Ric

This is certainly the sort of business that is going to require a significant amount of time and effort to build a reputation for honesty and reliability, since you really can't see the entire surface of the marble using the encasement system they appear to be offering. But who knows, maybe they can make it fly. It's surprising that they haven't already posted here to announce the availability of their services.

BitDefender didn't have a problem with the link but I removed it from my earlier post anyway. As for free advertising - sunlight is usually a good disinfectant . . .

I have never heard of a marble grading service or seen a professionally graded and encased marble. I just did a Google search and found the Marble Grading Company. I had never seen it before. It's pretty interesting but I know nothing about the service or who is involved with it. It will be interesting to see what we can learn though. Thanks for pointing it out.

I agree - JABO.

The small orange and yellow one looks like a Vacor Sunset to me. Can you tell me the diameter of the swirl?

I think they are all Vitro. The last two, in particular, look like they might be newer ones from the Anacortes location. The other looks a bit more like a weak All Red.

You make a good point Ron, I really should do a better job of explaining why I think a marble is what I think it is. When I look at this one, I see what appears to be an attempt to form four ribbons - you can see/imagine that possibility looking at the first pic. It looks like there should have been two distinct ribbons on each side of the seam - they would have been located at the top and bottom of what now appear to be wide equatorial patches. It seams to me they just bled out so bad that it filled the area between them. This sort of bleeding between ribbons is fairly common on Rainbos.

So it sounds like it still might be from over the pond . . .

It doesn't look like a Peltier Superman to me. I'd be more worried about it being a Vacor than a polished marble.

A Canadian transitional would be a new one for me too. I'll have to see if I can learn more about those.

I agree - just some bleeding from the ribbons and a weird top patch.

Thanks Alan! I am liking the art glass marbles more and more every day and I'll have to see what I can learn about this artist.

RE: the potential Red Raven . . . I don't think it is one, and if there are tinges of purple coming out of that brown striping I'd be thinking hard about a Heaton Fawn variant. And I would go Vacor on the white-based marble that is upper right in the first pic, and probably that blue one too. The white based Alley is a nice one - looks a bit like a Strawberry Shortcake variant to me.

It's definitely not an Angel of any sort but this is one of those very rare occasions when I am going to disagree with Ron and say that I think it could well be a Peltier Rainbo. I don't have Ron's experience with Akros that's for sure but I don't recall any with two equatorial ribbons of the same color. The thought of a Vitro Whitie did cross my mind, though I don't think it is one.

I agree.

And this is a new acquisition . . .

This is the Carnival that Bill McCaleb gave me from his original find . . .

If you're looking at the third photo up from the bottom, I wouldn't call those orange swirls - just a little discoloration in the base glass.

I've never heard of a Ravenswood Picasso either. Is this the marble you are referring to? I'd sure like to see some more views.

I agree, it's a crazy cool marble too!

As usual, I am only expressing my opinions and I am entitled to them. Where you draw your lines, what you call your marbles and how you grade them or value them is entirely up to you. You can call a dinged up Vacor a mint CAC and value it at $1,000.00 if you want, no skin off my back, just don't expect me to do the same. Buy what you like at a price that makes you happy - it's all that really matters.

That's a good Alley but not a Mountain Dew - they don't have any white in the striping, only bright yellow and maybe a bit of orange. Here's another one Ron posted earlier . . .

I agree with Chad on the third, but it is a bit weird. I'm pretty sure the second is JABO and the first may well be too.

Again, it's about the quality of the Sparkler, what the ideal example of a Sparkler looks like and how the variants stack up against it. Here's a box that Bob Block posted years ago. And this is what I would consider an exceptional example of a Sparkler - Bill McCaleb posted it years ago . . .

I might add that Sparklers are not patch type marbles.