jlmoriarty

First, as you all probably know, but it bears repeating, four guys left Akro and started their own company Master Made Marbles. They must have left on good terms because the two companies swapped manufacturing and marketing under the other company's label for a short while. This helps add to the the necessary amount of confusion in the who made what game. I don't know this but somewhere I think I read that these guys also left with some of Akro's machines. They made marbles through the 30's and 40's and in the early fifty's the import trade slowed the market enough that three of the four left Ira whats-his-name with the company. Ira made Master Glass marbles but sold them initally in MM boxes. Ira's marbles were mostly pretty dull patches, ie, brushed white on translucent blue sorta thing. Things continued going down hill and Ira died mid-fifties with MG going out of business at about the same time. Earlier MM are notable for their effort to duplicate the German onionskin and are the most attractive, some being difficult to distinguish from Akro's Sparklers. Generally the more colors the more value. Lacking white also raises the value. There are some unusal color combinations but you would have to see each one in had to see if the hue was "different" from the norm. MG for the most part are IMHO barely collectible. A question I have - has anyone seen them in any other than 5/8-11/14" size. Bo should follow me shortly here and correct everything I've said LOL As for my mibs and particularly MMs they are all in a big plastic tub still in storage, after the move, after the divorce, after the doctors - you get the picture. I'll try to get them out and shot a few pics before this thread goes away. John

Gary~~ Do you have a clue as to age? John

Ann~~ I can add this one bit of information and that is the marble that I posted was in Alan's hands for a while and he positively ID'd it as German. John

Gary~~ If you ever decide you don't want to hang onto those, please let me know. I love the red/wh/blue and the green base color w/ the ox stripe at about 3 o'clock. John

Elizabeth~~ The surface texture (and construction) strongely suggests German. I would put money on it being of German origin. John

Cees~~ That sounds like a great trip. I have a feeling that the Germans will tell you that all the marbles in the world came from Lauscha and that the French couldn't make a marble if they tried. I look forward to hearing about what you found out. It should be very interesting. Sie sprechen Deutsch? John

Cees~~ Those are exactly my questions. "The source" is just European. Not very helpful at all. That is, when they are purchased the lots are from Europe, sometimes called "foreign", sometimes German, less often Czech. I've never heard of the French making marbles (good cheese and great baguettes and the wine's not bad and the butter is outrageous!!! Sorry I got carried away. I'm in need of a trip.) If the French made marbles they would have a law that wouldn't allow them out of the country. HA! The German marbles are easily identified by their surface characteristics, see Elizabeth's marble earlier on. But everyting else is usually just referred to as "foreign". Most of the lots that are sold seem to come out of England (that's just a guess.) John

Okay here's my contribution. I found the seller's pic but I haven't found the mib. (It's here somewhere.) I'm guessing that it is at least 1 1/8ths. Sorry Cees, what does that translate to something like 27 mm? Kris this is the one I was telling you about. John

Elizabeth~~ Would you please show an end-on shot, or a 3/4 shot. That guy is a killer. Thanks, John

Hey Cees~~ Did anything come out of France? Did the French ever make marbles that you know of? John

This has been a great thread because as Kris said these German (or "foreign" Sparklers will see their day.) There are however a few loose ends I will try to tie up. Cees~~ As it pertains to the US made Sparklers and Master Made Sunbursts the "U" or "V" cut-line is not consistent and therefore not a reliable indicator of anything useful. I haven't seen enough "foreign" Sparklers to able to conclusively say the same but I'll go out on a limb and say that looking at the seam is only indicative of the sharpness of the cutting shears. By way of example I just bought a Sunburst from Dani (Zaboo) which has a perfectly straight cut-line. RAR~~ The best way to determine "foreign" Sparklers is construction and glass. Not much help unless you have them in hand, I know. The best example of a classic AA Sparkler is my avatar. The "foreign" ones tend to have less going on and tend to have internal transparent ribbons, usually of one color. The German glass is generally considered to be of lower quality than the "foreign" and has an orange-peely like surface. Just a guess but I think the so-called "foreign" ones are of Czech origin, but I don't know that for sure. Ann~~ I think your conjecture about similarities is right on the money. Using the early AA Sparklers and MM Sunbursts as examples these were (I've been told) intended to imitate the more expensive German made Onionskins. I think these Sparklers started out the same way so your seeing a similarity between them and the naked ribbon core is not coincidental. After seeing Kris' group of Sparklers I would like to amend my comment about these foreign/German Sparklers not being as interesting as AA Sparklers. Here I agree with Roger that they are (as interesting - we just haven't seen enough, or perhaps the better examples) and Andrea that we haven't seen many of them because of, well there is an ocean between us. Sounds like a FIELD TRIP!!!!! John

Jon if by "less" you mean less than AA Sparklers, yes considerably less. They haven't found their market yet and don't compare in terms of color and construction. John

Jon~~ From here, they *all* look like German Sparklers. John