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NeozLilBallz = See what I mean?

They both look like they have melted pontils. Is that true? If so my guess is not Navarre, but Barberton, because of the color of both.

Don`t worry. Marbles are a complex study, and all of us - no matter how long we`ve been at it - have something we have to learn and absorb nearly every day. It`s part of what is so engaging about marbles. Don`t try to learn everything at first. It`ll never work! Pick a marble type/company in Steph`s Study Hall, or in the Archives, or in a book, get yourself a nice cup of coffee, put your marbles within easy reach, and just try to pick out your marbles that look closest to the examples shown. Some marble companies have such distinct styles that they`re easier to start with, I think. When I first started studying machine-mades (I started by collecting the old Germans exclusively) I found that Akro and Peltier were the best for me to start with. Even just things like "only Akro made corkscrews" and "they never made flames;" with Peltier it was their distinctive feathered slags I first fell for, and looked for those. Start small. And don`t worry about your learning curve. It was once the same for all of us!

I know every marble I ever bought from him. There were certain marbles that I would buy from no one else, if I made up my mind to chase something special no matter how long I had to wait. Since I can`t post pics yet I won`t go on - but those include a CAC peach slag, an MFC Persian Turquoise, my one Pelt Honey Amber Banana, my avatar - a Vitro cat with both green and blue aventurine - etc. I know some people felt they were paying a premium when they bought from Alan. Well, they were. Because he had the best marbles, and they were always - always - exactly as described and pictured. I`ll pay a premium for that, especially with marbles that are expensive. Never regretted a single purchase from him. And he always answered my emails! Still miss him.

I`m pretty sure sparklers were the only Akro marbles produced with this method. Don`t know what you were thinking of if not sparklers? Just curious . . . .

Akro sparklers have to have at least five colors . . .

Not an Akro sparkler.

Back to flopped ingots? Double ingots? But would that cause the surface glass to not be smooth and glossy?

Astonishing. Do you graft cacti yourself?

I wanna snow globe!

I I need another cup of coffee. And another smoke of some kind. All I see are those big loops . . . .

I don`t know anything about South American marbles, but I see no reason to question that this marble is a Joseph`s Coat. I don`t think the direction of the twist can be used as an identification marker. Left-handed marble maker. A tired right-handed one going to his other hand for relief, etc. JMO

Almost looks like someone trying to come up with transparent Pistachio! NOT suggesting anything! Agree with Steph.

Yes, that`s a Joseph`s Coat! I have a similar one that Alan B. called a "precision Joseph`s Coat."

So have I. I mean who else could it be ??

Mine too. But I`ve never seen one in person, so I deferred. I think they`re rare. Or at least VHTF,

Sauron!

. . . are constructed of parallel single color threads that run from pontil to pontil and stay a fairly uniform width during their travel . . . This is what I mean in the above. Just my personal criteria.

Yes. I hid some.

Yes. And honestly these are the only type that I`m prepared to call Joseph Coats. I just can`t force myself to call the OP - skin or no skin - anything but an onionskin. For me, the ribbon structure is the key. I`m willing to be the odd-man-out ... on this one!

Once bitten, twice shy, as we sometimes say here! Like that cute little fuzzy-wuzzy one I planted without gloves . . . But I`m sure that with experience, like you have had, the "touch me," and "touch-me-not" ones soon become familiar. These last ones you`ve shown are spectacular!

Wear gloves.

Or an Akro flame.

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