tankgrrl29

also a good point!

@Kimbernugs did you end up with this group? just curious about that one marble we were discussing. (if you got it and posted, can you tag me? i don't get a chance to visit every day )

could be polished, but it also not unlike some cullet marbles i've seen.

i could be misremembering, but something is telling me Gino Biffany might have named these. i could also be confusing that memory with him naming the inkies, OR, he could have named both. sorry, it's kind of blurry and cobwebby back there in that part of my brain

i thought so too...is this the one named a tie-dye? i think these were hot at least for a while

WOW!! fun stash 😮 ♥

stellar piece of work, @stephenb . you honored him well! ♥

i was agreeing with RAR but the more i looked at that marble, i don't think it's peltier. the other views don't hold up the baseball pattern you'd expect. plus the colors on baseballs are 99% either all one color, or alternate (i.e., "flip-flop"/reverse mirror) on each side. vitros typically have different colors on one hemisphere vs the other. this looks like a nice group of older vitro from where i'm sitting. ♥

A lot of people see that base glass and immediately jump to Kokomo. I am not one of them, and would put those with my peltiers. That being said, sometimes you just don't know.

Such great points, and a good reminder of my own bubble! Those times you describe were the stuff of legends already when I started collecting almost 25 years ago. I can't count the number of times I heard the advice: get to a show! get to a show! Your advice makes a lot more sense to me in that context. It does seem like several lifetimes ago, doesn't it? ☺️

100% agree with that! my comments (and opinions) were specific to "early advice"

Possible unpopular opinion, but as early advice, I couldn't disagree more. Kind of along the lines of giving someone a fish versus teaching them how to fish... Getting a large variety of marbles to handle and sort and look at over and over and over again is how we "learn marbles." It's how we learn the feel of old glass. It's how we absorb through osmosis the variety of colors attributed to different companies. It's how we gain enough experience to be able to look at an auction and spot the new marbles or the wannabes (or the sleepers!!). It's how we pick up enough info to be able to pass on knowledge to other people. Sure, you don't have to keep every marble forever. But how many of us who kept everything went back and looked at some dish or bag or jar and found something we overlooked at the time because we didn't know better? Not much irks me more than seeing a newbie post a marble they spent a bunch of money on, and at the same time asking for confirmation of the ID. To me that is just someone looking to buy status, rather than enjoying the hobby. Then again, I guess it depends on each individual's goals. I'm sure not everyone shares mine.

thanks, and yep, it sucks. but i'm grateful for all the good memories. and she got to come to the Ottawa show with me, so that was pretty awesome now to look for that lost marble!!

thanks, @Ric, i appreciate the compliments! that flame you're showing is AWESOME! some of my 'tracers' turned out better than others. there's a clear rod that turns cloudy with heat that i used for the base on those. the top one you snagged was an attempt at making a guinea style; those were fun! and that middle one was one of the first marbles i made. i was practicing with clear and just adding stuff while trying to make them round. i frikkin love that marble, LOL, but I CAN'T FIND IT!!! oh, and nope, i don't (didn't) sign them. i barely got more than 2 or 3 at a time to turn out, so i didn't make many. i sent a couple to scott... migbar and i would exchange some, but he was cleaning out stuff and sent mine back. (dang, now i'm wondering if he knew he was sick then ) the christmas ones i made for my granddaughter, but after she passed, i got those back. (jeeeeez now i'm thinking my marbles are cursed! 🙄 sorry, that's morbid... 🤐 )

thanks, @Melissa! that last one was a total accident, but it's one of my favorites. i have to give a hat-tip to scott patrick for 1 - selling me some of his equipment, and 2 - for showing me his 'super-secret' technique. i don't make them anymore...i used to have a set up in my kitchen until i got a little more responsible and decided my landlord probably would blow a gasket & my renter's insurance probably doesn't cover explosions, so i sold all my stuff a good while back.

@Ric well....since you asked

i always liked these! never did come across any opaque ones. nice find, for sure

thanks, Ric! i got her on ebay just over 20 years ago. i recently ran across the correspondence i exchanged with the seller, which i had printed. i didn't get much background on it, other than that she got the deer from a friend. looks like she's been crafted from an old bed post. that's all i got

Case in point, may I present: Pam

@Shamrock Marbles i'm guessing you meant 'marble maker'? i've been corrected, and it seems Bill did, in fact, learn to make marbles. i hadn't heard anything about Bill for years. i'm glad to hear this, as the last i had known, he was having debilitating back problems. i know how my back felt after a few hours on the torch, so i am taking this news as a very positive (albeit late) update! ♥

great descriptor. need to save that one in my back pocket

@SNYD - thanks for sharing those comments about ron's last days. talk about a life well-lived, we should all be so lucky!

this is sad news, indeed. i don't have much to add that others haven't already said so elegantly and compassionately. i had the good fortune to meet ron briefly at (i think) the Indy show in 2005. as others noted, he was very, very generous, both with his vast amount of knowledge and his marbles. not only has the marble community lost a giant, but a wonderful ambassador to the hobby, and a great friend to many. sincere condolences to those whose lives he touched and who will miss him.

the ones on the little board are mine, and they're peltier. the ones on the yarn/woven background were from a photo of yours i saved from who-knows-when. i think i'm seeing that the yellow on your vitro looks a bit more 'solid' (dense, i guess i would say). the yellow on the peltiers is like sugar candy.

these are mine... the black appears forest-green in some