Steph

I sent out an SOS about the last one I heard of.

It was a fad in the 1960's. A high profile fad. Written up in newspapers -- and someone even was reported as having sent some "fried marble" jewelry to the Kennedy family in the White House. .... if I correctly recall my old newspaper reading that I did a few years back.

No worries! You're great!

(The swirls with the white base and green or turquoise ribbons aren't worth as much.) (Again, likely Alley or Ravenswood, but in the "common" category.)

You have some good ones there. The green base with black swirls are called Pistachios. Made by Alley, or maybe Ravenswood. In mint condition they can bring decent money -- $5 to $50 or maybe even more depending on the pattern. One the bottom left, that looks like an Akro corkscrew -- a very pretty one. Don't wanna guess what it could be worth, but my hunch is that it would be considered desirable.

Most are Vitro All-Reds. Some people call them Pepsi marbles, for what I hope is an obvious reason. On the third row down the marble on the left looks like it could be something else. And maybe the marble on the right.

Few plain white marbles have value. There are some which are handmade (and have pontils). There are some which are called Moons or Moonies. Some Akro Moonies have "fish eyes" where you can see through the marble .. and can see orange glow inside the marble when holding it up to a light. (Just because you can see orange glow that doesn't make it a moonie.) Here's a recent thread with a little glimpse of some collectible white marbles http://marbleconnection.com/topic/22740-time-for-a-moonmoonie-thread/#comment-204436

Whose fingerprints do they use in crime dramas on TV? Are they made up? Are they the fingerprints of production staff?

Well done. Almost all West Virginia swirls. And almost all in that category of "Probably made by Alley -- some maybe from Ravenswood." Mostly from the 1930's and maybe spilling into the 1940's. There are two which on my screen look like they have bright yellow patches. Pull those out.

So, it IS a cat's eye. An Asian cat's eye. A common pattern. The unusual metal inclusion is what makes it special. Thanks for the extra pictures to clear that up.

Gotta get out my bucket of popcorn again

That's why I picked up my bucket of popcorn. I would have pictured a different marble to go with green zebra name, but if this is it, then this is it.

Hmmm, different ... still looking sorta cat-eye-y but not. How about one looking straight down onto the "top", that is, where the ribbons come together.

I guess I was distracted by the shiny thing!

P.s., I was only looking at the metal ... the kind of marble it is matters too. Could we have more views? Last night I thought that was a cat's eye ... but this morning it looks completely different.

Nice mix here Row 1: not sure with that view, West Virginia swirl, this view looks like an Akro corkscrew, antique German handmade Row 2: this view looks like a Peltier NLR known as a Spiderman, could be an Akro Royal, Alley from this view, this view looks like another German handmade Row 3: German handmade (I think this one is known as an Indian but I'm not good with handmade names), this view makes me think Peltier Rainbo, not sure, Cat's Eye That cat's eye looks like it could be a good one. Would like more views of it. Most cat's eyes aren't considered collectible, but some patterns are. This might be one of those.

Row 1: I think Alley, probably Peltier multicolor rainbo, maybe Alley, Vitro Helmet Row 2: Alley, Alley, Akro Lemonade Oxblood, not sure with that view Row 3: maybe a clearie with a cold roll, West Virginia swirl, not sure with that view, maybe Alley or maybe Ravenswood. Alley and Ravenswood are examples of a West Virginia swirl. One one with white and black (or dark purple), I remember that several companies might have done that combo and I've never been able to pin it down. There were more than 10 companies in West Virginia which made swirls. So often they're all lumped together in that general "West Virginia swirl" group.

That's really neat that it's big enough to pull toward a magnet. Out of round usually hurts value. But you _might_ find someone who likes oddballs who would want to acquire one with a big piece of metal in it.

Nice to see you, Bo!

First row: #1 might be Alley, maybe need more views. #2 looks like an Akro Popeye #3 Alley Second row: Could be all Alley. Or the last marble might be a Christensen Agate. Because of the particular ribbon pattern on it, it's called a "flame". That's a good thing. Third row: Need more views. I should probably be able to say right away on the third with that distinctive purple, but I'll wait for someone else. Most people are hesitant to try to give values on marbles. The market fluctuates so. Most two colored marbles aren't worth a whole lot, but if you're looking at a Christensen Agate with a really nice pattern, all bets are off. Some of your oxblood Akros could be around $50 plus or minus if in mint condition. And with those two sentences I just said, I'm already afraid I've said something false, so I'm going to stop there. Watching trends on ebay is one idea.

James is right. It can be nice to see a large group to get a feel for someone's collection. For specific information smaller groups are better. From the larger version of your picture which you posted in the test forum, I see a number of Akros, one Master, and some West Virginia swirls. http://marbleconnection.com/topic/22780-test/ From that group, the Akros would be the most valuable. In particular the ones with oxblood (which is a special opaque reddish glass). Condition matters a great deal though. One nick can reduce a marble's value by half.