bumblebee

Wow, those shooters from wvrons are breathtaking...especially those parrots and neons.

Vintage = Jabo Classics

Perplexing. Seems like several plain and primitive clearie types in this lot (maybe 5/8" each?)--do we see those elsewhere? Who would trouble to make those today and then age them down? How come he has one very similar to the other seller's that looks in mint condition? How did it survive if it was owned for decades by the same folks who battered the others? This seller is 90 minutes away from the seller http://www.ebay.com/usr/supermarbleswhich doesn't necessarily mean anything. Bulgaria, land of mystery and mystery marbles.

Over the years these are some phrases I've picked up in eBay listings from sellers selling marbles. Many of these sellers are totally innocent and my goal here is not to make it personal, but to be funny and share some of my pain I'm sure many of you have felt over the years: "unpicked" = picked over by a collector (how else would they know there was value in picking?) "played with" = damaged "overall pretty good" = damaged "judge by the photos" / "you be the judge" = damaged "i am not an expert' = knows marbles well enough to put in this disclaimer "almost an inch" = 7/8" or below "huge estate collection" = estate of former Mega Marbles employee "selling as is" = extraordinarily damaged "mint minus" = NM+ or NM "near mint minus" = slingshot ammo "?" in title of listing = knows enough to have picked out the CACs "old?" = contemporary "oxbloods" = marbles with red glass Who has more?

Here is an Akro "pollywogs" (note the plural) which is when the black cork breaks and you get two baby frogs, one on each pole. OK, I made that up this morning, but can you think of a better name?

I say they should knuckledown at the next marble show and play for keeps, each offering up 10 of their keepers as the prize. Probably would get on the local news.

Gorgeous. Would look very nice next to my opalescent and orange corkscrew (or whatever you namers call them).

Just to add to the thread, I think these are contemporary/foreign.

Found this along with some old board games. Almost complete but for a missing green post (I think). I think those red torpedos are extensions to make the game easier as they fit onto the green. Now the question becomes why can't I find vintage marble boxes?

Wow, interesting. The trademark owner now is http://rhyneandson.com/who say they are "The Name in Quality Antique Reproductions for over 45 Years"

This will keep happening until you make a "Known and Possible Fake Akro Agate Boxes" thread...it's all the rage right now!

I think this would make a good Boy Scout project: Build your own fantasy marble box. It would teach them arts and crafts skills, appreciation to detail, and history. This way they learn not only how forgeries are made but how to spot them by comparing everything to the real deal. As a final step, every boy stamps his box cover and bottom with his name and the year to prevent the boxes from being sold as forgeries. This of course is what any honest and decent maker of reproductions would do. Then the boys fill their boxes with vintage marbles donated by collectors. When some of those boys enter a collecting hobby some day, they will have a keen eye for spotting forgeries.

Fiat lux!

That was my thought, or maybe it was some toy/store display item.

I bought this locally today for $30. It was too cute to resist at only about 14" long. She said it was a salesman's sample plough that had been in her family for a long time. Does anyone know more about this one? It doesn't have any maker's marks. I read somewhere some of these were also store displays. Definitely not a toy because that blade is pretty sharp. I get the sense it is missing some parts but I wouldn't know what. One of the handles was broken off at the end. I will probably keep it unless it is worth substantially more.

Edit: This is my edited post to ensure I stick to the facts and the important questions that are remaining: By simple Google searches on these two sellers eBay IDs I found several blog posts from a respected Halloween collector who was even on an episode of American Pickers: http://halloweencollector.com/blog/2015/2/8/vintage-halloween-die-cut-witch-spinner-party-game-fortune-teller http://halloweencollector.com/blog/2015/4/16/set-of-4-small-vintage-halloween-die-cuts http://halloweencollector.com/blog/2013/3/15/antique-dennisons-illuminated-silhouettes-black-cat-halloween-box-only-vintage That Halloween collector claims both sellers have sold reproductions as vintage, and advises against purchasing from them. An antique fishing lure expert confirmed without hesitation that the "black Americana" lures sold by both sellers are fantasy fakes, possibly made in Mexico. The sellers are free to comment as to why they are listing them as vintage--I am not implying they are being knowingly deceptive--but clearly the lures themselves are contemporary. Why do several of the antique boxes (marbles and Planters) listed or sold by the sellers have a peculiar sheen to the top of the box, something I have never seen in any marble boxes in major auctions like Morphys, nor indeed on any of my own game board boxes from the 20s and 30s? All the ones I have seen are very matte. It reminds me and at least one other member here of the technique called decoupauge where paper is layered upon paper via glue or paste.

Found this shell at the beach today. Have never seen one like it.

Vitro "Sushi", a Tri-Lite type (or run) where the red is pink like sushi and there is white (rice) and green (wasabi).

I also wanted to point out that one of their Planters boxes that sold for $432 has a bottom remarkably similar to the two marble box bottoms I referenced above. I sent an email to a Planters collector to get their opinion.

I tried tracking down the font on the Ballard Star Checkers box but could not get the R to match. The box R has an odd, almost unnatural angle to it.

I find the bottoms of the Ballard Star Checkers and Akro 100 boxes remarkably similar in their aging details, from the white base coat, the worn edges, scratches, and then a faint brownish stain here and there that is exactly the same color on both. Again, I don't own any original boxes like these, but my assumption at a glance is that the same manufacturer made both box bottoms, and it appears both box bottoms aged (naturally or artificially) in similar ways in similar environments.

The GAR fonts are too generic to say, but I would bet the house the Scouts box is a contemporary fake. I don't have enough reference photos of original boxes from that era to go much further. These boxes all seem sort of "lumpy" to me. Did you notice the surface scratches and damage on the GAR box were very similar to those on the more realistic looking Akro box that was also ended? Seems like somebody just scratched to and fro. Here is a slightly enhanced photo. Could be a coincidence, but...

My hunch about the font on the Boy Scouts box was correct. It appears to be Arial Narrow, which I think originated in 1990. I was able to freshly type it on my paint program right over the box type with a perfect fit. There was a bit of skewing due to the original photo but it appears they even kept the default line and character spacing. Edit: Notice their "Silver Jubilee" font appears somewhat condensed vertically, whereas the "June 30..." text is vertically the same as my freshly typed one. I am assuming this is simply evidence of photoshopping where the "Silver Jubilee" might have been resized in bitmap mode.

Who knew the old timers had access to the 1993 Brush Script MT font on their pedal-powered Windows 0.1 PCs when they were making those old boxes ...?

I'm calling it a lemonball.