richsantaclaus

Edna, PM me her email or web site please.

At another marble site, I was ordered to believe it was an old marble without any basis other than the person said so.... lol. Ok, whatever. I like MC because you all HELP me when identifying a marble by telling me WHY you called it what you call it instead of telling me what it is and that's it! It's like a math teacher I had once - he said, "Solve the problem my way." When I asked him why, he said, "Because I said so!" Turns out, that teacher knew only one way to solve the problem when in fact, there were 3 ways! Oh well, it takes all kinds to make up the world.

Hey...lol When the core of a swirl is made, they rolled glass over stringers. When a sulphide is made, they dipped into a crucible and encased the figurine in the interior of the glass and generally causes the figurine to have a bubble around it. Personally, I have torched and repaired 37 sulphides taking the bubble out of the center of the sulphide using modern marble making techniques. If the figurine was rolled over OR placed there on the outside of the core, because of it's large size, it would not allow a smooth roll and would cause a large bubble. Lauren Stump invented a system that contemporary marble makers (and paperweight makers0 use to remove the air trap. That technique was not around in the old days. Not to be a critic, but I don't think that marble is an old marble. I hope I'm wrong because it's a killer marble!

Oh, I have not seen one in person - 2 1/2" is a big canvas to paint on!

Pretty good painting and so tiny too.

Feb - now THAT is a PARTY!!!!!

Torching verses Polishing when repairing marbles. Given a marble with a crack ¼ of the way through, a big 1/16” chip and several flea bites. For discussion’s sake, let’s say it’s a swirl and a person is considering getting it repaired. For discussion’s sake, let’s not talk about the resale value and let’s say the person wants to keep the marble for their own collection. To understand the difference of fixing the marble by torching verses polishing, let’s give an example: Pretend you had a ball of clay and you poked a pencil into it ½” deep and made a hole and you lost a bit of clay as you pulled the pencil out. 1) If you rolled that ball of clay around in your hand and rounded the clay back into a sphere, the clay would fill in the hole but lose only the volume that was originally lost when you poked the hole into the clay and pulled it out. This is what torching does to the marble – it allows the hot glass to fill in the hole and you don’t lose volume. The problems with torching a swirl are: If the color lines are too near the surface, they usually become misshapen. If the bubbles drift to the surface, the colored bands will misshapen. Usually, the pontils disappear because they gat melted into the surface of the marble. 2) If you got a clay blade and took off clay down to the end of where the pencil poked into the clay, ½ inch deep, and removed the clay as you worked, you’d lose volume of clay but it would become round again, just a lot smaller. This is what polishing does but you lose volume as deep as the hole used to be. The problems with polishing a swirl are: The pontils usually disappear and the opening widens where they used to be. If the damage is too deep, the colored bands will be affected. If the marble has deep cracks, torching allows the cracks to turn into small bubbles and in some cases one can pick them out when they are near the surface. In polishing, the cracks remain because they are deep inside the marble. Both methods have their place in repairing a marble if one chooses to have it repaired. Marble on! Rich

I want to go again but I have this family surprise birthday to go to in Nevada - darn it anyhow!!!!!

Vegas Marble Show Date:November 12, 2011 City: Las Vegas NV Location:Tropicana Hotel and Casino 800-634-4000 Contact: Lee Linne 253-815-6928 Website: www.iamc.us

Just made my room reservations - woo, woo!!!!!

My contemporary marbles range around 12 to 15 dollars each but they usually are around 1" and a bit larger. Each one is a one-of-a-kind marble since they are created one at a time. I see many vintage marbles that look alike each other (like MK's) and were made by the thousands. My suggestion is buy what you like and buy what looks pretty in your own eyes. I don't see anyone playing with the vintage marbles either as well as the contemporary ones. I see a lot of marble fondling though...lol Rich

Banana ramma ding dong

Hi. I've just finished reloading over 400 pictures to my santasbling.com web site so they are closer views of many of the Jabo marbles. I'd love to know if you like the newer look. Here is the link. http://www.santasbling.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=5&Itemid=53 As you'll see, I've separated the years into sections for easier navigation. If you see any need for changes, please let me know - thanks Rich

It's a cool thing you captured in these pictures - nice!

I'll be there

It's good to get clarity!

You deserve the marbles I made you as you are my friend and I appreciate your helpfulness. I had written your name as someone that assisted me way before you mentioned it. I put it there three days after I started writing the article according to the web statistics I have. but I don't care when it was there, it is important to me that you get credit! I can't torch when I am not home and I refuse to torch in the excess heat - the torch's temperature is 1400F and when it's 100F+ outside, it isn't safe. Those aren't excuses, those are facts. I tried to make these marbles you got as best as I could make them for you. Some I added aventurine to the cullet and others I "arted"them up so you'd have something special because you deserve it! I learned a lot about the packing of a massive quantity of marbles thanks to you Steven. If ever I need to pack that many, I'll be sure to follow your directions and I am sure others will too. Marble on! Rich

I uploaded more pictures to the 2001 and the 2009 sections - I hope you are enjoying the pictures Rich

Good for you Steve. I can't believe the strong emotional feelings I see here. You have been a man who has been a friend and an eBay seller that went beyond being nice by sending small gifts with the item won to the buyer AND one who assisted me in my quest to get the pictorial history documented (I used the pictures you gave me and gave you credit in the introduction). Anyway, have a great day!

huh? Someone sends you a huge box of stuff (with delivery confirmation to prove they sent it) and you focus on the way it was packed (thanks for the information by the way) and not the shabby job the post office did seems to me to be a bit crying over spilled milk - just saying is all. Your original post was very helpful but now it seems you have a hidden agenda (ie. pissing contest, skunk, spiteful, bad karma, b.s., etc.)... just saying...

lol... each to their own opinion I guess - right or WRONG...lol

My thought is that the person never ever sent or received that many marbles and didn't know to follow your wonderful packing directions. Thank you for telling us how to package large quantities of marbles - you are a great help to us!

I wish I had a marble like the first one - it has nice Christmas colors in it!

As well you should be - it's a GREAT mib!!!!!

Want me to send a few to you Ron?