Ric

I think visiting 8 countries is the lie.

I sorta figured as much - still a really cool package though.

You know, getting shot in the head with a glass marble has happened . . . . . . and all I will say is that it's not good!

That's a neat bag - love the graphics. Do you think the marbles were packaged during the Taisho era or is that a later package of vintage marbles?

I first saw this several years ago and it is very interesting. It's fun to see marbles used as part of a functional machine. One of my favorites are the old marble cash registers.

I have no idea if these are Carl Fisher polymers or not. If they are, I would guess they are some of his earliest work, since the quality doesn't seem to be what I would normally associate with him.

We are certainly lucky to have someone with the technical chops necessary to keep this site updated and running smoothly!

The two outer marbles are four-vane, four-colors; blue, red, white & yellow. The center is a 4-vane, 3-color; blue, white and red cross-through vanes. I had them pegged as odd MKs - the colors seem a little dull, but structure-wise, they sure look it. But the lack of green, the red cross-through, and Al's comment now have me thinking about foreign possibilities. I think 4-vane multi-color foreign Cat's Eyes aren't very common either though.

You might be on to something, Al. I know MK Cat's pretty well and I never considered that these could be foreign. If so, they are really good imposters.

It's an obvious scam . . .

I wonder if they started with a thinner cane and somehow mushed it in and out to make a larger glob but then rounding the mass seems like it would have been pretty tricky - it's a real stumper. Regardless, given the rarity of these types it seems like something not just any craftsman could do - it must have required significant and specialized skill.

No kidding, I would have thought they were hand-gathered.

Wow, those are great, and not made by newbies, that's for sure - amazing craftsmanship on both!

@Steph Thanks for the response. Those are my thoughts too. I checked Elizabeth's book @Pinx pretty carefully and didn't see anything about three color MK Cross-throughs. I do know that she checks in here occasionally so maybe she'll be kind enough to share her thoughts the next time she drops in.

FWIW, I have noticed in the past that one cannot attach photos directly to a PM but can insert a link to a photo that is stored at an offsite location or even in a post (or from your attachments directory) here, and the photo will show up in the PM. It is probably designed to prevent users from using the public forum for free "private" storage.

I agree with a MK and two Vitros.

Does anyone know how common they are - like the center marble, for example? Any other examples to share?

It's really hard to see the seams here, Avaa, but they don't look like MKs to me, unless they are newer ones that I am not familiar with. They look more like Master Cloudy or maybe Akro Moss Agate variants to me.

Some older styles . . . I have no idea what their names might be . . .

13/16"

Looks like an Alley and a Vitro to me too.

There are all kinds of great examples in the "Slags and Swirls Saturday" thread - - just sayin'.

Only a few older ash trees have survived on my property. I've probably lost 50-75 of them and I've already cut up eight 60-80 footers that fell into the yard or over my access roads this year. The only upside is that I have plenty of good firewood . . .