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Got lots of lines in this one 1 1/8 in

Ultimate Japanese transitional score from the Seattle marble show!!!

Last bunch

Congratulations, that's a great group!

I think it's a sloppy Akro Auger - maybe "lazy" is a better word . . .

With Oxblood

Seike's cat’s eyes in different colors. . The yellow is like neon yellow. I enjoyed taking pictures of white-purple variants. I was fascinated by the shifts of colors. Some fracture. Bigger vanes always have the risk, when the colors are not compatible enough. I guess no marble makers put them in an oven for annealing.

My interest in Duck Marbles started from the brochures illustrated in “Marbles/Biidama” (2003) by Yukoh Morito, a well-known marble collector in my country who passed away in 2016. In 1992 he founded Japan Marble Association, making a partnership with this forum and Marble Collectors Society of America in the following year. His book “Marbles” features a Japanese marble history section for two pages. On page 29 is where we find the brochures of Nippon Special Glass Ball Mfg. Co. Ltd.. The company’s brand was Duck Marbles. According to the brochures, the company started its business in Hanaten, Osaka city in 1924. The founder, Naoyuki SEIKE, says he and his team of college graduated engineers invented a semi-automatic manufacturing process for marble making at that time. He also refers to American invention of marble machines in 1900 ca.. The brochure in Japanese was printed in 1951, whereas the English version was published in 1952. He had obtained more than 20 patents and utility model rights from Japan Patent Office. The monthly marble production reached 50,000,000 in 1952. (but the monthly production in 1951 was 400,000.) The original brochures were contributed by Seishin Seike, the second son of Naoyuki Seike, to the book. The surname Seike is nothing like Suzuki (mine). Also the first name Seishin is very uncommon. I saw a light of hope in this fact and started a search for the contact information of the same name person. I reached his wife Reiko (85), in Hirakata city, Osaka on 7 Dec. 2021. Below is what I learned from the lady on the phone. Naoyuki Seike, her father-in-law, ran a marble factory in Hanaten and that he made marbles was true. But it was a long time before her marriage that Naoyuki's business had ended and went bankruptcy. Reiko married to Seishin in 1960, a union arranged by her senior brother who worked as a surgeon in Maizuru, Kyoto. Seishin was the second son of Naoyuki. When they met, Seishin was not young (30). He had already been working for Zojirushi Magic Pot company in Hanaten as an engineer, where he led his team to a success of the first electric rice cooker. After 3 years of their marriage, in 1963, Naoyuki passed away at the age over 90. Before his death each of his children was given a bucketful of glass marbles he had kept. His 3 boys were all engineers including one who died very early in his late teens or 20’s. He was the first son who died in an accident where he fell from the marble factory’s roof during a repair. Sadly, Seishin passed away more than 10 years ago. Reiko kept the bucket since then. She assured that the marbles she had now in her apartment were originally inherited from her father-in-law. She washed the marbles and sent half the bucket to me. I opened a box full of marbles at night on 10 Dec.

No - that's Vitro Whitie. The green pearlized patch glass is completely opaque and has the luminous sheen and luster of a pearl as seen in this closeup.

A few more

Very nice wee ones, Jess. Long ago I bought a woman's large collection after she passed away. She had lot's of marbles like those - pinks, purples and pastels galore, on machine made marbles too. To this day, I have never seen another more feminine collection. I said to her son, "Your Mother must have been a girly girl". He responded, "In every way . . . you don't collect buttons or lace do you?"

Three peewee handmades, they're tiny. 15/32"

From brother Billy's archive . . . Obviously polished.

Any ideas? Do you like the Dog Hair🔥 RAR

Added one more piece. Do I have them all now? 🤣

Note the wide black band edging. I think that is what you are referring to as it narrows. An Akro employee told us that they used to throw bits of metal scrap into the pot just to watch it flare up. Amusement. I think pretty much of it all burns off.

Exactly what I've been thinking re the transitionals. I'm trying to line up the colors on the machine mades with red to the transitionals. The blues greens etc are perfect the red seems off though, I have a stash of Asians to sort to find the red. Canada wasn't effected by trade during the wars . My hunch is since we didn't make glass marbles the flow didn't stop. I find german handmades and Japanese marbles together a lot. I mainly scour antique stores etc.

