popeyecollector

Interesting thread. I have written all this before, but here it is again: Develop and refine your marble knowledge by reading books, attend meetings, talk with dealers - collectors and handle many, many marbles. You will gradually learn who has worthwhile opinions based on the ever evolving field of marble collecting. From your experiences, develop your own inner crap detection system. Remember --- a) - Seriously doubt anyone who claims to be a marble expert! - Be more apt to listen to advice from a collector offering an opinion - if - they have no vested interest in your marble. c) - Much like fishing, stay close to where the other boats are fishing. d) - Avoid anyone linked to any past history of questionable marble dealings. Big Indian but no braid

Oops, sorry -- thought in an earlier thread you wrote that you had purchased many marbles via eBay.

JVV, Very nice!! But only the tip of your marble collection iceberg. This excellent assortment of handmades confirms who has been buying many of the high end marbles offered on eBay. You're bringing them back to Europe! Do your friends in the Netherlands appreciate your wonderful collection? Big Indian - no braid

There is another piece of the puzzle that may have been overlooked for possibly both MFC and CAC - the Cambridge Glass Company’s color palate --- From: A brief History of the Cambridge Glass Company by the National Cambridge Collectors, Inc. --- “During the early to middle 1920s a variety of opaque colors were brought into the Cambridge line, most being produced for only one to three years. Later in the 1920s transparent colors became very popular, replacing the opaques. The 1930s were prolific years. Colors such as Carmen, Royal Blue, Crown Tuscan, Heatherbloom and Forest Green were developed and brought (by the) Cambridge Factory to market.” Look at the colored Cambridge glass pieces on eBay. Many colors seem dead on when compared with marbles from that time and region. If marbles were traded among companies why not colored glass stock? Oops! Another thought --- Could a scoundrel buy some damaged pieces of colored Cambridge glass and make some really exotic marbles? Big Indian -- no braid

Gosh, as long as the “investors” can keeping the consumer market from collapsing like the Beanie Baby, etc. boondoggles - anything creative is possible. Why stop at a Mexican Vacor AK-47 run? You guys should consider a World Tour Assortment - boxed in laser engraved teakwood. Be creative - visit and do runs at marble factories in China, the Czech Republic, Germany and Japan (awesome florescence!) still Big Indian but no braid ...

I collect neither Christensen Agates nor Vacors, so have no financial or emotional interest in these two families of marbles. But -- for the sake of discussion -- can I make these observations? And then, ask questions? • Whatever factory made these marbles - they look similar enough to spark the exchange in this thread and others. • The furnaces and machines that produced them were similar in design. Simple “tweaks” of the roller position, similar glass blends and artifacts of mass production result in marbles that require experience to distinguish one marble from another. Without a doubt, even “experts” have made misidentifications. • Very similar palate colors indicate that glass color formulae have crossed borders (one way or another.) • Remember - machines, not people spat out these colorful marbles by the ton! Some questions --- --- Why do collectors place such high monetary value on marbles made in Ohio and compare similar ones made in Mexico to oily fecal material? --- Are machine made marbles prized for: - Artistic creativity? - Serendipity? -- Pieces of American history? No braid

Please explain --- how is it possible to get burned by your sniper program? Don't you set the limit ???

What is the crown jewel of a collection? Is it the rarest? For baseball card collectors, it is the mint Hones Wagner that recently sold for $2,300.000 . While an iron train sold at a record auction price of $263,000 . --Are common marbles rare? In truth - ship loads and train cars full of these marbles left factories for decades to satisfy the needy appetite of playgrounds, game boards, sling shots and outhouses. Marbles may chip but they will neither rot nor rust. Estate liquidations, Increased publicity and raising prices have opened more eyes, thus more marbles continue to enter and circulate in the collecting market. And, occasionally, warehouse and attic caches turn up. Factory dumps in both the USA and Europe with the aid of “reconditions” continue to clouded some of the rarity claims. Is it a true masterpiece produced intentionally by a skilled craftsman to demonstrate their skill? An early and pristine pintail drake decoy carved by Elmer Crowill sold for $1,130,000. --The true old masterpiece marble remains an unchallenged jewel, characterized by a large size, near mint condition, intricate design features, possible inclusions, pleasing color combinations and flawless symmetry that combined to pushed the limits of the craft at that time and place Contemporary marbles are technically more complex and flawless but they are still evolving with no end or masterpiece in sight. Is it an eye pleasing mistake? Stamp collectors consider the 1918 inverted Jenny Airmail a visual delight. that is valued close to $1,000,000. -- Error marbles were just that: rejected by the marble maker - or - caught by quality control workers and sent to the factory dump - fortunately some were saved by employees as curiosities. Heat, contamination and production problems that produced the atypical machine marbles commanding such high prices today were considered flawed and probably never intentionally sold. Once a run was started, the end product was relatively unchanged by the line workers. This reminds me of the motto of the potato chip factory in my town years ago. Printed on each bag was, “untouched by human hands.” And the reply was, “Yea, monkeys made ‘em.” An object with sentimental value? Some remember some sacred piece your father proudly showed and told wonderful stories about. Priceless. -- We all can recall talking to someone who treasures a worn leather bag of marbles. They would neither part with the bag nor its contents since it belonged to their father and it still holds his playing marbles and a prized agate shooter. “Oh, the wonderful marble stories dad could tell...” Or, is it the collecting fad of the season? As time passes, the over-hyped art or antique falls rapidly from its crown jewel status. -- Look what happened to the Vitro parrots or the early JABO runs. Marbles as crown jewels follow the same path as other collectables - the eye, experiences and checkbook of the beholder influence their personal crown jewel title. Big Indian, no braid

