Steph

I'm going to break this one off into its own thread because I think it's so different, I'd like to highlight it.

I agree on it maybe being a flintie. I was sort of holding back because I didn't have a good feel for the structure. Maybe Champion on the first marble?

Some kind of game marble on the red.

Considered Akro cork. But I'm leaning handgathered slag.

Marble King Bumblebee

Perhaps these pictures show what I mean about my known Marble Kings not having the gap I'm seeing on your marble. Some Marble Kings that I specially took seam photos of: Here's the opposite side. I do see a couple of very slender gaps: Compare those seams to the seam in the photo below. The colors below are ones you could see in a Marble King, and the seam is long and fairly flat like you often see in Marble Kings. But the ends of the ribbons on your are more feathery and they are more separated from each other than what you see in my photos.

I'd so not very common with such a distinctive pair.

Actually the gap is what's making me think NOT Marble King. The colors look Marble King but the gap doesn't. I pulled out my Marble Kings to make sure, and the colors go right up to the seams. The gaps make me think "maybe European".

1. First choice Heaton. Second Cairo Novelty. Third Alley 2. ? 3. Peltier Sunset 4. Vitro Helmet

Yes, to answer your question, this one does look old.

This marble that you posted in another thread has colors and pattern very much in keeping with Marble King but the gap in this view added to my curiosity about it being European. I need to pull out my Marble Kings and see if they have gaps like that which I'm just not remembering.

That gap that we're seeing in this view makes me think of European slag-type marbles. So my question is whether after the slag types (which we often call their "striped transparents), did the European companies move to marbles which bore resemblance to Marble King constuction?

Twins for sure. Leaning Akro but don't feel confident.

Maybe some of both Akro and Vitro and maybe a little Marble King. Sometimes I can nail them if I go with my first impressions. But if I start to think about them much they begin to blur together for me. I'm in the blurred zone right now. Some types were so similar between the companies that probably a lot of people have them sorted wrong. I have a generic patches group for the ones I'm not sure about.

UV fluorescence doesn't mean old and doesn't point to any one maker. Uranium glass has been made at least since the 1800's, through the 2000's. Non-uranium glass can also glow under UV light -- that would include the orange glows which could come from manganese. The greens have some different seam shapes mixed in. Most would probably be modern Asian, but maybe not all. The bottom right one looks a bit different. The marble above that one is a darker shade so it could be different. The bottom middle could use another look.

#1 is a beauty. I think vintage. But who? My first thought is Akro. 2. Vitro 3. That pattern is very close to a Marble King Tricolor Rainbow, but with a bit of a foreign look to it. Maybe Asian. Or German. Or actually Marble King. ?? If Asian, I would guess it would be a little older -- maybe on the borderline between modern and vintage. You have some interesting marbles.

1. That gray is unusual. The marble looks sort of Akro, but not with the gray, unless gray was a color that showed up in Akro's exports to Europe, which could very well be. Vitro is another good choice, though again I don't recognize the color for Vitro. But again, I recognize that this marble is in Europe, which could shake things up as far as ID's go. 2. Akro or Vitro. The LONG seams point away from Asia. 3. Maybe Marble King. (All-Reds have one red patch but a different color on the other end.)

1. Does look Asian, but maybe a bit older than usual. 2. Yeah, probably Vitro. 3. I'm leaning Akro on this one.

There are some Vitro All-Reds, some modern Asians, some Vacors, maybe some earlier Vitros, at least a bit of Akro, modern Marble King, and maybe a bit of older Marble King.

For anyone who might want to have the German book for their own, bookfinder.com shows many copies available for under $20 including shipping to the U.S.. (Some of the covers look different, but I'm still guessing the same.) Does this link work?

My Fred Ferretti book arrived. Next project ... go outside and practice the games!

The rest are mostly modern Asian. We call the style "Imperial" because the Imperial Toy Company was one of the companies which packaged them for sale in the United States. Not sure when the style started being made. I'd guess after 1970. The style is still being made today. We don't know the name(s) of the Asian companies who make them.

This group is Mexican, made by the Vacor company. Dates could range from the 1980s into th3 2000's. [Edit: I suppose some could be modern Asian, but Vacor is known for this style.]

I think maybe modern Marble King on the middle. (Ric, I'm seeing a partial blue outline rather than a "blackline")

The Master Cloudy is like the Akro Ace in that it can be confusing to use in an identification because it's both a company name and a collector name ... but the company used it for a different type of marble than what collectors tend to use it for. That state of affairs helps make my ID answers very wordy, as if I needed any encouragement in that department!