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I finally won my first and only lot thus far with Blocks auctions last night and I am glad to add any Marble Kings to my stash. I see a good number of Bumble Bees and Cub Scouts in here which always widen my eyes. Looks like there might be some Cubs that are Kato type. Someday I will get a few of the harder to find Blended ones and the likes of Spidermans, Green Hornets, Dragonflys, Watermelons, and Hercules. For now, all the kids at recess will be so jealous of me, trying to win my Marble King Rainbows. Image is from Mr. Blocks auction 01/25/2026.

Some (mostly) Rainbos

x2, Not polished. That's original surface IMO.

Some MKs for this Monday

X2, MFC, I don't think it's polished, all the dimples have smooth edges, just someone took good care of it and it never got played. Surface looks natural to me, you can even see a few wrinkles.

My favorite, some call him a 'clown'

5/8” CAC striped opaque

Akros for the win

Caged solid core, what's the size ?? I see one bubble pop and 2 fleas, otherwise a pretty clean marble. Unfinished pontils and on both ends helps me date it to between 1870 or so and 1910. The size is probably around 11/16ths, just guessing though, most of these were made by the Germans for the English gameboard market, the brighter colors also help date it. Dollars to doughnuts it was part of a gameboard set at one time.

Looks Vacor to me

perils of the hobby

Remember guys this is just the I.D. section, if you have any deals to make or discus PM each other, pictures should be for I.D. purposes only. Exchange emails' if you want to look at each others pix and make sales deals or discus prices, this is an I.D. forum only. This haggling about worth and prices should be on a PM or email basis not on this forum. Worth and cost should not come into play here. Any more posts about prices and deals between each other here will possibly be deleted or you will receive a warning, everybody has to adhere to the same rules, we may miss some but that will happen, trying to be as nice as I can about this but the warning has officially been issued.

I took an overnight trip to Osaka earlier this week on 19-20. It started with a phone call from Ryotaro Matsuno, the owner of Matsuno Industry (the only marble maker in the country), inviting me to join a special meeting: he was going to meet a descendant of Tamakichi Tokunaga for the first time. Tamakichi is the man who made Japan's first marble-stopper bottles in 1892, after 5 years of studying an original British Codd bottle. After his death at 34, his family continued the business and the company eventually became one of the major glassworks, introducing advanced bottle making techniques from the US and Germany. Below are photographs of Tokunaga factories from a book "The Tokunaga Brothers: Four Key Figures in Japan’s Glass Industry/硝子工業界の重鎮　徳永氏四兄弟の巻”. The main factory in Yoriki-cho, Osaka (near the city center) East factory and Asahi-bashi Factory (both in Osaka) Amagasaki factory and Moji factory (both outside Osaka) Because every Codd bottle needs a glass marble, Tamakichi's success also meant the starting point of marble manufacture in Osaka. I had been collecting fragmentary references to Tokunaga and marbles for years, so I felt a honor to meet a member from the family. The man holding the bottle is Takashi Tokunaga (from the bloodline of Tamakichi’s third son). The bottle is a rare Tokunaga ramune bottle stamped “1922,” kindly lent by my collector friend Yoshinori Kakizaki. Takashi was so happy to see it, as no such old bottles have been passed down in his family. Takashi also mentioned that his father keeps a company history book that is carefully preserved. He offered to try persuading his father to let me read it. If I learn anything related to marble history, I hope to share an update in this thread. We ended up talking happily until the izakaya's (Japanese-style pub) closing time, and before we parted we exchanged contact information. During my marble research these years I come to realize people who are willing to meet and talk are not many. I’m grateful to the openness of Takashi and Ryotaro who kindly let me join the gathering.

Another handful of ravens

Other MIBs on a brick from the Ravenswood furnace, and more...

Some Yellows from peltier 😎

These same canes were some of my favs.

X2 (MCS=multicolored swirl)

Indian - 1,02 (26mm)

Yes

I keep this on the shelf of my fireplace

yes, corks, i think they're called snakes

For me that is a vacor seahorse

These are keepers.

It's a later Champion. I checked the book and I only saw one small single view of one on page 172. I got this one after the book was published:

MK St. Mary's crossthru

Yes - even has the Pelt Flip-Flop.

Looks polished. Way too shiny🔥 RAR

I clean almost every marble I pickup. But yes these were very dirty and most in collectible condition. Saved them from going to the landfill.

