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bumblebee

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Posts posted by bumblebee

  1. Morphy Auctions Catalogs

    in Marble-Related Documents, News, Etc., Especially Items with Dates

    Posted

    Here are the available PDF catalogs of past Morphy Auctions that featured marbles. Where no catalog exists, there will be a link to the online listing if one exists.

    Morphys offers a PDF of the final prices with their online listing, but you can also view the final prices online using this more interactive page.

     

    • Like 2
    • Award 1

  8. Gray natural faceted bullseye agate

    in General Marble & Glass Chat

    Posted

    I spent $30 for this faceted bullseye agate shooter because it is not dyed or heat-treated. It's the first one I have found like this with strong bullseye rings (forgive my trademark low quality close-ups). So this is what your usual dyed agate would look like prior to treatment. Anybody else have any like this?

    IMG_3589.jpgIMG_3586.jpgIMG_3588.jpg

    "Flint" agates, I believe, were simply the lower quality Brazilian agate without any of the striations or color treatments. Most flints I have found are one shade of monochrome gray. Only one has a tiny little white patch on the top.

    Brazilian agate is gray and whitish when not heat-treated and/or dyed, for example:

    image.png

     

  10. Hand-Faceted Agate lovers look here.

    in General Marble & Glass Chat

    Posted

    Speaking of moons, here's some text from an unpublished marble wiki I was working on:

    Moons are circular or crescent-shaped impact fractures occurring in the subsurface of agate marbles.

    Unlike the more fragile glass marbles where moons can occur on the surface (missing glass) or subsurface (fractures), moons on agates always appear subsurface.

    Most collectors today consider moons unwanted damage that detracts from a marble's beauty and value. This was not always the case with marble players of the past.

    Earl Johnson, writing in 1946 about his boyhood marble memories, said agates were like “diamonds” and that the:

    …milky white ones that had the wonderful propensity of collecting 'moons' (like moons on finger-nails), when hit by other marbles! With great ceremony we used to soak a many-mooned agate in a bed of lard and presto, next day–all the moons were gone! 2)

    On the other hand, there are several instances of players seeing moons as highly desirable, even necessary.

    Weare Holbrook writes in 1940:

    And although flaws in an agate did not enhance its desirability, 'moons' were something else again; they were scars acquired in long and faithful service, a visible proof of prowess exhibited as proudly as the saber cuts on the face of a Heidelberg student.3)

    The author of this 1953 newspaper article describes how when he was a boy:

    …you wanted moons in your agates. You treasured them. They were proof your agate was the real thing. 4)

    This 1908 poem contains a stanza about a new agate being proven 'right' by adding moons: 

    Then Guy Fuller bought an "agate,"
And to prove it was "right,"
He would throw it hard against a stone;
"Half-moons" you'd see of white,

    On the other hand, another writer in 1921 says too many moons was not desirable:

    At the time we played marbles an agate should have two or three moons in it to prove it was genuine, but its value was lessened by a larger number. 5)

    But another author in 1921 says that agates:

    …were the mark of opulence and the more 'moons' they had in them the more valuable they were regarded. No agate was worth anything until it had some 'moons' in it. 6)

    If this sentiment was true nationally in America for a significant period of time, no doubt agate owners spent time ensuring their agates were covered in moons even if not from official play.

    'Repairing' Moons

    Those who disliked moons were able to temporarily but effectively obscure moons by soaking an agate in lard overnight, or by boiling an agate in lard. Oil would seep into the porous agate and fill the moon fracture space, obscuring the damage for a time.

    This trick was also reportedly used by unscrupulous gemstone dealers who used it to obscure flaws in opals.7)

    This technique was reportedly used by unscrupulous players to deceive opponents into thinking an agate up for “keeps” or for trade was pristine.

    While the lard method has been proven effective, other substances are also mentioned by article writers as being effective at obscuring moons, though vinegar seems dubious:

    • Buttermilk
    • Coal oil
    • Cream
    • Vinegar
    • Like 1
    • Award 4

  12. Reputable eBay marble sellers

    in General Marble & Glass Chat

    Posted

    Thanks, everyone.

