bumblebee

Dang, whoever polished that took off *a lot* of the original glass...just kidding...

Did you look over the pics here, here, here, and here ? Unfortunately the detail on some of the group photos doesn't cut it but it might give a rough idea.

It's amazing what people will see or won't see based on the amount of money put in front of their eyes. He sure didn't explain its provenance.

What's special about that Vacor? Is it particularly old, actually handmade? I'm just not up on those. I have one very similar that's 7/8" but it's bouncing around in a bag of other new Vacors.

youhave2bid2win = http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=772&item=260904470817 also http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=772&item=250954269063 (fake fancy benningtons, etc)

Wow, Alan's chunks of oxblood steak are beautiful...but too rare for my tastes.

I'd like to see more before and after examples of this technique. I have quite a few fogged up marbles that aren't missing glass, but are just really cloudy from rubbing against each other for decades. I would sure enjoy seeing a few of them shine again. But then, I'm not one to sell marbles and these wouldn't be worth much fog or shine anyway.

Could you post some closer-up before and after examples?

Only slightly out of round. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Clay-marble-vintage-marble-/360422381482

Here's the prices realized PDF: http://www.morphyauctions.com/auctionadmin/image/auction/realizedpdf189.pdf

Looks to be a good sized lot of transparent clearies and ghost cores.

This is far from a dead horse. If these are authentic, what does it matter whether they were dug up or from ex-employees? In either case, if the original finders would tell the truth and provide a shred of evidence, the value of these would skyrocket. Heck, even I would buy one. I find it impossible to fathom why they would not do this, since it would be honest, historically invaluable, boost their value, and shut people like me up once and for all and polish some of the tarnish this episode has brought--seemingly unnecessarily--onto the hobby. To me it seems to have grown the crazy legs similar to a treasure story. I feel like at any time we're going to hear that the original finders mysteriously disappeared in the deserts of Mexico while on vacation, or that these were actually discovered in the Roswell wreckage by a rancher and were presumably the playtoys of alien children.

I just find it odd that the people who believe and insist that they are real have no knowledge of their true origin. If they are real, then why didn't CAC make more like this? Were these like their last run before they closed down that they gave away to employees at the last party? If these were "the best of the best" that some employee secretly squirreled away, wouldn't someone at some point have said, "Bob, these are gorgeous. Let's make more like this so we can sell them." ?

If they are authentic, then why the secrecy and hush-hush? In a hobby where every scrap of history and provenance is precious and eagerly devoured by hard core collectors, why do the origins of these remain a mystery after so many years? Clearly whoever found them has refused to reveal where/how/when despite the criticism from marble collectors and historians, and surely there must be more than one individual involved and colluding. They clearly have something important to hide. These are the only reasons I can fathom the secrecy if they are indeed legit: 1) Someone obtained them illegally (dug up) and doesn't want to get in trouble. 2) So many were found (dug or from an ex-employee) that they aren't willing to reveal the full scope of the find in order to protect their market value. (This seems like a contradiction, though, since hiding their origin is in fact harming their market value to a degree.) 3) The finder is trying to protect their privacy and security. This seems like a good reason, but in that case orchestrating a simple anonymous press release with a photo or two of the find would not threaten anyone's privacy or security and would greatly benefit the community. Surely whoever decided not to reveal their origin made a blunder, whether the marbles be legit or not. Those are all the reasons I can think of obscuring their origins if they are in fact legitimate. Does anyone have other reasons? If they are not authentic, then the mystery and secrecy makes perfect sense.

The fact that you have their e-mail addresses should be enough to track them down. In fact the e-mail they sent you would likely have enough information to track what residence they were at when they sent it (with help from their Internet Service Provider), unless they sent it from a public library or coffee shop type location.

Nice find. I remember when I found my first big brown. I also remember the bottom half of it was missing. What I'm trying to find is a vaseline slag larger than 7/8".

According to Terapeak.com this seller listed 167 pre-1970 handmade marble lots from May - Nov 2010 and sold 143 of them. It appears every lot was titled "VINTAGE MARBLES ANTIQUE TOY OLD BENNINGTON CLAY LOT." Total sales were $4,003.

Wow. Either the top bidder accidentally put an extra digit in his max, or they know something we don't. I'm baffled.

Good to hear. I'm relieved. I wrote and told them I was passing on the marbles. Gotta save money right now anyway.

Thanks, that's exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. Right now $200 wouldn't make me too happy.

I have a chance to buy a small box of marbles, mostly common except for three tri-color corkscrews and one nice red-based hand-gathered, plus this 5/8"ish CAC winking at me. They are antique dealers who insist everything is mint, but I can clearly see flea bites on at least half of the marbles. Still I doubt they're going far below $200. And I have to drive almost 90 minutes just to look at them. Would you spend the gas $$$ to see if this guy is truly mint? Seeing how they're all rolling together in the same box I'm doubtful.

This is probably the same seller who sells the green ones with big dark green globs of green paint stuck to one pole. They also have seem to have an unlimited supply of "fancy" ones. To profit from this they must be making masses of these at once since it seems like quite hassle otherwise.

This one looks so great "wet" it sure would be nice to not have to use a spray bottle to really appreciate it. I've read elsewhere that some type of clear coat can just about achieve this look. What are the risks and are the results worth it? Any particular types or brands, like Minwax? A few months back I tried the jeweler's rouge cloth but it never worked for me. Good finger exercises though.

Awesome find! This sort of thing keeps me hunting and hoping, or at least makes me wish I lived a little closer to Jersey.

Today I paid about $1/lb for a two-gallon fish bowl filled to the brim with marbles belonging to a local marble champ from the 1950s. It was heavy. They were happy to sell it to "someone who cared." Marbles were all pre-1960s and played with. Lots of surface wear of the sort where if you dip them in water they look mint, but the fog returns once they dry. Only a handful or two were truly mint, but it was great fun sorting through them and imagining the battles the champ won on those hot, dusty playgrounds to collect this horde. Near the bottom of the bowl the fellow on the bottom left corner of the group pictured here rolled out and instantly caught my eye. "That's an interesting brushed patch," I thought to myself. But then as I brought it closer I knew it was special. Those seams, those colors. Not just on the surface but dipping into the transparent base. Sure it's a bit worn but a little spray of water makes it darn near "wet" mint, and that's likely the wettest mint of that breed I'll ever afford. As a bonus it looks like I found a cousin or two in there to keep him (her?) company. Out here in Southern California, where the antique stores sell cat-eyes for $1 each and the flea markets have no fleas, I consider this a score.