marblemover

not hollow, i'm sure. i've owned some big bennies in the past (sold em) and they were never hollow--their weight made that evident. but i don't think the weight would add to any impressions from the screening--only a slightly larger touch-area.

thanks, all...yup, birthdays happen so often anymore, i quit payin attention. nowadays, they're mostly just good for senior discounts...and for getting closer to REAL retirement.

err...no 3-eyed patterns that i can see on bennies or chinas (even the painted ones) but i don't have anything larger than about 3/4-inch. in fact, on some, the eyes are so numerous and covering the surface that i'm thinking they were layered--at least for the color application part. one thing i did notice is that on most bennington-types is a somewhat distinct "pontil" (for lack of a better term). i.e., they have seams...they have an rough cut-off spot. then, opposite of the rough spot on the larger ones is a kinda pinched-together area (kinda like what one sees on a single-pontil glass hand-made). i'd never noticed seams on them before! are the seams typically obvious because these were produced by a machine? (i had always classified bennington-types as "hand-made" instead of machine-made.) were ANY bennington-types made completely by hand (formed by hand)? if so, would there be fingerprints on them? anybody ever loupe a bennington?

Sue, thanks for the info on the pottery firing process. i can't imagine each marble would have it's own tripod, either--but i was wondering if the stands may have been used for the larger-sized ones, and if so, there would be a pattern of 3 eyes on one side--and no other eyes because they would have been set apart from each other so they wouldn't be touching. surely the smaller sized ones wouldn't have been individually placed on stands for firing--that would have made them a whole lot more expensive! maybe those stands were for a different type of ceramic marble...? guess now would be a good time to go inspect my bennie collection, huh?

hey steph, you have some info in your study hall about little stands (here) that bennies were supposedly placed on for firing (although i've seen some bennies with screen marks on the bottoms)... any idea how big those stands were? would bennies typically have 3 eyes in a pattern from those? just thinking...

that cut-line is machine-made, i'd say. beautiful mib!

hey scott, where ya been? um, yeah, can you give us the description of a Ringer?

nice group of Vitros!

i've seen some with bubbles--they look weird because of the reflective properties of the bubbles. i've not seen any with actual holes. they are probably early Japanese cat's-eyes, which would mean they are not rare, although some of the early single-color 4-vaned ones out of Japan were very nicely made...they had really FLAT vanes that met dead-center in the marble so if you look at them from the "end" where a seam would be, they make a + .

good start, Steph! i don't know where they fit, but "Yellow Jackets" was another package name and variety that i think deserves distinction. a couple things: i too have at least one UV-reactive based cat's-eye (which I believe to be Vitro) although i don't think it's a hybrid. Vitro for sure made some patch-and-ribboned marbles that glow under black-light, but i wouldn't call them vaseline glass. i'll have to check to see if they fall in the Tiger-Eye/All-Red types, but i think they do. as for lavender: not sure if i've seen it in the 5-vaner cats, but i have it in at least one 6-vane Vitro; and the closest i've seen to the lavender Blackies that are supposed to exist were some taupe-colored ones--not pink enough to be called lavender by my pallet.

why not?

too cool, steph! does one of those bags say "Seniors"?

the brown on the one i show is almost black-looking; like my first cup of coffee in the morning (i use french roast ground for espresso, and grab the first cup when there's almost an inch brewed in the bottom of the pot--strong and black!)

i don't even know if i have this one anymore--pictures are from some time ago, and i had to use a red background to get my camera to capture the pistachio color. here it is under UV fluorescence:

here're the ones i was thinking of, but i can't swear they are Alley... anyone know for sure???

i was thinkin Alley too--i have a few of those patchy peewees (some are actually just wannabees, i.e., a bit too big to be called real peewees) and always thot they were Alleys -- kind of a square-ish patch usually...

are you saying those are Masters in that box, Galen???

i can only answer your question with another question: Akro?

well i ain't Hansel, but i think those are ALL pretty neat, Scott! little works of handmade artistry...

i read (somewhere) about certain transparent marbles being called "snotties" ... could snotties be the same as snooties? (like clearies are the same a puries) just a thot,

where the heck did you find those, Steph?

hey D & E, that's an awesome display! i'm curious about these aqua-based ones...especially the three i've marked with arrows. are any of them translucent? are any as translucent as this patch? i have a couple of those on the left with the white/pink mixed in, too...never knew for sure if they were Alley. thanks (edit: and i agree about Roger's suggestion for the IAMC site-- get busy, Dani! LOL!)

for what it's worth, here's an older box of Imperial-distributed marbles...might be some useful information on the box image... ebay link

here's an old thread with a link to pics of a likely suspect