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Winnie, those are fantastic! I guess I should say that what I said up there ^^^ applies only / mainly with the ones usually found here. Which are not many, unfortunately. There are some in the first two pictures that you posted that could give me some trouble! So I guess you should send them all to me so I can study them more closely. Just for a little while. Do any of yours light up under black (UV) light? I have a bright green one that does, and it's been moving back and forth between my CAC and Euro examples. I don't know what the heck it is, beyond the fact that it has straight lines from seam to seam. And it's pretty.

Also, in general the "sides" of the Germans exhibit straight lines running from seam to seam, as opposed to the shallow horizontal "S" shape formed on the CACs. I wish I had a comparative photo. Maybe Galen has one? And as zaboo says, it's also in the glass. The Germans are made with lesser-quality glass than the CACs, which is usually apparent when you put them side by side for comparison. Not necessarily an ID point, but something to keep in mind is -- because of this poorer (and "softer") glass, the Germans are much more likely to exhibit damage (hits, chips, scratching, etc.) than CACs. And it's much easier to find large Germans than large CAC slags.

And this old favorite --

Just got this one (not even in my hot little hands yet) --

And I've been wasting my time anticipating Shark Week . . .

For those of you who've never visited there, you really should go to the web page for Cats that Look Like Hitler . . .

Another view. 2009, golden sting ray migration off the Yucatan Peninsula . . .

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Works for me.

I heard it from a collector in England a few years ago . . . she sent me a sampling of different types of Euro sparklers, as she saw them (and it made perfect sense, so I kept them in her categories), in return for me sending her some basic CACs (electric orange on light green striped opaque, green-and-red swirl, blue-and-red swirl, yellow-and-red swirl, etc.). I'll check her labels tomight . . . I seem to remember her saying something about the term --

I've heard different people call it different things. I have a few comtemporaries with the pattern and the artists called it "wigwag." I've heard "yin-yang" pretty often from Pelt people. And double reverse. I wonder what Galen calls it . . .

Thanks Ric and Gregor for sending me back to my Alleys on this one. For a long time I've had it grouped with two others that were similar, in that their striping glass was consistantly narrow but had 2 or more colors . . . including one with narrow (and sparse) transparent red ribbons edged on one side with transparent green. They've been a real headscratcher for me. And too interesting to just ignore. So I got out the Alleys. And did a double-take when I picked up a marble I hadn't looked at for a while. I had it in a small group of Alleys that had (burial) irridescence on their striking glass. On very close inspection, there it was. The same very narrow, sparse ribbons of more than one color -- in this case a kind of medium blue with what looked like burgandy. I put it next to the three mystery marbles and they embraced it warmly! Anyhow, it was fun. I appreciate it!

Thanks, guys, I think you're right. Once I got home and started staring and staring and staring (you know what I mean) at my small group of Ravenswoods and the new one, I thought "Uh-oh, I don't think it's Ravenswood after all." Next I went through my Alleys, and it just didn't fit -- not closely enough for my comfort, anyway. Always remembering the limitations of my (moderately sized) Alley collection. But I was still reluctant to move it to my (also small) group of CACs just of my own accord, so I left it sitting there on the windowsill until (hopefully) I heard from you. Whew. It'll look nice in the box with its CAC cousins . . . whee!

Whisplers?

Would that be the bottom row, second from the right? Others may be too, but I'm just beginning to grasp some characteristics of Ravenswood. So I dunno. I just got a nice marble with question-mark-CAC? or question-mark-Alley? but now that I have it in hand, I'm wondering why not Ravenswood? I don't care which company made it -- it's just my kinda swirl -- so I got no investment in the answer. Opinions?

I never would have guessed that some of those were Alley . . .

Mibstified -- Whatever it is, I have one very much like your third-row-down, far right marble, with the strip-y green ribbons. If anybody has any ideas about that one, you've got at least two people who would be interested to know what you know! Or just what you think . . .

Looks like it to me, although I am anything but a Ravenswood-head. But I always keep an eye out for those nice swirls that have a kind of "tracer" of a second or third color like that one has.

Does the base have to be transparent? For a Champion brain?

The first ones that were shown to me as Champion brains were yellow; I later found two blue ones that I thought might be brains, and was told they were. it's been my understanding that the color is not significant -- it's the squirmy pattern. On the other hand, I have assumed that a brain could be any single color. Can they be two or more colors also, as long as the pattern is . . . cerebrial?

Thanks, Alan! And good to see you here in a Ravenswood thread. More pics! And Gregor -- that blue and white swirl is beautiful . . .

. . . Craig, is your (gorgeous!) slag a bright orangy-red? In the pics, it looks more cherry red, as you describe it.

And I think this is Ravenswood . . . tell me if you all think it's something else --

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No, the Cerises don't have the feathering that's so typical of the slightly later slags. Although there's a few that look headed in that direction. In my box (and the couple of others I've seen), some have lots of white swirled in and some have very, very little. Oh shucks. Another chance to post this one ---