bumblebee

Here's another example of agates fetching higher prices than I am used to, although I think this went higher because some bidders failed to read the fine print which said the blue agate lacked facets.

That being said that black one on the right had some very nice rings on it.

On 2/4/2022 at 3:30 PM, hdesousa said:

This week's find in a group of crockery marbles.  "Blood alleys", at one time the most prized marble for shooting.  About 9/16" (15 mm) perfectly spherical, so machine ground.  I'm sure they've been discussed here, but I can't find the topic.

 

Hansel are you the blood alley Whisperer?

Those must have been ground in a mill a  very long time ago.

Facebook is stimulating in the moment, but FB can't hold a candle to a forum like this with its 17+ years of timeless content thanks to its dedicated members past and present.

Does it get much better than good citizens sharing their joy in a harmless hobby like this? I think not.

This is a fantastic tool from Google using data from their massive Google Books archive.

Link to the tool is here: https://books.google.com/ngrams/

Like to about the tool is here: https://books.google.com/ngrams/info

Obviously I could not use "marbles" for this example because marbles would include usage for statuary and architectural marble.

I am curious what "Italian Marble" marbles were in this ad from the March 1, 1928 Waxahachie Daily Light?

I have found a California Agate or two but cannot recall finding any mystery "marble" marbles next to German agates except for the much older "blood alleys".

My hunch is it was a limited import of some sort of plain milled stone marbles.

Just now, schmoozer said:

Hand faceted?

Yup...his other one was too but this was the killer.

1 minute ago, Chad G. said:

Yes !! I seen it when he listed it. ( next one I see like that I'll let ya know) Pix are all better now !! Guess maybe a glitch ?? Wish you would have gotten it, what a deal Q!Q!

Next time buy it for me and I'll pay you a finder's fee.

Actually I double-clicked my picture and had the option to keep the original image aspect ratio, so I checked that. Funny all these years and I never had to do that. I just pasted these in from the eBay listing originally.

2 minutes ago, Chad G. said:

I know the seller, Jim from Indiana ? Oop !! pics are showing an egg shape Bee !! Unless my PC is off ?? No ! never seen one like it, a great agate !!

Yes, he's really nice. I did buy a pale smaller one off him that was a bit unusual though not a killer.

Also got a 1 1/8" German handmade for $22 that seems like a good deal for NM. Won't know until it's in hand.

Agate definitely not egg shaped. Looks normal here. Try refreshing your browser?

Bummer I missed it. Seller has no more like this.

Check out the black and burnt orange and then the light bullseye. Anybody seen one like it before?

Yes looks like a Tri-Lite to me. I once got a jar of all Tri-Lites and a number of them had weaker colors than usual. Even had a couple with very little red.

25 minutes ago, Chad G. said:

...  ????? ...  What's the size on those Jason ???  The second colorful one is "outstanding"

Haven't asked her but they sure look 7/8" to me? Yes I think that second one may have gotten its vanes goofed which results in the gorgeous flowing pattern.

Most of her marbles seem to be late 40s, early 50s and common but these large cats caught my top. Darker one looks like a Vitro hybrid? What about the more colorful one?

Yes, Vacors surprised me. I once got rid of many, many pounds of them...silly me.

I do enjoy the shows of course but to me it's always been the thrill of the chase, just like treasure hunting but with a bigger chance to make a score.

I have met a couple of collectors who seem to have no end of new scores. I call them marble whisperers.

I sometimes wonder where marble collecting is headed. I have not been to the shows lately to get a feel for any newer generation of collectors.

I have no market evidence to support this but I think fancy handmades will continue to grow in value as wealthy antique collectors discover and covet them.

I think fewer new people will collect machine made simply due to the diminishing supply in the wild. I haven't found a true keeper marble in a year at least.

What do you think?

How about this one? Another seller:

13 hours ago, Steph said:

At 3/4", shiny, and amorphous, isn't Jabo an obvious first choice?
 

Thanks, Steph. Doing that thing you do!

Shrug! I'd nickname it a green ghost and give it its own special case.

Maybe the intrepid @Steph can intuit its origin.

14 hours ago, Ric said:

I think MK is not out of the question.

You should check out @Dave 13 post . . .

Great work. Very similar large flecks of AV.

3 hours ago, Ric said:

It looks almost too well made to be foreign, maybe?

This one definitely looks like a mirror clean surface but construction wise, just like mine.

There was some talk ages ago about these being maybe MK Dragonfly marbles but those have the MK construction from what I can see.

I'll dig mine up later and take close-ups to illustrate my point.

I have a few but the surface of mine aren't as smooth and pristine as my other Masters. Mine almost felt more like foreign made.

Maybe I had something by a different maker?

eBay fees and now much higher shipping costs means I haven't sold in ages. Doubt I will again unless I make some huge score I need to offload.

I think a good rule of thumb is "if it makes you smile, keep it".

The problem with that rule though is I have several keepers that I keep because they're unusual and therefore rare, but they don't otherwise make me smile. But giving them up would mean I'll never see the likes of them again, so that makes me frown.

So maybe a better rule is "If it doesn't make you frown to imagine never seeing it again, get rid of it."

1 minute ago, Ric said:

I'm giving downsizing serious thought but it's sort of a traumatic prospect.

I'm in the same boat if only because I have fewer and fewer scores each year.

1 minute ago, Alan said:

I have never downsized - or frankly, even sold anything in the past 20+ years.  But I think its helpful to step back ask ourselves what we are doing this for.  What is the focus of the collection?  If there isn't a focus - then its more of an "accumulation" than a collection.  Our focus may shift over time - and some re-thinking may be in order.

FWIW:  A well known person who has been in the hobby for 35+ years once said:  If you don't have it on display - its time to let it go. 

This is a good point. To properly display my favorites I'd need a few more large solitaire type boards.

I have a ton of Vitro tiger eyes, many of which are similar. I almost feel as though having so many distracts me from the ones that stand out. On the other hand, the colors and patterns of them bunched together also bring a smile to my face.

I think I would be more willing to let many go if I knew they were going to a newer collector who would get more joy out of them.