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I can't believe the time it would take for those! Awfully cool item...cirque du soleilish.

I was so nervous walking into my first marble show, the Columbus event in 1999, because I just didn't know what to expect - did people really walk around into each other's motel rooms unannounced and just start looking at these things? How little I knew. The first guy I came across was Alan - and I literally found my brother from another mother. Another vegetarian long-haired* bearded hippie I-30 driving marble lover - what were the odds? I didn't leave his room for a long time. I wish I could go back. Alan was the best friend anyone could have. (*well, I was once and am again now - business demanded a follicle sacrifice)

The transparent red flowing over the solid orange on this Akro is a lot more evident in hand... Next up? Orange and purple.

The first Joker run of May 2008 produced a lot of marbles that I love, but one of my absolute faves is the one that I dubbed the Killer Miller, both for its aventurine and its incredibly busy pattern that was so reminiscent of the early Peltiers. Its still a favorite (I just love green and orange together) and, I think, a really underrated marble. This box has the Joker I run pretty much from start to finish...the second marble down in the first row was part of first batch off; the second marble down in the second row was the last batch off, kind of a Miami Dolphin marble with oxblood, another favorite. Some examples in hand are knockouts ( such as the last marble in the first row.)

There are some KILLER Masters posted (and Euros too, orbboy, I think they're tres cool) - if anyone decides they're tired of the care and feeding of all of those hungry little marble mouths, I know a good a home lol. I've loved Masters since I was a kid, and Sunbursts in particular - I finally filled this box yesterday (but I'm always looking to upgrade!)

Wow, those are pretty special! Are they 3/8”?

Thanks for the update, Scott. I’ll look for the book - it will make a great Christmas gift for a couple of folks. And I needed a good reason to get back to KC! For anyone that hasn’t been to the marble museum there, fly, drive, walk, or crawl to get there...it is well worth the trip (and you can swing by Moon Marble, the best marble shop west of the Mississippi, while you’re there!)

Another day, another scam...whatever happened to playing by the rules? That’s an old fashioned concept, I know. I’m getting to be an old man. All this larceny is getting to me. Thanks for the information on this, folks. Forewarned is forearmed.

Happy Halloween! It's the only black, orange and yellow onionskin I've ever seen. It's also the bubbliest (seediest) handmade I have, too. Next up? It's still Halloween - Orange, brown and black.

Hey Mikie, welcome to the "folliclely challenged" club my friend. Grass never grows on a busy street, right? That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I hear you about those "other areas" - if somebody would please tell me why I lost the hair on my head but started growing it on - and out of - my ears...cosmic humor, I guess. I do have some other pictures from that run that I can post, as well as some of Mark Matthews making some marbles - maybe a torch maker as well. I'll comb through my pics and see what I can put together. I used to have them all carefully sorted and categorized until a couple of years ago when an app blew the whole file up and tossed everything into big jumbled pile. It may take a while but I'll dig'em out!

Jabo used a simple system for collecting their marbles as they came off the production line - they just fell into metal five gallon bucket. While it was simple, efficient, and cheap, it did lead to those little white marks (and sometimes more) on their products. The contract run participants took a lot of counter measures to prevent such damage from occurring; below are two pictures from the first Joker run of May 2008. The first one shows the 3/4" machine cranking out hot glass and the two Jabo employees talking while tending the line. Jim King, The "J" in Joker, kneels on the left. A marble is in mid-drop into a bucket, where the Joker folks and invited participants (like me) arranged heat-proof fiberglass insulation in them to prevent damage. Later contract runs did other things like padding the steel guide rails that the marbles roll down before they reach the buckets - anything to protect their investment and improve the yield of mint marbles. As the day wore on we found we needed to actually "catch" the marbles with the insulation to prevent aall damage - that was loud, hot, sweaty work, but it was effective. Photo note - this was taken very late in the afternoon - we'd been at it since early in the morning, and it was an 18 hour run - and I was about half-dead. I'm also 100 pounds lighter now (and MUCH more handsome - but no more hair, darn it!)

Pam, get a good general marble book or three if you don’t have one, I think they can help a lot with identifying marbles. If you’re close to any shows, like Pride of the Prairie, that’s a great place to see a bunch of marbles at one time, as well as pick the brains of a lot of dedicated marble nuts. It’s a fun time, too.

That is unusual and gorgeous, Winnie!

#5 kinda looks like a Vacor, maybe a Galaxy or Destroyer series, hard to tell. Steph I agree on #3.

Really nice group, Mikie! That was a nourishing lunch - good soul food.

That naked latt is just too cool - thanks orbboy!

That's a first class Akro, Jess - congrats!

Whoa, Roaddog! What a fab find! Wanna double your money?

Every lightning strike I've ever seen (four or five) and the one I owned had a translucent, moonie-type base that the lightning colors floated in, not on. It appeared that the marble in question had a very solid base and the colored lightning strike stayed on the surface, leading me to believe it was from a different source. There are an awful lot of Chinese imports these days - and the group just posted yesterday makes a compelling argument for that first one being of similar origin. Speaking of China, I recently had an email conversation with a knowledgeable, high-end European collector who said that the lightning strikes - the big, ground pontil, original ones - may have originated from China, possibly from a game in the early 1800's. Their provenance is still unknown, which makes them even more desirable - or not. They are truly stunning in hand, though, as the base glass adds tremendous depth and an inner glow that you can only appreciate in person.

Sorry, I'm a little late to this discussion. William, can you describe what the base glass was like on that marble? It appears to be an opaque white in your pictures - is that accurate?

NOW I see it! Kitty trompe l'oeil.

From the sublime to the ridiculous; a pair and then a, well, a pair...my Siamese oddity from an Akro dig, courtesy of Roger Hardy.

Four islands just took direct hits - Barbuda, St. Bart's, St. Maarten, and Anguilla - with 185 mph winds. This will not be good. So much pain - the West and Northwest have been baking, over 100 in places like San Francisco and Portland. That just doesn't happen. And now two major hurricanes, unprecedented flooding in Texas and Louisiana, with Jose possibly warming up, too. I hope that your son stays safe, Mikie. The latest models show Irma heading right at FLA. Is he east/west/central?

For those of you who know Leroy; unfortunately he's in the hospital with pneumonia, for the second time in two months. I just happened to ask after him last week, and got a response from a Judy Johnson, his daughter, I believe. He's a good man, and I hope you'll join me in keeping him in your thoughts and prayers.

Yep, the blubloods are always fun to find. Akro seemed to love oxblood, didn't they?