Ric

The original post has been updated.

Here's some common types with a few atypical ones thrown in just for fun.

And for that, I'll yodel - OpalllllllLadyhooo! O.K., that was lame. Thanks for the picture, Bruce.

Hey Delbert, The construction of the marble you showed looks considerably different than the construction of the marble in the original post, doesn't it? It's also difficult to discern the colors from the pictures, so . . . ?

I apparently heard the same things you did, Steph. I always thought multiple colors were required too. But I also have a few with an opal base and a single color so . . . ?

Hey Gary, I'm glad you enjoyed the post. You are correct that not all pinkish mibs are Jabos. On the other hand, they sure made a lot of them with that pinkish base. And if I am not mistaken, they also made some transparent ones with pink swirling inside too.

That would be a nice find, Delbert. Could you show us a picture of it?

No kidding . . . there's some nice patterns in that group. -Ric

Alley's Blue Skies and Blush Lines: Honoring Alley's Blue Lady R. Shepherd, B. McCaleb, B. Burkhart, and R. Anthony Alley's Blue Lady is the venerable matriarch of Alley's Blue Skies and Blush Lines. The marble was made by Alley Agate when they were located in Pennsboro, West Virginia, and it was named by Ron Shepherd at the Sistersville Marble Festival in the Fall of 2008. The base color on these classics is a sky blue variation and the striping is a lavender pastel. The striping ranges from thick and dark to thin and light. Notice how a rich blue color outlines the thick dark stripe on the first example below, while white accentuates the lighter lavender striping on the others. Alley's Blue Skies Line Ron Shepherd named Alley's Blue Skies Line. Marbles in the Line prominently display the sky blue colors typical of the classic Blue Ladies, with the best examples showing a significant amount of white. Sometimes the blue is found as the base color. At other times, it appears over white or together with other colors. Several examples are shown below, along with two Blue Ladies, displayed as honored guests. Named examples include classic Blue Skies, a Spring Sky and a Blood Red Sky.* Named Marbles from The Blue Skies Line Blue Skies are the namesakes of the Blue Skies Line. Each displays a sky blue color typical of the classic Blue Ladies. The best examples show a significant amount of white striping. Four variants are shown below. It should be noted that Champion, Heaton, Jabo and Vacor all produced marbles with a color combination of blue and white. Therefore, careful examination and comparison to known examples may be required to discern Alley's from those produced by other companies. Stormy Skies prominently display the classic sky blue colors of the Blue Skies Line, with the best examples showing a significant amount of white. Each also displays one or more additional colors, which are often dark and reminiscent of stormy skies. For example, those below display gray, dark brown or black striping. Alley's Blush Line Bill McCaleb named Alley's Blush Line to honor the Blue Ladies, which are the first marbles celebrated for displaying Alley's Blush. The pastel colors of the Blush Line range from pinks to lavenders to purples. Marbles in this Line can vary from transparent to opaque. Several examples are shown below, together with the two classic Blue Ladies, appearing for an encore. Marbles in the Blush Line earn the designation "Lady" by displaying the same lavender striping as the classic. Named examples include a Lady Tater, Lady Gaia, Opal Lady, Ebony Blush and Kurly Blush.* Named Marbles from The Blush Line Opal Ladies have a highly translucent base with sparse wisps of white or color inside. Some may appear opalescent. All display the lavender striping of the classic Blue Lady, mostly on the surface. Notice the yellow-tinted base of the first example below, and the opalescent appearance of the second. Lady Taters display the Blue Lady's Blush on a Tater Bug's base. Like Tater Bugs, the base of these marbles can vary, with more desirable examples displaying a fully developed pattern and additional color. The example in the top row, below, is flanked by a classic Blue Lady and a Tater Bug. The latter type was named by Sam Hogue because their colors and patterns reminded him of potato bugs. * More photos, names, and descriptions for some of the marbles shown are Forthcoming, and will be added to this post when available.

No kidding, Galen . . . that's just mean! lol.

Al, As I understand it, Champion made the largest numbers of Corals. I would attribute the middle and right marbles in Les's pic to Champ. I do not know of any corals currently attributed to Ravenswood. And I agree that many CAC people attribute the left marble to that company. As for Alley, I am under the impression that they did not produce corals on a transparent base, but I could certainly be wrong about that.

Here's the link. I've only seen one other, they're really nice.

Nice marble. I see what you see. It sure looks like it might be ox. Kinda hard to tell from here though. But if it is, I'm thinking there might be a wider stripe hiding in/under the red too.

That's probably one of the nicest 1" St. Marys I've ever seen - very cool!

Nice Alley, Al. I'm not sure I'd call it a coral though. I refer to those as Bacon Strip Swirls. lol.

Sorry Steph, I should have said . . . probably not the best pic - it's pretty typical for Alley.

Here you go, Steph. Probably not the best example - but handy.

Too funny, Lou. What's it take for a Basset Hound to bottom out - a few inches? lol. When I was a kid one of my responsibilities at my first paying job (65 cents / hour) was to care for Claudia - the original Hush Puppy dog - no kiddin' - I love Basset Hounds. Alan, those are some beautiful pics. I haven't seen that much snow for a long while - thankfully. It looks like even the Great Danes are bottoming out in you neighborhood! And frosticles . . . ouch - poor pupper.

I agree for the most part, David. But as for, "Just another person who doesn't know what he has . . .", I'm sure you realize, good or bad, it's marketing - you can earn a Ph.D. in it. Many of these folks see the difference between "may have" and "has" as the difference between the truth and a lie - especially if they know the most honest statement is "most likely does not have". Marketing abounds in our society. Consumer education is the only answer. It's a hot button for me . . .sorry to have drifted so far from the posted topic.

55. Colts 31, Saints 24.

Dang, Pop . . . you mean like a Cray XT5? Kinda overkill don't you think? Sorry man - I just couldn't help myself.

Happy Birthday Griff - I hope you have a great one!

Hey Steve . . . missed your birthday . . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope ya had a great one! :happy-857:

It was my understanding that Champion purposefully filled the Bicentennial Bags with marbles from several WV companies, and I think Heaton and MK cats are not uncommon in those bags. I also thought that Champion never manufactured cat's eyes. Are the ones you dug there distinctly different from other manufacturer's cat's eyes or could they just be remnants of those Champion obtained from other companies?