bumblebee

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.

Let's hope the buyer reminds the seller to pack these carefully. That's quite a bid considering the pictures weren't all that crystal clear but maybe the fact that the seller accepts returns motivated a lot of bidders. Winner can get the lot, verify condition, and see how many flames are in there then decide whether to keep it.

How about a new nickname for some MFC marbles?

How about "Jack the Jabo Cat" or "The Cat with the Jabo Eyes"?

There could be some cool collector names for these marbles: -ShootHers -Akro Agony -Ghost Cores

I'm really tempted to ask for photos of the marbles but I think I'll just not get involved with anyone who believes they have marbles with imprisoned souls in them.

Just saw this ad posted on craigslist: I wonder if Alan has ever appraised such marbles and if so, what grading system he uses for the soul inside the marble?

I just got these two bruisers in the mail this morning. Appear to be mint condition except for one sparkle on one. Haven't measured them exactly but I added two 5/8" ones for comparison.

These are beautiful. I can't help but think how many toddlers back in Akro Agate's heyday devoured these marbles because of their rich candy-like colors. It's kind of fun imagining if they were candy what they might taste like, and what candy names we'd give them.

Who knew there was an infinite supply of old marble bags in an auto tools auction? I think his next auction should include a separate box containing all the glass that was chipped off his featured marbles along with a bottle of glue so the buyer can repair everything up to NM condition. Of course it won't be needed for the Golden Rebel since it's wet mint.

Am I having deja vu or is this a new lot by the same guy, also found in the used tools auction?

Notice that the flame marbles on the lower row of photos are showing their best faces. That had to be intentional. Yet, inexplicably, the two mint and most vibrant marbles (that also happen to be mimics of very desirable vintage ones) are hiding in the shadows. If you knew nothing about marbles as this seller is claiming, wouldn't you put that most vibrantly colored one up front if you're already taking the time to carefully turn your flames to the audience? Whatever is going on here, this is not a true "in the wild" vintage lot as no doubt the high bidders are assuming. That makes the seller's title all the more clever: 105 OLD MARBLES? IN A BOX WITH OLD MARBLE BAG? (That's called covering your behind.) Then again, maybe I'm just trying to scare away other bidders so I can win the mint GOLDEN REBEL and SUPERMAN with a bunch of beat up vintage mibs to boot!

I was just looking at that auction earlier tonight and even though I'm still fairly new to this, something didn't feel right about the "Golden Rebel" and the "Superman", especially the latter. They just didn't fit. What I'm confused about is that the seller apparently specializes in auto parts and they claim these came incidentally in part of a larger, unrelated auction for auto tools. So if they're telling the truth, how do we explain this lot? Did some guy get burned who bought the lot originally and in his remorse he packed the box away in his auto tools that he sold? The title is especially curious with two question marks in it: 105 OLD MARBLES? IN A BOX WITH OLD MARBLE BAG? Maybe it should have been: 105 OLD MARBLES? 2 NEW MARBLES? IN A BOX WITH OLD MARBLE BAG? READY TO GET BURNED?