I think it's a jabo. I like it.

Nice lot a great variety and I think you have most of the colors they used . Took me years to peice mine together.

Nicely done! Glad you guys had fun!

van Gogh🔥 RAR🤪

A few early Alleys . . .

Or is it a Kokomo 🔥 RAR

Any ideas 🔥 RAR

I wouldn't even know where to start with this one. The Yellow glows a bit Orange. Size is 3/4".

Fruit Stripes! Those are beautiful. What kid (or adult) wouldn’t want those gems? I have a couple of questions: 1) Where would one shop for vintage marbles in Japan? 2) Do you know the COE of these marbles? Are they similar to Satake Glass (COE 125)?

Some cool Ravenswood Novelty marbles dug by David Tamulevich in the late 1990’s

Absolutely! Please keep posting, a lot of us (me) are learning right along with you Marblemanvintagemarbles

2X ! Keep posting! Dug marbles are a great way to learn what when wrong🔥 RAR

I think you got into a batch of dug marbles.

You did good, Tommy. It's certainly easier if you can roll them around in your hand. Too bad Ron never allowed that. lol

Here they are together, Jess @disco005 . . . I guess I haven't totally lost it . . . yet. 🙂

Sounds like your wife had an eye for value—even if it meant raiding your stash! 😂 I guess she selected things which appealed to her most. I know cat's eyes don’t always get a lot of love from collectors, but they're part of childhood memories to lots of people (as E. A. Kempski says in her book). Marbles can go from being “just rocks” to treasures once you start digging into their history and craftsmanship. I hope the research I’ve been doing on Japanese marbles helps with that. Talking about Mr. Morito, too busy to research marbles may not be nice to say, but I can’t really blame him. He's the person who founded the Japan Marble Association, published newsletters and a marble book, planned marble events for kids, and even opened marble museums— while running a big business and pioneering fiber optics in Japan. He traveled around the world. His patents counted somewhere over 80 ( if my memory is accurate). He wasn’t retired when he dedicated his passion into marbles, either. I have some marbles from Seike family for posting today. I hope you enjoy looking at them!

Welcome to the Marble Connection! You have come to the right place. There are many years of marble experience here. The best way to start off might be to show us a few of your favorites or if you're interested in trying to identify some, just post a few different views of the one's you're most interested in over in the "Marble ID's" section. Otherwise, just peruse the the threads and photos and ask any questions that might come to mind - there are plenty of people here who love to talk marbles and are more than willing to help you out. I'm digging the old beverage dispenser!

As I said earlier, she was as sweet as they come. And she had collected marbles forever. Her son, who was about 60 years old at the time, told me he remembered getting dragged around hunting for marbles with her when he was kid! Here's a little box of trinkets, exactly as I found it in her collection - it's one of my favorite things. The wee German is 7/16". And at the risk of sounding sappy, I will say that I am at a stage of marble collecting and life where I have come to the realization that, while I definitely love marbles, what I cherish the most are the experiences I have had and the friends and memories I have made because of them. 🙂

A bit hard to see but these ribbons are a little different color. Thoughts?

Hint no. 1 - there are no Cairos in the box. Tommy has marble #1 correct (Alley) and 4 of the 5 companies too (see my edit of his response here). Now you just need to come up with the 5th company and associate each with the marbles they made.

MigBar/ Mike Barton confirmed similar numbers when he ID my Root Beer Float in hand. 🔥 RAR

White ribbons.

10X 🔥 RAR

Nice marbles, Jess - probably the best examples of metallic corkscrews I have seen - the first one is exceptional!

Marbles with green and blue ribbons.

Does that have an orange peel like surface texture?

Canada never made glass marbles . I wish we did. Early Vacor turtles look like this too. Here's a bag of vacors to show color . Pretty sure they're all vacor.

.68" vaseline glass I'm assuming. Doesn't fit with anything I have.

European IMO

Another great post expanding our knowledge. Thank you.

The best Parakeets would have 3 colors with very little or no white showing. If the white on yours was covered with a fourth color it would be a Parrot.