It is great history to hear Lloyd’s firsthand accounts of how some of these great marbles and related items fell into the hands of collectors. Fortunately, I was in the short line when both Lloyd's grain elevator cache (yellow boxes) and the rural Minnesota stash (red boxes) became available. If I remember correctly - the red boxes walked through the door at Amana several years ago. Lloyd probably knows the details ... There are things to learn from these undisturbed and never back filled groupings (besides that mice like cardboard) that seem overlooked by many collectors: a.) a pee wee “Swee’ Pea” came with the original box and b.) frequently the original marbles were nice but not Popeyes!

I see a problem with that advertising picture of the Popeye marble box. The bag with a waist up view of Popeye is for the rare and expensive larger Popeye box that holds 36 marbles. I suspect an advertising agency manipulated pictures of the two bags and possibly types of marbles shown. I own both types of bags - the waist up view of Popeye bag measures 3.5" x 5.25". That bag would not fit into the common #116 box. The point being that what showed up pictured in trade catalogs may have never made it to a retail sales outlet. This casts some doubt on our ability to verify marbles from sales catalogs.

Before you jump into speculation and value - remove some doubt as to whether or not this funny feeling sphere is a plastic deodorant roller ball. Heat the point of a pin, touch it to the surface of the "marble." If the hot needle melts into the surface of your "marble" - It is plastic - not glass.

Bert Cohen in Boston had some of these ancient glass marbles - but smaller. Possibly he could have some additional information.

How was this done? Hand ground to a near sphere then finished off with a sphere machine? Seeing that last explosion - doubt that it was "cooked." Cost to have it done?

Here are my thoughts for marble collectors to help reduce your chance of being bilked by a less than honest transaction • Buy and read current marble books. • Attend marble shows, meet collectors and ask plenty of questions. (The best way to understand any marble is to hold it in your hand!) • Watch marble chat rooms to keep up on scoundrels, trends and situations. Mix acquired knowledge with a measure of caution and over time you should be able to develop appraisal skills and a sense about most situations, sellers and their claims. Experience has shown me that: • Most marbles are neither as mint nor rare as sellers claim. • Build your collection on quality not quantity. One killer mint marble is much easier to display, transport or sell than Mason jars full of less than perfect but similar - “examples.” • Market trends and prices can change quickly. • Unwise purchases are usually made by the uninformed who are in a hurry. A chilling but true observation - The real people who will profit most from your collection will probably be your widow and her next husband. Just my opinion ...

Went to some flea markets near and around White Cloud, Kansas last week, One dealer was selling new and perfect 3/4"+ marbles in wide range of beautiful colors and styles from China for $5.00 each. The seller told me that he had machine polished them since the marbles all had slight as-made surface damages and irregularities when he bought them. That may explain the surface irregularities on the similar "vintage" marbles that have been selling recently on eBay. Also, don't some JABO's have as-made surface damage problems that may be eliminated by polishing? Comments?

How big is the dug marble pictured in the three panels on the left? It looks unusual. Is it glass? The less than quarter sized pee wee on the right looks like a fancy pottery bennington.

Good grief! Have you checked completed sales for this seller? Two observations - a) "Vintage marbles" from Tammy have been bringing exceptional prices for what look like new Chinese products that retail for between fifty cents and a few dollars. -- and -- Those new Chinese marbles are quite diverse, inexpensive and well made. (Alan sold some in the past for very reasonable prices) Not everyone seems to be well informed ... Knowledge is power

Three interesting and unusual slag type marbles. Any information from the person you bought them from? Just a guess, could they be European? Big Indian, but no braid