    I have added the first eBay search link at the top menu. For now it's just the reputable sellers ones.

    I have set it to sort by "newest first" instead of "best match" but the downside there is the results will tend to be front heavy with Cedarman7 auctions because he lists so many. Still, I prefer "newest first" and assume most others do.

    Let me know whether you have any feedback.

    It used to be much easier to pinpoint marbles on eBay until they removed all the subcategories, but with some finagling you can get pretty good results with the advanced search options.

     

  13. For one brief hour last night I thought this Peltier box was mine...

    in General Marble & Glass Chat

    Posted

    9 minutes ago, Chad G. said:

    I don't believe the box was sold, not enough time to get to any new owner. Evidently the bumblebees are already up for sale & being sold indicating the box being broke down by the orig. owner ?? Evidently in hopes of making more money ?? 

    image.png.74ea3668fb9283c5134f7d0e1b7ffbcf.png

    Chad where are you seeing that? I see no current or sold listings from the seller with marbles in them.

  15. For one brief hour last night I thought this Peltier box was mine...

    in General Marble & Glass Chat

    Posted

    33 minutes ago, akroorka said:

    The seller attempted a repost on this item and failed.

    Here is a link. A few new images were included.

    Marble--On!!

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/224854228610?hash=item345a5b3e82%3Ag%3A8kEAAOSwVYRiF30D&LH_BIN=1&nma=true&si=fDQ0PARA0WXRJ8eSqvpvjGc4jEY%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

    That's strange. I wonder what happened. I figured it would go to at least $14k but his repost showed $10k to buy it.

     

    s-l1600b.jpg

    s-l1600.jpg

  16. For one brief hour last night I thought this Peltier box was mine...

    in General Marble & Glass Chat

    Posted

    11 hours ago, wvrons said:

    I have been outbid. I did not ask the seller any questions. I knew well my bid would not last any time.

    @wvrons, have you seen the seller's updated pictures? Condition definitely better than original photos. I was just thinking I'd never bid higher without seeing better condition photos.

    Any thoughts why the Blue Galaxy is the only "fancy" NLR in that box? Maybe they produced them later?

  19. For one brief hour last night I thought this Peltier box was mine...

    in General Marble & Glass Chat

    Posted

    11 minutes ago, wvrons said:

    If that is a row of Blue Galaxies ? Which it is likely, depending on condition, which is probably very good, that is a $10,000.00-$20,000.00 box.  If I won it, I would probably go to FL to get it. Forget shipping it. The seller may get a surprise when they get the 1099 for taxes at the end of the year.  Over $600.00 total in sales per year on Ebay now gets the seller a 1099 for taxes due. 

    Imagine the nightmare bad packaging scenarios! I'd probably fly to pick it up too.

    Seller could do much better selling it with Morphy Auctions.

     

  22. Reputable eBay marble sellers

    in General Marble & Glass Chat

    Posted · Edited by bumblebee
    Added suggested names to list

    This week I will be adding a new top menu item containing advanced eBay search links. One of these links will only show results from reputable sellers of vintage marbles.

    So far the sellers I have are:

    • cedarman7
    • hjdmarbles
    • orange_orbital
    • rhgeis65jk
    • oldnurse85
    • natwilso-9
    • arasmus
    • bobblocksmarbles

    Do you know of any other vintage marble sellers with a stellar reputation? I can only include so many, so ideally these would be regularly active sellers. I know zaboo left eBay.

    Thanks!

    image.png

    • Award 2

  24. MARBLE CLEANING

    in Help Forums

    Posted

    I have also used diluted hydrogen peroxide in a warm water bath on especially dirty marbles. It seems to pull off some of the gunk that liquid detergent does not.

    If you want to be a complete purist then use only distilled water so the marble surface has no hard water streaks on it.

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