bumblebee

I read that they (agate grinders) lived to about age 35 due to the cold conditions + moisture + dust.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/362217499347?ul_noapp=true

I'm trying to picture what jewelry used the peewee agates without drilling holes in them or anything?

For more photos, see https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/48122635 If I were wealthy I would have because it has a lot of "same run" marbles which to me suggests original owner of boxes/bags, so probably really good condition. Hard to tell from the close-ups whether the condition issues are that white dust or scratches or both.

I agree with you. The aggies look better than the glass marbles. They deserve a special place, too, so maybe in 20 years when I've gathered up enough aggies I'll exclusively use these boxes for them.

I think Steph probably nailed it: https://www.billes-en-tete.com/detail.php?id=123

That's not cousin. That's big Daddy, or even Gramps. Gorgeous!

Some boxes of La Aurora 1903 Edition cigars contain a flocked tray with eight rows that neatly hold mibs up to 7/8". The slots are concave (convex?) so the smaller mibs settle in and line up better. I recently scored two boxes off eBay or $10 each. Sellers typically ask for higher, but I just wanted to give my fellow collectors a heads up. Sometimes local cigar shops sell their empty boxes for a song. Edit: some of their boxes feature a torpedo shaped tray slots which would not work as well.

Bob's answer makes the most sense at a glance. I'm still puzzled why I have so many 9/16" and under without purposely seeking them out (aside from my green one), but I assume back in the day the children adopted the peewees as marbles in the same way we adopted steelies.

I wonder whether the peewees were harder to make? I cannot believe they were because it just seems like they would not sell as well, but still they are tiny so it's very impressive when you consider the way they made these.

I finally got my first green dyed true peewee agate, and again I wonder why they would have taken the trouble to make these? We know hand cut agates required a lot of skill and labor, were highly prized as shooters, and were not affordable to most kids. So why make peewees? Were they cheaper? Was it the same reason we like them today, because they're cute and dainty and amazing?

I use a sniping site partly because I like to put "tentative" bids on things in that site's interface, which I cannot do on eBay. Then as the auction end approaches I'll go back to my snipe interface and decide whether I really want to bid at all, or bid less or more. Quite often I change my mind and retract my potential bid entirely. Then when I'm satisfied, I can forget about it. For the casual buyer like me who rarely *really* wants something, it's fun to do it this way because quite often I am outbid, but sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised. The Ebay interface is too cluttered for me these days and I too have had problems doing last minute bids from desktop or mobile.

Gray. Snowing. Last week the plowed snow in the center of the street was 6+ feet high. I've only slid into a ditch once so no complaints! The feral cat outside whines a lot though. And no, I'm not adopting him.

Time to enter the Fantasy Box game!

A nine's a nine, even when a Bulgarian makes it.

Yeah I suppose it's a little unfair for me to pick apart a site frozen in time. Alan was always learning too I am sure.

My objection to it is while Master Sunbursts can be colorful, they certainly are not Akro Sparklers, and they often feature a lot of earth tones one does not find on onionskins. Whatever the case, they clearly intended on making bursts of color that especially look good in the sun.

Marble Alan's site states that the Master Sunburst marble "appears to have been an effort to reproduce the handmade onionskin marbles of an earlier era". Alan's use of "appears" and lack of historical source for the statement appears to suggest speculation, so I was wondering whether there is a historical source for the statement?

Steph are you suggesting we're all just happy accidents who have rolled onto this Big Blue Marble from the conveyor belts of eternity? Speaking of which, I used to watch that show in the 70s around the time I had a sock full of marbles I kept losing to the bigger kids! I will never forget that theme song.

Got a bunch of "same run" or "same box" marbles in a recent score. Most are basic blue and white patches (presumably Akro) but I picked out a few "tweeners" from that group to show the variety. Makes me realize that a lot of my favorite marbles are probably happy accidents. Finally, if the top left was made during a patch "run" but ended up opaque, is it an opaque game marble or a monochrome patch?

My guess is a sour grapes bidder told him something like, "You have several $150 marbles in there". I had that happen on a locally listed lot once that I got (and I paid well) and the second buyer came too late and told the guy his marbles were worth much more then the seller tried calling me up asking for pictures and stuff. Edit: But wow, even the mint is mint on some of those beauties!

Wish I had paid more attention when I found it originally, but it was definitely in the wild among other vintage mibs. I think at the time I failed to notice the opalescent base. Here's a couple of new shots of the 5/8" one (slightly less opalescent with no surface texture) and then another shot of the bigger one with some backlight.

Wow it's all over the map. Even Jabo with the additional photo of the smaller one of same type?

I had not heard that? I figured it would be pretty big news but I was wondering why he'd not posted online for years.

You're right. They match except those bubbles, although to be fair I have a couple.