ann

Looks very much like my yellow Ace. I think I may have gotten mine from Dani (Zaboo) . . .

I usually have a hard time seeing two shades of the same color as two colors. But that's just me.

And it's bigger than I expected -- came on Saturday. Apparently the mm measurement in the auction meant nothing to me. It only sank in when I measured it at a hair less than 3/4. Tempted to put it with my Czech marbles!

Agree. If youse guys in Ohio haven't yet been to the Great Serpent Mound or the area around Chillicothe, you won't be sorry if you go . . .

Oh well. This is the best I can do - - - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bohemian-Glass-Trade-Bead-Czech-Molded-Marble-Round-Vintage-/121681542456?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=2WUd%252FwDgj6WlIeQf8T808w9b3R4%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc#ht_503wt_1218

What do you mean, exactly, by clear? Are you talking about one end of the ribbon?

I would also guess that "Specials" would be an assortment, or maybe whatever they happened to have too many of at any one given time . . .

For some reason, I keep stumbling across these weird marble beads. Haven't seen one quite like this crazy Czech one before. Looking forward to its arrival in my mailbox - - - Sorry for the sucky small pics. I'll see if I can do better.

Pretty. When backlit, do you see any orange (opalescent) glow?

Otherwise, damned if I know . . . (like them though!)

Yay, simultaneous posts! Thanks, Al!

OK, according to Witcher, who's been looking for MK swirls for 15 years or so and found only about 35 -- most damaged in some way -- there are 5 different color combinations amongst the ones he's been able to gather up: 1. Red, blue, yellow 2. Red, green, yellow 3. Red, green, blue 4. Brown/purple, green, blue 5. Orange, blue, yellow All on a white base glass, generally mixed with clear, which you can see if you look closely; kinda wispy-like in some places. Obviously the #5 combination is closest to yours, but yours lacks the yellow, and apparently all of the MK swirls he has and has seen have 3 colors (on white). The white of yours looks OK. But the main thing that would keep me from thinking MK swirl now is the very clear ribbon definition that all of the illustrated ones have. So . . . maybe not an elusive MK swirl. Or at least the probabilities are better that it's something else. Maybe it will ring a bell with someone more versed in WV swirls than me. Here's another view to go with the one up there in post #13.

Yes please.

The couple Berretti ones I have are light. I'm sure that means they are much more valuable than yours!

What she said ^^^^

Reminds me of this, back in the LOLcats somewhere - - -

Makes sense. I'm inclined to think of the rough pontil as an as-made thingy at the moment. Other opinions? Ideas?

Red slags? It's certainly possible.

Not being obtuse! Ask away! There have been cane-cut slags, but they are exceedingly rare, and some would argue that they're not really slags. I might argue that too, since the base glass is very nearly opaque, but I haven't seen enough in person to do more than flail around on the subject. Generally speaking, slags are not cane cut. They're hand-gathered, one at a time. Honestly, I'm kind of struggling with the two pontil thing here, because in the first set of pics I can clearly see what you'd expect to see on any hand-gathered slag = the characteristic "9" (or "6" if you look at it the other way around), which reveals the circular (or spiral) swirling motion the gatherer made when he dipped the metal rod (punty) into the pot of hot glass. The real (single) pontil should be at the opposite pole, where the gob of glass (soon-to-be-marble) is cut off of the rod. Which pontil is opposite the "9" and where is the other one, in relationship to those two points? Is the rough one in the "o" of the nine? And the spidery one opposite it? I'm wondering if the rough (non-spidery-looking) is really maybe a manufacturing defect, like the hot (but cooling) marble accidentally ran into something, roughing / crinkling up the surface, or something . . .

That actually makes me feel better, Al, thanks!

Japanese handmade = hand-gathered (as opposed to cane-cut) slag. Lately I've been trying to avoid using the word "transitional" but most collectors would know what you meant if you said "Japanese transitional." Unusual color or hard-to-find color, either one.

Might be talking about two versions of the same thing. The Italian (Berretti) ones are light in weight. But if they're cold & heavy, they might be the mill ball ones instead. The "missing spots" of color in those of the photos incline me towards the mill ball option, but hard to tell without holding them. Either way -- beh.

The colors of yours are different but I certainly can't rule it out, since I've only seen a handful of the MK swirls, mostly in pictures. Those were all in the red / blue / green / yellow ribbons on white combo, I think. But I've got Gerald Wichter's article about them at home, though, and I'll check it tonight. The pic I posted are of ones (from Bob Byard) that I was frustratingly outbid on a few years ago. I can still get upset about it if I let myself . . .. I don't know much about Mid-Atlantic either, but the 3 or 4 I have and all the ones I've seen pictures of are much more "faded" looking than yours. "Champion" keeps drifting across my mind, but . . . Will report back.

I'd agree that the red-and-white one is a slag, probably Akro (Hi Willie). They frequently used a lot of white in theirs. Are these the MK swirls you're thinking of?

I know very little about patches. At my very rudimentary level, the basic (and kinda only) generalization I go by is that Akro patches usually seem to have curving ends that give their marbles the weird appearance of smiling. Or frowning, whichever way you look at them.