Chordus

As I said, though, I've gotten a box of these marbles for what's less than 50¢ a piece. That's kind of a huge difference.

The problem is the bit where the sellers who know better, I'd say. Not that this has ever stopped people from doing it anyway. Are these marbles really handmade? If so, what definition of "handmade" are we using here? Given the vast quantity of these marbles in circulation, and their price, it's very difficult for me to conceive of how marbles are handmade at that sort of speed and price. I'll concede that these are handmade if you all are certain about it, but I can't see how.

To answer your question, Steph, the information is inaccurate in several ways: 1) These marbles are not blown. Blowing glass is a very different art than manufacturing marbles. As sissydear (Edna? I'm horrible with names) said, there are marbles which are made from blown glass, but I can assure you that the ones on this site are not. 2) The marbles are not handmade (or "handblown," as it were). These come from a marble manufacturer in China. And while the site may state this in the small print (which it does NOT in the magazine I originally found it in, I may add), the fact of the matter is that the description itself is false. 3) You are correct, these could be "made in the Venetian" tradition; being from one country doesn't mean they aren't influenced by another. I highly doubt that the marbles are really influenced by various techniques from Venice. But let's say for a moment that they are: it's still misleading to compare manufactured marbles from China with Venetian glass. Given what Jeeperman here says, that he's met people thinks that these are Italian made, I think that's pretty clear evidence that the advertisement is giving false impressions. As for your comment, David: "I believe we have to accept the fact that the general public will never-ever catch up to us in marble knowledge" I agree that it's ridiculous to expect other people to know what we do about marbles. There are thousands of collectible items out there, and it'd be impossible for any individual to know about all of them. However, it is a seller's duty to know what they are selling, and not to rip off a customer so flagrantly. I realize that this is perhaps unrealistic, but I still feel strongly that it should be the case. Also, for the record, I kinda like these marbles; that's why I have a few myself. In terms of Chinese marbles, they're certainly better than others. I just think that the price they're going for here is outrageous.

Those marbles are certifiably by a Chinese manufacturer. I have a box with a set of them. I think the box was $8 for 20 marbles, to put the price into perspective. (And to be frank, $8 was a bit much). Also to put it in perspective: I have a very large solitaire board with beautiful stone marbles that cost the same price. I'd say that no sane person would ever buy that set for that price, but the fallacy there is that there are a lot of people in the world who are not sane.

I got some sort of sales catalog selling a product that you may find humorous. Here's a link to what they're selling: http://www.normthompson.com/jump.jsp?itemID=13430&itemType=PRODUCT Now take a look at the description. Noticing any problems?

Just a heads up, I've sent a PM your way.

Here's a picture of the green slag before it was repaired.

WOW! The entire first row in that first pic is AWESOME! *Wants* I have a piece of purple/red cullet exactly like the one in the first picture... I always wanted to know what it'd look like as a marble. Getting to know without sacrificing it is pretty rock'n. Also, sorry for being one of the ones keeping you so busy.

That one with a white wire in the yellow glass is AWESOME, Alan! I'm pretty sure that Jabo never made anything like wire pulls. I can't even think of anything close that they made, though. Could you post some pics of the ones you're wondering about, Soilwork?

That's quite a bit of camerawork you've got there! If I make a suggestion, consider showing the whole marble in the primary auction photo. While the interior shots are great, I can't even tell that they're marbles. When I'm buying marbles on ebay, I'm not going to give it a second thought to auctions that aren't clearly marbles on the browsing page. Though I can't buy anything ATM, I'll almost certainly be a future customer. Those marbles are rock'n!

Went to the antique mall this weekend, and the swirl was gone! About time it sold, but sorry I can't get any pictures! Also gone was the most epic table I've ever seen. Its entire top was inlaid marble (the stone) with very intricate patterns. I loved that table so much, even if I could never, ever afford the $15000 price tag. I did manage to pick up two killer corkscrews while I was there, though. Pics coming in a few days.

