Ric

Thanks for the pics, Al. Do you have any Marble King packaging with similar style marbles?

These all have a thin line of AV . . .

Great colors on that one, Dave!

The best person I knew is now departed (RIP Leroy Johnson) and I really don't know who, if anybody, does it now. The thing you have to worry about is that if the damage is too deep grinding it down not only removes the damage, it removes or alters the pattern or other elements such that the marble is no longer worth having. This is particularly true with the old Germans - you can lose the outer decorations if you're not selective about which marbles you try to polish. Or you might wind up with a marble that retains it's interesting elements and has a shine on it, but still has divots where the damage was originally.

Well, that depends on what they look like. 😁

So you are on the right track - it starts with baby steps. 🙂

I think that is where most collectors start out but as Alan is fond of saying (I'm paraphrasing) - there's a big difference between a horde and a collection. My general rule is that I don't get rid of any marble that I find interesting and can't identify, which means I have a lot of marbles! lol

The only thing that will limit your learning is your interest. I like a lot of Vacor marbles but I don't know all that much about Vacors in general, mainly because they just don't interest me that much. If you find the types you posted interesting enough, you'll go out and learn everything you can to figure it all out - then you can teach me about them. 🙂

I have always liked that buttery base glass - nice marbles, Chad!

You posted some really interesting examples, Rick - lefties, super tight polar twists, etc. But this is the one that piques my interest - a very cool marble IMO.

There will always be plenty to learn, Melissa, it's not like you'll ever get to a point where you're bored because you already know all there is to know about marbles. It's one of the things that attracted me to the hobby. Everyone still has plenty to learn.

. . . only a tiny bit. When you've collected as long as I have you come to realize that sometimes the cost/benefit analysis just doesn't favor worrying about it.

@Fire1981 FWIW, I have seen these marbles in hand. There is one right front in this group. It's not as nice as yours and the ribbon placement is a bit different but it still intended to have pink and white polar patches with blue equatorial ribbons. My guess is that these predate Tiger Eyes and may have even been produced at Vienna. Maybe an easier way to say it is that I think the lower right marble could have easily come out looking just like yours. 🙂

FWIW, I could easily see this as a reworked RFF.

I think they are MK - the two in back are newer and the right front is just sloppy IMO.

Colors and seams can both be important but sometimes neither helps. I haven't spent any significant time consulting original packaging to try and figure these types out because knowing who made them will not make them any more or less attractive to the vast majority of collectors, me included.

Funky is a good description - not a signature I recognize. It looks like it has a little bling it too.

That's from back to front, Melissa.

@Fire1981 Look what you started. I really appreciate it too! Might have to get back with you on that marble though. lol

I guess that's a compliment? 😀

You'd think a coyote would have more sense.

Type 2s are definitely harder to find - I'll have to see if I have one with those particular colors. But you know me - I won't be getting into the archives until tomorrow, it's already way past my bedtime. lol I'm going to bring some examples to the Decatur show and we can have some more discussion then. Hopefully, you'll still talk to me. lol

This is typical of humans . . . we try to make nice tidy rules about how things are supposed to be but there are always exceptions that muddle everything up. lol That's why I was saying that a Type I with two ribbons of the same color around the equator or a Type II with a white bottom patch are the same marble as long as the top patch and equatorial ribbons are the same.

I doubt Art Fisher knew that.

That's why it would be rare and unusual!