interested in collecting them!  Paul lives on, mon

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The one with AJAX one it has a size of 2,8 cm (1 1/8"?). I think a have about 100 of these foreign sparklers, the largest ones are 2,9 cm. But there may be larger ones, I don't know.

Cees

[handymon]

cvdv, are they hard to find overseas or pretty common? what did you think of the price for the ones shown at the start of this thread? post some of your favorites when you have time, please. mon

[cvdv]

cvdv,  are they hard to find overseas or pretty common?  what did you think of the price for the ones shown at the start of this thread?  post some of your favorites when you have time, please.  mon

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

With the picture you'll have to wait till tomorrow, it's night now here and with my cheap camera I need daylight.

I don't know if they are more common here than in the US. The good thing of collecting marbles in Holland is: there are only a few marblecollectors. And most of that few are not as fanatic as Jeroen (JVV) and I, so they don't know these marbles. That makes it easyer fore us to find them and buy them for a small price. Let's keep it that way. For most of them I gave only a few cents, that lady however knows that they are collectible and rather rare, so I payed her, I think, about $ 1 each, small or large.

Cees

[jlmoriarty]

Hey Cees~~

Did anything come out of France? Did the French ever make marbles that you know of?

John

[cvdv]

Hey Cees~~

Did anything come out of France? Did the French ever make marbles that you know of?

John

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Yes most of the foreign sparklers I have, came from France, when that lady went to France, she bought several times these kind of marbles there at fleamarkets and antique stores and sold them to me, the AJAX marble also comes from France. There's one thing she didn't want to sell to me and that's an original bag with these kind of marbles, she showed me that ones and told me that maybe ones she would sell it to me, but not now. I'm still waiting, but I don't want to push, because she also sells me other marbles like handmades etc.

If they are made in France: I don't know, but in Marble Mania, edited by Stanley Block, is written on page 153 that indeed some of these marbles would be made in France and packed in bars of soap, for example they name a marble with BONUX on it, Bonux is a French soap.

Cees.