popeyecollector

Great assortment of handmades. Your friend must have picked from a major collection. They are beautiful even see rare left hand made swirls. My favorites are near surface parallel white lines over a red or blue "jelly" core. That green spotted was great The single ribbons with several twists were excellent two marbles were shown last were show stoppers Steve

The dust has settled after the sale of that mint 3/4” plus red mica for $1,525 - let’s see if we can share our thoughts on what sort of vintage hand made marble we would shell out a house payment for and not suffer from severe buyer’s remorse? Here are some of my high dollar marble purchase rules: Do you have some to share ? • Condition ! Condition ! Condition ! Avoid anything less than mint - then you never need make any excuse for a flea bite, no harm chip or any as made negative factor. • Size The bigger the better. • Masterpiece Obvious example of a craftsman's glass manipulating skills - creating a marble that is an eye pleasing blend of color and symmetry. • Beautiful production error Creating a marble that is an eye pleasing blend of color and asymmetry •••• A true test for a great marble is if a non-marble collecting neighbor sees your prize and says, “Whoa ! That is a beautiful marble.” These are my thoughts on the subject. Please share yours . . . Thanks for looking. Big Indian

I agree - the clam broth is the best and coming ins second would be the Indian Swirl -- BUT remember both of those types easily chipped cutting seriously into the value. So. CONDITION, CONDITION, CONDITION is very important to collectors ! ! ! Big Indian

The new Peltier book arrived this morning. Just had time to thumb through it. Compared to some marble books of the past 30 years - this one is excellent - pictures are clear, large and the extensive text seems to cover a spectrum of contributions to marbles that came out of Ottawa, Illinois. Some previous marble books were frustratingly full of errors and small - poor quality pictures. One marble book author had small pictures of many marbles only commenting , "Enjoy." Again, Great Peltier book!

Did not know that it was so expensive to finance our marble Board. How do I contribute? I will be back from D.C. on Thursday.

Hmmmmmm ... 7/8" is very close to 15/16" and a mint surface on a vintage marble with oxblood. Doesn't any one even think ---- Bulgarian?

I may be behind the times --but . . . This is a polymer clay “marble” made by Carl Fisher, an IBM engineer- turned from vintage glass marble collector to an apparently successful maker of lightweight copies of classic glass marbles. There is an interview and series with pictures of his work on the internet -- Google --- Carl Fisher marbles interview P. C.

Top one is most likely a Brazilian agate - hand ground in Germany - making a shooter. It was probably not dyed. The pole opposite the nice strata bands has what is called "sugaring." This is a softer area of weakness where the agate did not completely crystalize and is considered an imperfection. The "moon" impact fractures cam be masked by soaking the agate for several days in olive oil. In earlier times lard was the preferred soak. Big Indian

Just remembered - I have a 5/8" marble that is printed on one side "Exposition Chicago 1492 - 1893". It is in a ring and drilled - to make some sort of pendant. The opposite side is a colored view that looks like a gondola scene in Venice. I understand that the Chicago Columbian Exposition had such a lake and simulated view of Venice. So what is it - a souvenir of that Exposition? Who made it in 1893? Or a fantasy? Big Indian with no photo skills

So much space is given to machine made marble names - why not look to hand made stone agates for a breath of fresh air? Definition -- Chalcedony a hard stone deposit, usually formed into a football size solid nodule or hollow geode by a long process of water evaporation and a layered deposition of dissolved mineral impurities. Common types are agate, carnelian (aka cornelian), moss agate and onyx Onward --In my view agates that found their way into kids marble bags or game boards were never larger than 3/4. (Cant grip with index finger for shooting!) Some vintage eye candy faceted agates greater than 1.5 exist but most are contemporary. All German agate marbles were facetted and probably more for eye appeal - dyed with sugar, sulfuric acid, arsenic along with other nasty chemicals - then often exposed to UV light to produced intense bands of black, yellow, blue, white and a rare green. When geode - nodule supplies ran out in Germany - eastern Brazil had plenty of exactly the same agate geode - nodules! -- (thanks to Continental Drift) -- Beware of marbles made of lapis lazuli, tigers eye, moss agate, lace agate, bloodstone or any other exotic mineral, they were probably purchased at a gem and mineral show and slipped into the secondary market or at least not made for a marble bag. Spoiler Alert! Some years back -there were skillful grinders taking orders to custom apply facets or ground pontils! Some of the mineral information was taken from Wikipedia. Thats my story and Im sticking to it! Big Indian

