Steph

Moved to general to get more eyes on 'em.

Thanks. The swirl is very aquatic.

Ric ... where are you?

My Salvador Dali sparklers:

Neat. I'm gonna say that's a somewhat less common type. I don't know what to call it other than corkscrew.

The one on the right strikes me as unusual. Is the base a translucent yellow? What does it look like backlit? Okay, about your actual question ... some would call the one on the left a snake. I don't think the right would be called that. "Snake" is a collectors name. Akro's name for the one on the left was Spiral. So that's what I'd generally call it.

I think $300 would be a decent price for it.

Don't cry over spilt bumblebees.

I'm lookin'. I'm lookin'. I'm stallin'. ....

beautiful -- like mercury

Happy cat. Easy-going friend, eh?

He who laughs last

That particular purple one in the picture up there is Alley, right?

shhhhh .... no oxblood

For Bob's commercial collection

Nancy, did you play jacks? My mom was very good at that.

lulz Love it

Took me a minute to realize you meant all that color was on the inside. I was distracted by the color on the outside of that first one. Five apiece? Neat.

very innersting

Vacor's claim was this, "En 1944, comenzamos a fabricar la popular canica "Trébol" e incrementamos nuestra capacidad sustancialmente para cubrir los mercados locales de México." "Trébol" translates to Shamrock ... whatever that would mean for a marble.

Thanks for the stories. Keep 'em coming. "I think my older brother collected Cabbies' buttons to wear on his cap." That's pretty cool all by itself. New one on me.

There is a 1955 Sports Illustrated article with Japanese Cat's Eyes. And there are some funky marbles identified as being Cat's Eyes, which aren't identified by country, which I've seen discussed several times without resolution. (link) The marbles pictured in the article were said to be from the collections of Sellers Peltier and Berry Pink. Heaton has in the past been given credit as being first. That's the version of events Marblealan reported. I just wondered where the story came from to begin with. Vitro and MK started making cat's eyes in response to Japan's. But Vitro has been given credit with starting in 1954, while Marble King and Peltier are said to have begun in 1955. So I wonder where the 1954 date comes from for Vitro. I can't remember seeing it in ads. Also, the 1955 SI article might even imply that Vitro had not sold their cat's eyes yet, since the caption for the Japanese Cat's Eyes reads, "JAPANESE CAT's EYES, now being imported in millions, are threat to U.S. marble industry. Different and more colorful than today's U.S. marbles, they are a big hit with kids." Why were Vitro's cat's eyes excluded? Professional rivalry? Or because they weren't available yet? Since supposedly MK and Peltier both came out with theirs after Vitro, I hadn't worried much about whether MK beat Peliter or not. But if Vitro didn't really come out with them in 1954, then naturally I'll be curious about who hit the market first between all three. So, worldwide, Japan seems to have made the first international splash, though some think Vacor may have started making them in 1944 for local markets, which would put them before Japan. And in the U.S., Heaton was once given credit with being first, but last I heard, Vitro was. And now I'm wondering about why the story was ever believed about Heaton, and where the 1954 date came from for Vitro. Is it possible that MK or Peltier actually started before Vitro?

Akro Tea Set (link)