I recognize that not everybody here has played marbles, but I must admit that I'm surprised that this topic has been up for a while and nobody's actually posted a picture. There are others here who have played, yes? That poor marble of mine has seen better days to be sure. But a shooter that shows no damage is a shooter that hasn't been used. O_O I have an amythest shooter somewhere that I used to shoot at a WV competition once. I had to buy it there because I had forgotten to bring this one. I'm glad of it too, because at the end of the tournament, it had a massive amount of damage. The problem? The rings were raised two feet above the ground, and had no backstop. The rule is that you were to try to catch the other person's marble, but that could be very hard to do sometimes. I'll have to see if I can find it anywhere. It makes the shooter I posted look flawless.

I haven't met many mibsters who just discard their shooters. So for those of you who shoot or have shot marbles, let's see what you used! I used several over my career, but this was the one I used for most of it. It's regular agate, and measures 21/32.

If memory serves me, all of the old sulphides use clay figures. I know that only certain materials can be encased in glass due to their cooling rate, but what other substances can be put into sulphides? Any gems? Metals? Perhaps even a iron-sulfide sulphide could be made?

The ghosty bit is actually quite wide– the latticino is inside of it, not the other way around. It's a pretty marble to be sure. I wouldn't mind having it in my collection, I'm just not gonna pay that much for it. Or anywhere close. I'll be heading to that antique mall soon, so if its still around, I'll see if I can get a piccy of it.

To the best of my memory, there was no mica. I believe that the marble has a white lattice core, and unremarkable bands on the outside. Neither the translucent or the base is colored. If my memory serves me– and it's been a while, but I've seen the marble plenty of times– it's a normal swirl except the ghosty part in the center.

There's an antique store that I'll check in about twice a year, and for the past five or six years now, there's been a marble labeled as a "Ghost Core Swirl." It's a german swirl, probably a little under two inches, and in great condition. As the name suggests, the core of it is in a somewhat translucent glass, compared to the rest which is your standard transparent clear glass. My question is this: is this a known phenomenon? And are "ghost-core swirls" a real type, or is this just a standards swirl with a unique characteristic? For reference, it's $250, which I suspect may be the reason it's never sold. O_O

I started playing marbles before I collected. My coach would bring in a different type of marble during each class, and I started getting interested from that. I personally prefer modern handmade marbles to vintage marbles, though my handmades are a much more limited collection due to the cost. For the most part, the fun of the vintage marbles is more in searching and finding interesting marbles than actually owning rare, high-priced marbles.

Do you have pictures of the original cullet, per chance?

Depends on how many you're shipping. If you're just shipping one, a small package with bubble wrap will do wonders. The real issue is when you have the potential of marbles knocking together. In this case, you'll probably want to separate them. I have found that a simple barrier, such as a tissue or a plastic bag, will keep them pretty safe.

Ahhh, ok. I thought that the plant that closed down was the only one. Clearly I stand corrected. Thanks for clearing that up! I too am interested in how much pre-planning went into her statement. I guess I'l find out the next time I see her.

Where exactly are the Jabo factories? I'm only aware of the one in Reno, Ohio, and I was under the impression that it only did the private runs nowadays. Both facts are pretty clearly wrong, judging by this.

What others are there, Griff? I suppose you could include Jabo, but they're not really manufacturing any more, are they? I was under the impression that it was just the special runs nowadays, and that's more for collectors than for distribution. Are there others I'm missing? I wound be inclined to agree with Beri regarding the imports. If companies are importing marbles into the US, than clearly they're selling those marbles. No, it's not the popular product it once was. But they're selling one way or another, and every imported marble sold is one native marble not sold. Personally, my beef with her is that she had several opportunities to advertise the National Marble Tournament, and blew them all. She's the president of the committee, so she really should be concerned with things like that. All it would have taken is maybe five seconds to give us a shout-out. Oh, and regarding her mentioning Obama's health care... can we not talk about that? I think it'd be a lot nicer here if politics weren't discussed.

Wow. O_O That is absolutely incredible.

Nooo! I just came on here to release the same info! Guess my insider info wasn't all that inside after all.