nutz4lutz

Where do I begin? The seller states that it has a chunk out of it and it's not round. And people are willing to shell out over $700 (so far) for this broken blob of glass? It looks like something that was recovered while sweeping the floor after a Jabo contract run. Machine-made marbles were never made as one-of-a-kind little works of art. They were made by the 10's of thousands and the marbles of each run looked reasonably similar. If this were mine, my goldfish would be pooping on it.

Ziggy, Thanks for your pic. The colors of the Figure Eights do correlate with the handgathered creased pontil marbles. At one time I had 6 or so of the creased pontils in the large size you have the Fig 8's in.

These average 11/16". On my last question, I phoned a friend...my only lifeline left is to ASK THE AUDIENCE. What is the origin of these Peltier mimics?

We're at a disadvantage on the Morphy because there's just one angle. If we were to see the pole or top view, I think its CA traits would be more evident. I've seen others like yours here in MK land. Many have the as-made swiss cheese effect. Marbles like this came from both MK factories. Yours looks like Paden City's product, not St. Marys. And the one inch size makes it very unlikely it could be CA. At any rate, yours is not an easy marble to find and many of these found are in poor scratched, chipped condition. That's because they all have come from dumpsites. Marble King has a perplexing history. It's as though they decided to make some of the country's most beautiful marbles of the 50's/60's and throw them over the hill or into the river. Then they took their more mundane offerings such as white-based single color Patch & Ribbons, bagged those up to present to the nation's kids. If not for the discovery of (many) dumps, MK would be a minor player in today's collector circles. Thank you diggers, where ever you are!

Aren't Wedding Cakes always a plus-size shooter? 7/8" or 1" ?? I've only possessed one over the years and seem to recall it was big.

Mark, I'm content with the purchase....if I see something I like, chances are I'll buy it no matter who made it. I like a good mystery every once in a while.

Here's a 5/8" marble that I got at the show in Marietta, Ohio recently. My first take is that it's CA, but some things about the construction give me doubt. It seems to fade to white at one seam which I don't think is a CA trait. Am curious as to two-seam versus single seam Striped Opaques. Which is most common?

@ Santa....Gawd, don't go there! You'll get BigTee after me for posting pics of mibs that haunt her dreams with eyes and faces with stern looks. JK, Marie

That sounds reasonable. I've had lots of hands on experience with Marble King 2 color/multicolor blends that I think were transitional between game marble runs. So this could be what Vitro's transitionals can turn out to look like.

It does look veneered over opaque white glass. Both seams show some white shining through.

I see what you mean. Thing is, even that frothy pale patch is completely opaque. It has a buttermilk tone to it, not that I'm saying I think it's Vitro.

This 5/8" opaque marble is like nothing I've seen before. Anyone ever find one or know it's origin?

I think it's torch-made as is the "Indian Blanket" mentioned in another post. Then there's the red German marble listed as CA Striped Opaque. And the polymer clay marble listed as dug Akro.

Whoa...Craig, that's cool. It's a commercial for Japanese Catseyes. Nothing about the cereal tasting OK or being somewhat nutritious. It's all about the marbles.

I was trying to find the original TV ad for the Pageant Fried Marbles set that I posted here this morning when I dredged up this Post Raisin Bran Marble Promotion. This ad marks the Japanese Catseye invasion, the death knell for many of our country's premier marble manufacturers.

http://library.duke....ws_raisin_bran/

Hit this link, then scroll down to the commercial with the tag "marbles, Roy Rogers".

http://www.ebay.com/...14&_sop=1&_sc=1

I bought one at the Marietta show, although it is smaller than the ones pictured and has a longer socket. I believe there was one exactly like those above in a silent auction during the show. I'm not looking for more, just curious as to the origin. The glass orbs in both sizes have a seam, much like Czech bullet mold marbles.

As seen at the WVMCC Marietta Marble Show today.

A very nice group! Everything looks Akro, no Champs. Some collectors attribute the blue/yellow Popeye patches to Vitro, but ummmm, Vitro didn't make Popeyes.

The colors look a lot like some on Vitro's pallette, but they radiate out from two pole points. Masters do that. Vitro's don't do that, they have two seams. Even when they look like they don't, they do.

I've not seen a MK quite like that. The "top" patch looks like pre-70's. Thing is, MK has made some nice marbles in the last 40 years that aren't well documented. Here's a group that fit that bill. I don't know when these were made, but definitely after 1970.

Here's a link to these marbles on ebay...

http://www.ebay.com/...14&_sop=1&_sc=1

Here's the 7/8" Vitro I have currently listed and then 2 pics of a 7/8" marble from the same collection. I was having trouble getting the clear deep blue to show honestly in the last two. The base glass is identical though.

Thanks, Felicia! I live here in WV, marble ground zero. I'm five miles from Marble King, 45 miles from where Vitro's were made. So I do get to see a good deal of West Virginia's marble history.

They are definitely an early Vitro marble. That's my listing (vintagemarbles). I received two of them in a collection purchased from the daughter of a Vitro factory employee. He had worked at both factory locations. The collection included Superiors, Trilites, Phantom Conquerors, Fisher Jewel Trays and a 100 count stock box of 11/16" Trilites.