Ric

I agree with your disagreement, it would have to show a few more colors before I would call it a Sparkler.

Looks like a dug Popeye Patch to me.

I'm leaning toward Akro over Vitro for this one. Some of these give people fits because they look a lot like Vitro Helmets.

A few of Billy's good ones . . .

I agree with Al - it's a strong flicker or a weak flame. Some marbles just don't like to play our name games. It is an Alley Agate though. 🙂

And I really didn't mean to sound harsh. I have an aversion to marketing hype, in general. I know people collect all sorts of marbles. I like a lot of marbles others would consider junk and I am sure I have thrown away 1000s of marbles others might consider valuable. There is no accounting for taste, one person's killer is another person's reject. If you had titled this post "Unique Ghostly Spiral", I probably wouldn't have said a word.

It's certainly possible the QC folks missed this marble but I assure you that Akro did not gain its reputation for selling marbles like this one. Any QC person who let too many of these slip by probably would have lost their job. And just to keep things in perspective, Akro closed about 15 years before this collector was born and people were likely digging there 10 years before he was in kindergarten. What do you think the odds are that a kid walked into a Five and Dime where a bushel of brand new Akro Spirals were selling five for a nickel and they pick the "Ghost Snake Killer"? You've had plenty of great marbles and I admire your efforts to market them but try to keep it real. I am probably not the only person who finds this sort of hyper hype off-putting.

My first thought is a Vitro but it would be nice to see what it looks like with strong backlighting.

This marble is short on striping glass. I doubt it would have cleared QC.

Akro IMO.

Conqueror variant IMO.

Pretty Akro Tricolor, I think.

The way they are sort of randomly placed on different marbles - I'd go with patches.

Might be a Cairo Cloudy Day - they're not all seedy.

Based on this single view, I'm thinking Ravenswood or Heaton, in that order.

I'd guess Alley.

Sorta looks like a messed up crease pontil transitional - maybe Japanese, but it's hard to tell.

Maybe an Akro Ace.

The pattern looks mostly Alley to me. I think your white balance is off quite a bit too, unless the striping is blue. I have the same problem on occasion but not exactly sure why.

It's not often meaningful. If you didn't wash them it could just be a surface stain from who knows what.

Finally, here is the 13/16" from the center of the group.

Here is the 13/16" marble from 12 o'clock in the group.

This one from 10 o'clock in the group is just shy of 13/16".

Here is the 13/16" marble from 8 o'clock in the group.

Here is the 13/16" marble from 6 o'clock in the group.