Here are a few better pics of the marbles. The clearies range from 17/32" to 7/8" and the Cat's Eyes are all 7/8" or just shy of that.
The Cat's Eyes are crude with lots of tiny bubbles and at least some space between the mostly thin translucent vanes - intriguing but not exactly pretty.
Thanks a lot for showing those, Dink. I will try to get some individual pics of mine and post them tomorrow. I agree that the Cat's Eyes in this muslin bag seem pretty unique too, and I would have a hard time attributing them to another maker. I feel the same way about a few of the clearies.
It's important to remember that there are often "outliers" in every marble run, and that could include size, structure, color(s) or any combination thereof. I've seen Jorkscrews fool well seasoned Akro collectors.
It's not a cat's eye type marble . . . If I remember correctly, the Akro pigtails I have seen are like a wispy tight spiral, usually inside of a transparent spiral (Snake).
Thanks Al, I know there are all kinds of back-filled Champion poly bags out there. I've seen the headers selling by the roll on EBay, which really complicates matters.
It looks sorta Akro-ish to me, especially the colors. I'll have to get into the archives and see what I can find. Nice marble though, regardless of who made it!
Nice, Chuck. Is Vitro's name anywhere on the packaging? Was there any indication of a date anywhere on the carton? It seems like they may have been packaged for a jobber - maybe 1970s?
Does anyone have any confirmed examples of the cat's eyes produced by Champion Agate? I understand that they were made in limited quantities but it seems like there should be some known examples out there somewhere. I have never seen any in packaging, has anyone else?
Just browsing around the "Study Hall" today and realized how interesting it is that an apparently German artist adapted the fairly common theme of "cormorant fishing" from Japanese woodblocks and applied it to scenic chinas. I think this is a very attractive marble and would probably buy it if I had the opportunity and the price was right.