Ric

Welcome to the Marble Connection. Your father is very well known in the marble community and I have enjoyed his books for many years. But I only spoke with him at a couple of shows so I did not know him well. It sure would be fun and interesting to see the marbles or related items you have from his collection so please feel free to start a thread and post any photos you might care to share. 🙂

I think you are referring to Lloyd Huffer so just in case you didn't realize, Lloyd passed away in February of 2019.

It is a good rendition of a snake and I agree with the Alley ID.

I think it's a slightly odd Master too.

That's a nice Liberty, Charlie.

@akroorka You know, the more I look at your "shorty" box the more I recall the boxes and some controversy. I want to say there was some discussion about whether or not it was a "fantasy" item modeled on the look of the old "Stars and Stripes" boxes or perhaps a late or even last run from the original producer. Your box appears to have Champion marbles in it. I believe the others I saw did too. There were a number of people who acquired large amounts of Champion marbles when and long after the factory closed. Some people, like Charlie Stutsman, made quite a craft of marketing them. He filled a lot of boxes like the one Al showed with Champs and it wouldn't surprise me if he or some other enterprising person filled boxes like yours in the 80s-90s, how the boxes came to be is another question. I just saw two more examples like yours. One also had Champions in it, the other contained what appeared to be later Parkersburg Vitros - both were fresh looking with little to no hinge/flap wear. It looks like yours is in similar condition. FWIW, I think they are probably later jobber boxes.

@akroorka That's an interesting box Art. Ravenswoods were for sure packaged in the blue and green ones but I am not sure about the red. And I have not seen a "short" version of the red box like the one you're showing either. @Al Oregon The box you showed was a favorite of Charlie Stutsman out of Evansville Indiana (RIP). He jobbered a lot of Champion and Marble Kings in those boxes. They are larger and I think they are quite a bit later than the boxes like Art showed. Notice the different numbers of stars and stripes and narrower cut-outs on yours.

Such a beautiful set, and a very memorable way to start your collection. Was it found during the Festival Fringe?

Here is a post from Ron with a bit more info. I bought a complete one many years ago but don't remember what I paid for it.

Nice find, Boris!

The last one is not oxblood. I don't think it's Akro either - looks to me like it might be JABO.

Very cool reflections, Art!

Nice marble, I think it's probably a WVS - leaning Ravenswood over Alley.

A good Heaton with horsehair and lots of AV . . .

I agree with Art.

It's about 5/8" but I have no idea what it is - maybe an end of cane shrunken onion skin? All I know for sure is that it's unusual and I like it. 🙂 Maybe @Chad G. or @I'llhavethat1 would have a better idea of what to call it. Nice Baby Parrot too!

Probably my best German . . .

Oh boy, that's a pretty one, Art. I think it might be a Sistersville Alley - a stunner too!

HG World's Best Moon . . .

The marbles really do look much more at home on that beautiful board. 🙂 An original Grenier set surely would be something to behold! And thanks for the reference, to Marble Mania, I hadn't looked at that book for years and that board is a beauty!

I think it wanted to be a member of this family but didn't make the cut, got pitched and then dug up.

Bummer, I feel your pain - the undamaged marbles are costing you about 10X what they should.

I agree with Chad . . .