SNYD

This is such a sad thing, but also I want to pass along that Ron loved the farm and his hobby was taking care of it and making it look as nice as possible. This was what he was doing just prior to his passing. His wish was to pass away in his childhood home / farm which did happen. The weekend before he was at a marble show doing what he also loved. So, as we are saddened by this, we must remember he was doing what he liked to do. He was happy. His last wish was to be placed to rest at the cemetery at the farm, which he redid and was very proud of it. It is a great final resting place as he will forever look over the farm from the hilltop. To my buddy RIP.

Mr. Ron Shepherd has passed away this evening. He was such a huge influence to the hobby and will be so sadly missed.

I have not heard that. It would be hard to think they were used by kids to play marbles. I would be surprised they could hold this monster in their hand and be able to do anything with it but throw it.

I was on a road trip and stopped at a local antique store in a small Pa town about two hours from my home. This shop looked like it was an old gas station, pretty small for an antique store. But you never know. I did find three Alley woodland camos and some others. As I was paying, they told me of a guy who had just stopped to see if they wanted to buy some marbles. I got his number called him and met up with him. I was hoping for the magic Alley find of super Alleys. Well, once again no Alleys. there were a number of good pelts and some masters and a few Christensens. I was surprised that most were in really nice shape. I told the guy that I was not interested. As I was leaving walking down his walkway, he yelled that he forgot a box that had some big marbles. So, I went back and looked in the box, there were about six handmades from 1 1/2 down to 1". They were a little rough for me. There was a really big MFC Slag, 1 57/64", real close to 2". I looked it over, not bad a couple small chips and some play ware. I made an offer and he jumped on it. I am not into them so I guess it will end up at a show for sale. Here is a couple pics, one has a 5/8 marble next to it for size comparison. Glad I followed up, but still wished there were Alleys instead.The lady at the store called today and gave me another name and phone number to call about marbles. Man, another long drive in the future, I hope!

Great score Chuck. A big selection for sure. Glad you had a good time.

The box is made from an old chicken coop from WV. My buddy Ron Shepherd tore an old chicken coop down on his farm. It was a chicken coop from when he was young. I left the outside rough and original and just sanded the inside. They are nice. I made him some so he could enjoy the memories of back then when he looks at his marbles.

I missed the Saturday posting, I fell asleep after the drive home from Canton. So I will share it today....Here is a real nice mint slag I found on the way home from the Canton show. It is 1 1/4".

Top row, center marble is a Bloody Halloween, some folks call it Pheonix Fire. Second row, third marble to right is an exotic coral. The rest are or have no names. You will find with Alley marbles that most of the really eye catching, wow factor marbles do not have names. Some people feel that they have to name marbles for some reason, to me it does not need a name if it has eye appeal and I like it.

This was a really great show. Spent time with so many good marbling friends and we had some spectacular dinners. If you are in the area or go to Canton show next year, hit up Mission BBQ and Quaker Steak & Lube, I was shocked withe the steak I got, best I have had in a long time. Anyhow Thanks to all of you great folks for such a memorable time. Here are some pics of what followed me home.

I have two watercolors. One from Edger E West. He lived 1857 to 1892. One from Edwin Lamasure he lived 1866 to 1916. How do I find out if they are worth anything or go to Salvation Army?

Ron is 100% correct. I usually do not contact people on Ebay but it was going for a high cost and there were lots of bidders. But others I have contacted get really ugly really quick. I do not recommend it unless you're willing to get bashed. Oh, yes, you will most likely get blocked or banned from the seller. Don't get me wrong, there have been some unknowledgeable folks that have been very gracious. NOT MANY!

Very sad that someone thinks they are getting an authentic 1" popeye on Ebay. I messaged the seller letting them know it is a contemporary marble not vintage. https://www.ebay.com/itm/255948863193?hash=item3b97bdb6d9:g:V94AAOSwindj1BJE&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4HKF6seuUK%2B936U%2FWKEKOquaO64avotDzBEKs%2BGn5iFR4IwNbbFQkSCEnAFn%2B7T3GhZX17AE06HnS%2F47gtHT1qeMD31745SrUD7MdGOGT5O7XOd7%2FbX4Dfzu7My4izp7Eemy6xzOdmDxDUJLe1sw5p4%2FLgsoiPcljrZBXBcC2fOIketUS9EQ%2BI6PCO54dIM1k8gtwNiSCWcVcVfFPjUtggCDdZQqYq1o%2FPW8ZMIo9BSRpHFfkyD602Y3QYT8bF2KiUGFQK1I3YwREx25ju7XXgjO8vgOC7wgE9iZGRHihMZm|tkp%3ABk9SR4iJ3aTCYQ

I will throw my two cents in the pot too. I have had several discussions with fellow mibbers recently, mostly me venting my disgust. I will say that Facebook is not as bad as Ebay for this first gripe. So many postings with numerous makes names because people either want to cover all possible viewers or they do not know. I have sent several messages to one seller letting him know that he has akro, alley, vitro, marble king and more all listed as Christensen. He said he has collected for years but his eyes are getting bad. I told him the reason he not getting bids is because of this and his starting bids were way out of whack. He thnked me and he still posts them. There are so many wrong ID's, which for old timers it may be good that maybe a good marble might be bought for cheap. But I am teaching a newer collector and I have told him to not trust Ebay, but he calls nightly with, did you see this or did you see that. I know there is a lot of confusion and misleading information making newbie struggle or find out what they got is not what they thought. At least on Facebook many people comment openly when misinformation is presented. My second beef is that (I know this is and has been an issue since man saw his first marble) people list marbles as mint and there are visual issues. In fact, I am seeing so many so-called mint marbles more than I ever have. I have told my new collector to go to shows to find out what true fun, educated buying and selling is like. It all goes back to spending time learning, BUT FROM RELIABLE SOURCES. I post almost daily to people on Facebook the link to this group and AAM. I tell them that these two sites are where the real facts are and the people who can help. BRAVO, to all of you great mentors, keep up the good work.👍

I hope this is not too long, I thought I would share an event that I thank God for. My wife Kim and I decided to take a day and travel to as many antique shops we could, going to northern New York state. We found tons of replica antiques, garage sale items and some good furniture. We stopped at eleven shops. From one room 10' x 10' rooms to three story buildings. Yes, we did find some marbles, very commons, damaged good ones, overpriced handmade and even some new mibs. We got as far north as we could, so we had time to get home to tend to our puppy dog ODIE. With such a disappointment we decided to take the direct route home. We were on the interstate about an hour and 20 minutes from home when we were going by a town and decided to swing off for one last check. We looked around and no marbles, I asked the owner if there were any marbles and he said no. As Kim searched for McCoy I talked with the owner about the antique business and how things have changed and the young people's low interest in old items. I told him about collecting marbles, going to shows and the great people you meet. I asked if any others stopped in for marbles and he said yes, there are two others that stop regularly. He asked how long I have collected and that he was very impressed with my manors, and he could tell I was truly interested in marbles. I gave him my card and Kim was holding the doorknob to open the door. I said have a great day and I would be back. As Kim started to open the door, he said wait a minute. I like you, your very respectful I'll tell you what, I have a huge tub full of jars at my house. I never brought them in for the other guys to go through because I do not feel I can trust them. Would you want to come back and go through the marbles and help me price them for selling and if you find ones you want, we can work something out for you helping. I said sure anytime, how many jars do you have. He said between 40 and 50, so I said it may take a whole day. He said he will get them and call me to come and go through them. The moral of the story, you never know when that special surprise will happen, so stay positive and greet it graciously no matter how big or how small.

There is a lady in Fife Lake that is a collector.