So much space is given to machine made marble names - why not look to hand made stone agates for a breath of fresh air? Definition -- Chalcedony a hard stone deposit, usually formed into a football size solid nodule or hollow geode by a long process of water evaporation and a layered deposition of dissolved mineral impurities. Common types are agate, carnelian (aka cornelian), moss agate and onyx Onward --In my view agates that found their way into kids marble bags or game boards were never larger than 3/4. (Cant grip with index finger for shooting!) Some vintage eye candy faceted agates greater than 1.5 exist but most are contemporary. All German agate marbles were facetted and probably more for eye appeal - dyed with sugar, sulfuric acid, arsenic along with other nasty chemicals - then often exposed to UV light to produced intense bands of black, yellow, blue, white and a rare green. When geode - nodule supplies ran out in Germany - eastern Brazil had plenty of exactly the same agate geode - nodules! -- (thanks to Continental Drift) -- Beware of marbles made of lapis lazuli, tigers eye, moss agate, lace agate, bloodstone or any other exotic mineral, they were probably purchased at a gem and mineral show and slipped into the secondary market or at least not made for a marble bag. Spoiler Alert! Some years back -there were skillful grinders taking orders to custom apply facets or ground pontils! Some of the mineral information was taken from Wikipedia. Thats my story and Im sticking to it! Big Indian

Great find! Now begins your search for the rest of the cutouts that were on that page. A dealer I once knew called an uncut page with such a great topic - "a Holy Grail." Big Indian

Just my opinion - but I have always felt that a red mica was the most over rated - and over priced marble in our world of vintage marble collecting ! ! ! Give me a colorful Indian swirl any day.

He will be missed. We all remenber Rich as the collector who was not willing to sell a prized pee wee until he was offered $1,000 . Rich responded to the offer with, "Do you wat a bag for that?" RIP Rich Respectfullly - Big Indian, no braid

In my view - pontils (Frequently refered to as "pontil scars.") - except the faceted or ground pontils were a product of shearing the last marble from the molten gather just before rounding. The ground pontil was produced by a second hand held step where the rough shear scar was ground off using a grinding wheel - leaving single or multiple facets. The pictured circular scars in this thread are made by the marble shears not an abrasive wheel. Big Indian

For years I have been adding to my assorment of marbles that for one reason or another are not quite round. Many of my rogues have been selected for their distinctive - identifiable colors and patterns. Descriptive tags on these "odd balls" incllude: marble machine dodo, drips. bumbbells, donuts, spaghetti marbles that have either gone through the rollers or not, footballs, overshots and various combinations of those and more. None of these "errors" are extremely valuable, most were dug -- but they are still eye catchers -- especially at marble shows for the bored tagalong wife or tired children. Big Indian

Back from the marble show and had a great time! Saw quite a mixture of people: many familiar long time collectors and sellers, new ones and all sorts of general lookers and buyers. Room hopping was busy. All seemed eager to talk, learn and share marble knowledge. Even saw some enthusiastic young kids with backpacks carrying what sounded to be marbles. Prices were good but negotiable. The contemporary marbles were not too well represented. I bought some nice marbles and plan to return next year. Sorry, I did not take any pictures. Big Indian - no braid bask fo

I think it is great that there are vigilant collecors who are skilled enough to recognize the work of dedicated forgers. Keep up the good work ! Big Indian

I seem to remember that Tom Reed once wrote that most sucessful bidders in Running Rabbit auctions were holding receipts for marbles at prices they could never hope to recoup. Is that still true after all these years? Looks true for my few purchases . . . Big Indian

In the display I recommend - the Life Magazine cover: May 10, 1937. -- It is a classic showing a dedicated young marble shooter. Or, for color, humor and a girl beating the boys is the Norman Rockwell Satuday Evening Post cover April 3, 1939. ( Not sure about the Post date.) Both would soften up a marble display and draw in viewers. Big Indian - no braid

There once was a discussion on one of the Boards on the ethics and legality of shill and/or cooperative bid schemes by either auctioneers or buyers. How do you want your marble estate liquidated - with a wink, a nod and a post sale meeting to divide the spoils? "Do unto others . . ." Big Indian (Locks of Love got my braid !)

Bert was a really great person with a sincere handshake and warm smile. He will be missed . . . I do wish that someone could compile a list his interests. Bert collected all sorts of marbles - but also had an interest in macerated money, hula hoops ( a business venture) and many more eclectic items. Those who knew Bert will miss him. Steve

Good - a contest ... How many stone agates do you see in the assortment?

Details -- please ...

A member of our local marble club who specializes in peewees was showing his prized collection at a marble show when a collector showed a keen interest in one very fine peewee. "Sorry, it is not for sale." - the peewee collector replied to a buy inquiry. The prospective buyer did not give up. "Would you take $1,000 for it? The peewee collector replied, "Would you like a bag for that? I set a note the the peewee seller requesting details -- and this is his response --- Good morning, The peewee you refer to is a 15/32, single pontil, end of day, lutz cloud type with a hint of pink and white color through the core. The surface of the marble was very clear, there were no defects either inside or out. The marble was very round and the pontil finely ground. I think that I may have a photo somewhere, if I find it, I will forward it to you. I do however have a copy of the $1000.00 check. Take care.