BobBlock

In all fairness, the listing does state "... in Brand New UNUSED condition ...". And they ain't kidding! :-)

Hey! :-)

If you want to order it direct from me and bypass Ebay that's fine with me. I have no great love for Ebay, it's just the easiest way to get it out there. I make nothing off the Price Guides I sell on Ebay. The $14.60 plus $4.39 shipping only recovers my costs. The book costs me about $12.75 from Schiffer (with shipping) when I order it by the case. I have it on Ebay for $14.60 and they take $1.90 on the sale of the book and $0.57 on the shipping of $4.39. Postage is just a hair under $3.00 (on average) and the padded envelope costs me about $0.75. So, I probably make a nickel on each book. Which I end up spending on the the printing of the Erratum that Schiffer refused to print. Anyone who thinks you can make money writing these books is crazy. The royaly on a Price Guide is 50cents, so you do the math. Anyways, if you want to order them direct from me, just Paypal $16.60 to my account at [email protected] and I'll get it out to you exactly as if you had bought it on Ebay. Erratum included.

The 5th Edition has now arrived and is shipping. You can buy it autographed from me on Ebay at listing http://www.ebay.com/itm/Book-Marbles-Identification-and-Price-Guide-5th-Edition-Robert-Block-signed-/120892299452?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book&hash=item1c25be18bc There is an image error in the book. The publisher changed Image #150, Steelie, with a stoneware marble after I had approved the Final Draft. I didn't see the change until after I got my copy of the printed book (and by that time the ship was on its way from China). You would think that Final Draft means that's it, no changes, we're done. But apparently that's not the case. Final Draft apparently means final draft in lower case and "You don't get to see it again and we can do whatever we want". Schiffer cannot explain why they made the change, other than "We goofed". I find that explanation completely unacceptable, but the book's already printed. I will be including an Erratum sheet with the correct image in each copy that I sell.

You could probably extend it to about 2000, if my memory serves correct. He passed away in 2003. See obituary below. http://www.memorialobituaries.com/memorials/memorials.cgi?action=Obit&memid=94392&clientid=bundyl

Harold's marbles have been around since the 1970s.

Sad, sad news. Our condolences to his family. I'll miss Art, Amana won't be the same without him.

Harold must have been tired when he made those comics. The Koko was put on backwards :-)

And I guess I better put my pre-order listing on Ebay.

Over 90% of the pictures in the book are brand new. Some came from the archives of my Ebay auction images, so there might even be something in there that you now own Mike :-)

100 Great Marbles is the next book. I have to write it and then it takes about 7 month from the point I submit the manuscript to the publisher until it hits the shelves.

I received the advance copy of the new edition of the Price Guide. The cargo ship should be hitting Schiffer in about 3 weeks. I didn't realize that it had been 10 years since I wrote the 4th edition. For the new edition, I replaced about 500 new images, This is about 90% of the images in the book. The text also underwent a significant rewrite. Hopefully, you'll all find something useful in it. Once it is available, I'll place a listing for autographed copies in my Ebay store.

I have a small gift box that I bought several years ago, that was sold by a Buenos Aires toy shop. It contains Vitros. I have that one pictured in the upcoming 5th edition of the Price Guide. I also have a polybag made by a Brazilian company, but that also contains Vitros (Tigereyes).

I should probably clarify that the one I bought in Amana bears a Rosenthal mark on the bottom.

I have one that's light green. I bought it in Amana about 10-12 years ago. I think I paid about $450 at that time.

The 5th edition of Marbles: Identification and Price Guide is at the printer (or should be in a day or two). Last I heard they were expected it to be available in March. I've completely rewritten the book and reshot virtually all the images (I'd say 95%). So, now I'm on to the next book project: 100 Great Marbles. Someone had suggested 100 Greatest Marbles, but I think that's a little pompous. It also doesn't leave room for a sequel (what would you call it "100 Greater Marbles"? "100 Almost Greatest Marbles"?). Anyway, the concept of this book is to illustrate 100 different marbles and explain what makes each of them "great". The format of the book is that it will be 200 pages. When you open it up to a page, the left-hand facing page will feature 6 different images of the marble. The right facing page will include a writeup as to why it is "great". So, two things I would like everyone's input on. First, what do you think makes a marble "great"? Rarity? Condition? Color? Design? Second, while I could easily pull 100 marbles from my collection to put into a book, I doubt that I have what would be considered "great" marbles in each category. I have some that I love that I'll include, but I know there are a lot better examples out there than mine. So, here's a chance to show off your best (obviously with appropriate credit in the book). I tentatively have it set up as: 10 Swirls 4 Clams, Peppermint, Banded Opaque, Indian 6 Lutz 10 End of Days 6 Sulphides 7 Miscellaneous Handmade (Mist, Mica, Slag, Opaque, Paperweight/Confetti) 4 Non-glass (Scenic China, Mochaware, China) 2 "Transitional" 10 Christensen Agate 8 Akro Agate 8 Peltier Glass 15 Other (Other American or Foreign) 10 Contemporary So, if you have something that you think absolutely has to be included in the book, drop me an email ([email protected]) and we'll talk. If you have something that will be in the book I'll end up needing 6 images (figure with an 8mp camera or better) or you'd have to send me the marble for shooting (which I would prefer you don't do, as I don't want the responsibility of trusting the mail system with your valuable marble). I'd like to get the book put to bed in the next 3 or 4 months so it can be out by Christmas.

If you are headed to the Northeast show this weekend, you might want to detour by Cambridge and visit the Great Glass Pumpkin Patch on Kresge Oval at MIT. http://web.mit.edu/glasslab/sales_pumpkin.html

I have each type. I'll try and find them to take pix. I sold a single one in a Blocks Box auction back around 1991 or 1992 for over $500.

The only instance when I would term a core with two bands as a Divided Core is when the two bands are pretty much on one side of the marble and there is an obvious space where the third would have been. If the marble has two bands in th core that are pretty much opposite each other, I would categorize it as a double ribbon even if the bands are the same color.

Berts show is the closest to you. About 40 minutes west of Boston. Romanoak is usually there, as am I.

Winds over 40 mph here, which is less than half that they predicted. We have no power and no water (on a well), but luckily lost no trees (though I haven't taken a walk through the wooded acres yet t see what happened). More than half the town is without power, with estimates of up to a week for restoration. Been pulling buckets of water out of the stream to flush the toilets and water the horses. We took a ride up to the Stevenson Dam last night (about 5 miles upriver). The spillways ways were opened up and it was spectacular. Unfortunately that means the river is about 4 feet over flood stage already (the dock of one of our friends is already submerged) and it not cresting for another 2-3 days. I put some pictures on my Facebook page.

For hoo-haaas, we stopped at a fortune teller on the beach during our recent trip Maine. She had one in her display case. My middle boy wanted his palm read, so she didn't use it.

I think I've got 6 or 8 of these laying in my garage, if anyone is interested in one cheap :-)

LOL. I traded a motorcycle to Harold Sugarman back in the early 1990s for a pair of Golden Rebels. Wasn't a Harley though. :-)

I noticed this one as well when I was looking at stuff on EBay last night, and it raised a question in my mind. I've seen some similar to this in the past few years and have rejected them because they were too questionable in my mind. I just could not be certain about them and wasn't willing to take the risk. I think Alan comes here on occasion, maybe he can shed some light on these.