Steph

Not sure why they didn't work for you, Chuck. I posted the addresses and hit "enter" and the pictures showed up for me automatically.

Chad, I'm afraid to answer about "specials" because it could start a debate which would be very off-topic. I guess I can break it into a separate thread if we get too far afield. To the best of my understanding, Akro didn't make any style that they specifically called "Special". That is a collector's name. Dark outline of the sort which is a relatively common byproduct of multicolor marble manufacture doesn't change what Akro intended. It might indeed get some collectors to call it a Special, but generally not me. If Akro ran the marble in their standard two-color Prize Name run and it got an additional thin stream of dark glass on the borders of the main colors that didn't stop it from being a Prize Name. Also, here's a good time to say Bruce is right about white or gray or cream or whatnot being counted as one of the two colors. But I don't know how non-white a white-ish shade would need to be for people to think of it as "non-white". In the blue/gray one that I think you're talking about, Sara, I'm seeing it as still in the blue/white region. As one last side note, I note that the colors didn't have to be strictly opaque ... some transparency slipped into some the ribbons of some marbles in Prize Name runs but the overall effect was still an opaque marble and that was apparently good enough for Akro. Akro named their intentional three-color version "Tri-Color Agate". "Special" is one of those names like "Ace" which early collectors saw on boxes or something and made conclusions about but the conclusions turned out to not quite match what Akro meant (or what Akro probably, in my opinion, meant). Akro sold assortments in boxes marked Special. They advertised Sparklers as one of the things you might get in a Special Assortment. And they had various other marbles including popeyes in the Special section of their salesman sample box.

A little variation in shading or some chemical reaction between the two colors doesn't stop it from being a Prize Name. Here are some Prize Names in a salesman sample case. If I understand what you're saying, you might not have thought some of them would belong, right?

Safe travels.

This could be a job for Super Jessica. @disco005? You in hearing range?

What do you mean by interchanging construction and structure? They sound roughly synonymous but I can see how they could be different. I probably use the word "structure" more. Would have to catch myself saying "construction" to see how I apply it.

Here's a modern Marble King which was mistaken for a Peltier Rainbo some years back.

Thanks, Sara. That's a decent rule of thumb as far as huge generalities go.

*gulp*

Now wondering about the UV qualities of old Japanese patch style marbles .....

Thanks, Roberto!

Sara, "maestro" is Italian for "master".

Looks like a couple of CAC's there. And that big one is intriguing.

well said

I don't know. With the green looking like that base glass and it being covered in a layer of white-ish glass, I don't recognize that as an Akro pattern. Keeping mind open about Akro. Considering Vitro. And considering that it could be something else altogether. I wouldn't particularly think "old" Akro, because I would expect the older ones to fall more consistently into Akro's standard patch patterns.

I totally get the Master ID. It LOOKS Master to me too. I want it to be Master. However, some have said the lavender points away from Master. Curious marble. On a technicality even if it's Asian, it's hard for me to see it as "Imperial" because to me it looks truly vintage and since the Imperial Toy Co. was founded in 1969 and didn't initially import Asian marbles, if we have truly vintage marble here, it couldn't have come via Imperial. But again, that's just a technicality since we use "Imperial" for a wide range of Asian marbles, not just the ones distributed by that particular company.

Pix look fine to me. Big but not too big on my monitor. @Da Roberto has some unusual Imperials ... so if that's the direction we should be heading maybe he could shine a light. Very interesting marble. And beautiful.

I have a small number in not so nice condition. I had one nice one ... I sent it to my nephew Joseph. Seemed like the thing to do.

Nearing the end of September and still no close-ups for you. I've been STRESSING over how to do it. Well, I finally gave up on figuring out how to nicely arrange and present them and I just took a new picture of the whole group and started a new thread. Pictures are a such a challenge for me. I'm much better than I used to be, but still have my moments where I let my expectations get too high and then freeze. https://marbleconnection.com/topic/25964-anacortes-vitro/

Vitro was in Anacortes, Washington from 1989 to 1992. Small window of time. These are my examples. They came in a bag which I naughtily opened. I wanted to take some nicely detailed pictures but I have been overwhelmed by the prospect since there are so many types, so here they all are. Now that I have this big group photo out of the way, I can try to provide better detail on any special requests

Pretty ... but I have no advice about dots. I have mostly gotten used to them now. Except the ones that my flash causes, because my camera's ring of tiny dots looks like damage.

Now if that's not a pontil but a chip, we reset the conversation. To me the dark dots in the middle of the green frit seem out of place but guineas are above my sophistication level.

Chad is correct. Having a pontil would rule out CAC guinea.

If made that way, then it would be a modern marble, such as a Vacor. However, marbles which have spent time in an aquarium are known to get that look.

I think that the very bottom one in this photo is Master. And that the bottom one on the right side is Vitro. Maybe Akro with the red and yellow. Could see the brown ribbon going Vitro or Akro. Would want to see more views on the top two red and white (and clear) marbles on that left diagonal.