Either “Master Made Marbles” or “Master Glass” made this one imho. To put it in a nutshell—“Master Made Marbles” was an old company that turned into “Master Glass”. In the earlier years they competed with Akro Agate and they eventually bought out Akro Agate. The quality went down the tubes after that. They were in a fight for their life with the USA restrictions lifted on Japanese marbles after WW2—mainly Cat-eyes. Yours shows some evidence of being a Master Glass marble, the blue and white stream in one image reminds me of a “Master Glass Marble”(Cats-Eye) that often showed up in the Cats-Eyes that they made. You posted some great images, keep them coming—A bit sharper would help. Marble—On!!

Nice group! The orange one is very special--love it! Marble--On!!

Divided ribbon core

X2

Cross thrus are harder to find. As far as value, they aren’t worth a ton but I personally like to collect them.

Excited to add a painted Sulphide Dog recently. Begging Dog on Green Grass

@Chad G. @akroorka You're welcome!😃🙏 These are the connections of Tokunaga and marbles I have collected so far. 1. In 1892 Tamakichi Tokunaga succeeded in making marble stopper bottles after studying an original Codd bottle from the UK for 5 years. His bottle business obviously needed supply of glass marbles. 2. In 1907 Yoshijiro (Tamakichi's eldest son) filed Utility Model No. 17091 fo Glass Ball Making Hood for a torch. The earliest marbles we recognize as being made in Meiji or Taisho era have traits of lampworked marbles. 3. Tokunaga's marble stopper bottle with a stamp of 1922 has a lampworked marble. It has a round section of a glass stringer on the surface. The section is also ground. 4. In 1916 Toyojiro (the 2nd son of Tamakichi) partnered with Juma Asayama and established a bottle making company. (Official Gazette, 1916 Oct 21) Juma is a glass maker who invented a pair of rollers with corresponding molds. (Registered Utility Model No. 40534) Ohajiki flast marbles with embossed designs and marbles were made by this system. (Kenji Nakanishi, "Glass and its Techniques/硝子其成法", 1940) Juma’s rollers are even set with an automatic glass feeding system. ("History of Japanese Modern Ceramic Industry, part 4: Glass Industry/日本近世窯業史", 1917) 5. According to "Stories of Bottles/ びんの話” by Koji Yamamoto, Tokunaga used marbles made by Seike factory. Naoyuki Seike started making machine rolled marbles in Hanaten, Osaka since 1924. 6. In 1959 Zenshiro (Tamakichi's 4th son) took over Shuichi Utsunomiya's Oba Glass Mfg.. Utsunomiya previously worked for Seike before the war as a plant manager. After the war Utsunomiya's business manufactured both bottles and glass marbles.

Akro "Moonies" vs CAC "Moonies". This is always an interesting discussion for me. I researched Akro“Flinties” for many years. The white ones were always a hard find for me. I came to the conclusion that the Akro white “Flinties” and “Moonies” were the same thing. Now comes the Cac vs Akro thing---There is no doubt a slight difference that could /maybe be told in hand. My advice, Take it to a show and find a CAC collector—and an Akro collector. Nice marble non-the-less and a very good ask here. Marble—On!!

Pics 5 and 6 do show some Jabo like traits. To me pic 5 is starting to make me think it’s a Jabo. I’m checking Vacor off the list and going with Jabo. 🔥 RAR

I’m on the fence but I’m getting more Vacor vibes than Jabo. It’s a Keeper for sure. I’m curious to see what others think. I’ve never seen this color combo🔥 RAR

This Opal lady will be under my uncle's roof tomorrow.

2X w/Melissa 🔥 RAR

Just because marbles aren't named doesn't necessarily make them less valuable. I've seen some mk rainbows go for some crazy prices. In determining value, eye appeal has a lot to do with it.

no, they are worth a little more than your average cat. certainly worth collecting, or trading, yeah I'd keep it, some people collect nothing but, good trading stock fo you. They are not all that common, like a metallic pelt Rainbo or something, a manufacture defect but a sought after one.

Correct

Looks a little Torchy IMHO🔥 RAR

These are both 3/4" in my book. The first one is a nce Alley Agate and the second one is a nice Akro Cork--this one may be named ( Superman?). Oh well, I am not really into names and I am glad--it takes some brain power just to remember the makers. Nice marbles non-the-less! Marble--On!!