Kingfisher, those are some pretty harsh words flying off your keyboard concerning Paul Germann aka Uncmikie. As do others - I disagree! Paul has been involved with quality marbles for a very long time. Personally, I bought three hand made marbles from him in the past on eBay and they have all been accurately pictured and described. One photo was too good; lint on an Indian swirl peewee looked like small imperfections - unfortunately for my bank account, it did not scare away the astute bidders! This year I put a face to a name and talked with Paul at the Amana Show. - Great guy! - If we do our homework: read, participate in marble clubs and conventions, meet the marble people, ask/write questions for clarification - especially - when your money is on the table - things will go fine, USUALLY. no braid

According to Don Taylor (Captain Marble) in an Amana presentation many years ago: mica is indeed mica that has been washed in a salt solution to enable adhesion to the glass. His father, a chemist with experience in the field supplied him with the information. Looks to me like there are three groups of mica marbles ---- The snowflakes (an original catalogue name which seem to be quite crude frequently with surface irregularities with smaller ones having rough pontils. The snowflake marbles did not seem to be very successful sellers frequently relegated to the level of game marbles on General Grant's board. The existence of so many single pontil snowflakes probably indicates they were not cane cut in the normal fashion. Another with mica inclusions were the multi colored "end of cane" marbles that had varying degrees of mica sprinklings from slight to thick blizzard coating over the outer layer of colored canes prior to the final dip in clear glass. And last were the marbles like some rare peppermint swirls with only one colored cane (blue) having mica on it. There is unconfirmed speculation that these red, white and blue (with mica stars in the blue) peppermint marbles were made around the time of the 1876 USA centennial to look like our flag. For a while some collectors called them "Unions." One of these large "Unions" was pictured on the cover of the Smithsonian Magazine a number of years ago. No braid

This is not the place to have this info/discussion but there is a need to clarify some hand made terms with accurate descriptions and pictures. What I am talking about are terms like: ""cloud," "end of cane," "broken cane," "loop," "atomic bomb." "road and tunnel," "single pontil" and those beautiful flared-end hand mades that look like flowers. Have some examples, but my picture taking abilities do not do justice to these marbles. And sorry. I will not send them to a volunteer photographer. no braid

Bert Cohen once told me and further readings confirm: a) The inclusion of goldstone (probably copper) containing strands of glass in many sorts of Victorian glassware was not invented by, but was skillfully used by Nicolas Lutz and other glass craftsmen working at the Boston Sandwich Glass Company: 1870-88. The Sandwich factory dumps have been excavated and no evidence has been found that indicates that Lutz type marbles were ever made there. Seems like the glass chemists in Venice developed goldstone then passed the technology on to the marble factories around Lauscha. The glass making industry has a long history of thefts of glass formulae and technology as craftsmen moved from factory to factory. Would not be surprised if the Germans imported goldstone and colored glass from Venice as some of the Jabo investors do today! no braid

For obvious reasons - always thought this pre tornado sky was called a "mammary cloud formation." It always looked like the bottom of an egg carton or muffin pan. The weather service must be going to G rated descriptions.

My visit to Amana was short due to my daughter’s graduation. Did manage to visit 37 rooms as I room hopped from Thursday afternoon until noon on Friday. Times have changed: neither dogs, smoking nor gas tanks are allowed in the motel rooms! Gasoline prices, other shows and the Internet also have cut into attendance, but still - it was a good show. Photographs usually show hefty people sitting at tables surround by colored dots - so - I left them out. The regulars were there - mentioning a few: Umi Ward (as delightful as ever), Elliot Pincus (a wealth of knowledge taken with a grain of salt), Tom Rudolph (with his beautiful 1 7/16” red maglight Indian Swirl), Don DeVibilis (looking very intense) and Wayne Sanders (nice marbles, 90+ years and still drives in from Jefferson City). Sorry, were others - know their faces (like guy with the Salvador Dali mustache) but their names have faded from my old memory. Dan Morphy was there after a 22 year hiatus. Missing from the halls were LLoyd Huffer, Don Taylor (Captain Marble) and Bert Cohen to name a few salty characters. Did think that I saw the ghost of Carmello Trippodi wandering the halls carrying a beautiful multicolored chunk of Peltier slag. Many rooms had excellent displays - some with labels. People were more than anxious to share their knowledge. That, was a real learning treat! There were all sorts of NFS rare - unusual marbles and boxes on display. Prices for less than mint marbles seemed soft - especially Lutz and vintage American machine mades. Quarts of unpurchased Jabos were scattered around the motel. As always - mint, larger marbles commanded a premium and did seem to be selling. The lessons for the day: a) It is a wise collector who .keeps up with the trends and information available in the marble world - read books, join clubs and attend shows. Always, buy quality marbles not quantity. Thus, no excuses ... c) Armed with knowledge - ask questions and temper the answers you get with a gut feeling before you open your check book. You will be OK, usually ... No Braid

If you read the whole ad -- TWICE -- the seller states that this "vintage" marble is NEW!