Steph

I think the ribbons run deeper than normal MK would. The white parts could be from the scanner. Awfully bright light involved there.

Is this the same Leo? http://marbleforum.blogspot.com/search/label/Leo%20Contreras%20Collection

Those are like sunsets. Real sunsets. Very nice.

those pastels are sweet.

I also was under the impression that Bogard made cat's eyes. However, they did have a relationship with Marble King. Bought cat's eyes from MK for Bogard bags, sold industrial marbles to help fill MK industrial orders. (this according to AMMM)

I believe those are Christensens. I can't remember exactly what the box said but I think the labelling was clear. Might have said both Gropper and Christensen. I definitely need to find the pix. Supposedly the mibs weren't all as swirly as these four look. Some had seams. Since so many companies made single color mibs, I wouldn't have a lot of faith in being able to identify one in the wild as Ravenswood or CAC or Alley or Champion or whoever. However, I have a diaperfold in blue which would fit right into that box. I'm completely convinced that mine is CAC.

Thanks for salvaging Sue's post! USPS insurance on $3000 is 32 bux.

Sue, I deleted your post! I'm so sorry! I was trying to delete a double post I made. I immediately saw I pressed the wrong button but it didn't give me the regular "are you sure you want to do this message" before it went ahead and knocked it off. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. Now I've deleted my post too in shame.

What a good question. It would be awesome to see something comprehensive on corals. Which all are Champ varieties. Which are Alley, Ravenswood, CAC, .... Did anyone else do them?

lol. good catch!

LOLOL I'm a cat person. (p.s. that's way cool. have a fabulous time)

Calling IT what IT is is different from calling SOMEONE something. That's all's I'm really saying. It's gonna be hard to call anybody anything if the board is shut down. The Bo who talked me through some of my struggles earlier this year seemed really good at stepping around the poop. I appreciated it. :-)

Unfortunately, the sense of humor seems to be the first casualty at times like this. :-) Your art really does have something refreshing about it. Thanks

Bo, that was not cool. It is not all good fun to call a board member a braggadocio. Sure this thread was provocative but it was going along okay. No good reason to stir things up. In fact every reason not to. If you don't care about the future of this board, keep poking fun at Steve. If you care at all, please don't. If Steve is stirring stuff for any unkind reason, let him stir alone. (Not saying he is. That's between him and him.) Please help neutralize the conflict and not feed it, that is, if you don't want Lou to shut this place down. Marble Mental has already been shut down (temporarily I hope) over these vendettas and agendas. The administrators are good people peforming a service. .

LOL. I'm not arguing! LOLOL Buttttt . . .

And duh, of course Martin's mechanization itself helped make the manufacturing process less expensive. Obviously a big factor. Of course cost matters. As I said (again and again lol) I wasn't arguing. This subject is simply fascinating to me all around, that is, the subject of the marble business back in the day. Did you know that hardware business owners back then were advised to sell mibs and pocket knives to boys as close to cost as possible? Ya know why? To get them hooked on the store. Get the boy's business and you have the man's in later years. :-)

I guess I take some issue with which market glass mibs were trying to take over. Maybe the answer is both. Being able to break into the German agate market is touted as one of Martin Christensen's accomplishments. His artful advertising - using names of various stones - was given part of the credit. But the marbles still had to be good. Martin was notorious for quality control. But I'm not arguing. Don't think there is too much difference of opinion here. Mostly mentioning facts I find interesting. Cheap German labor was a big issue to Martin. He did benefit from tariffs. A spokesman for U.S. glass manufacturers lobbied Congress for higher tariffs specially to protect the newborn American glass marble industry. All two glass marble making companies in the U.S. at the time, if I recall correctly. And Martin had affordable natural gas . . . until WWI. LOL. Just talking. Not really debating. I love thinking about these guys. Martin is definitely a fave.

Thanks Craig! Very cool. Every now and then I need to look through my marble books again. (doh!)

Right click. Save picture as ...

LOL. I was musing about Jaboland in that other thread. I can move some things around here but I can't transplant threads from one board to that next. Actually Felicia did post her flame at Jabo Land too. Maybe even posted it there first. Yay Fel!

Yah. s'far as I know.

Jabo did? I missed that. Or is Steve Jabo? I actually heard a rumor about that but I never saw the confirmation. I am definitely out of the loop.

Bo, do you think Jabo wants to compare itself to those companies? I never got that idea. I bet the people there, if they think of it at all, have a healthy view of their position in the history of marbles. They are the heirs to Bogard and hence to Heaton, and to Vitro. They are one of the last marble companies in the U.S. They kept alive all these years by making industrial marbles. And they got to make some kids' marbles too along the way. And Dave had his place in the history of Champion. Jabo can't compare in the kids' marble market because today's kids' marble market can't compare to that which Martin Christensen got into because it was so hot. American companies don't have the natural resources and cheap labor to keep a huge share of what is left of the kids mibs market. [Edit: one more important point before I give it up - today's marble market couldn't compare because in the old days it was important to make marbles which kids wouldn't snub in favor of real agates. It took quality control and good glass to keep serious players satisfied. In today's market, being as cheap as possible is what matters. yikes] But I shouldn't even go on. Sorry to bore you. Jabo should't have to get defensive or be defended just because someone likes to have a little "fun" with some of his fellow collectors. Thanks tons Steve. LOL ;-)

I'm the only one seeing something sorta of big cat -ish?

It's harder than that to get the eye catching ones. the pretty colors. etc. Changing the subject . . . because I know someone is very torn up about the current drama . . . why don't more Jabo lovers post at Jabo Land? Some of the more vocal Jabo critics have promised not to criticize there. Heck some have promised not to even post there for that matter. Why not celebrate the Jabos there more often? Not saying never post them anywhere else. But if you really like Jabos and really wanna celebrate them why not go to Jabo Land first? Sometimes I think the drama is more important than the marbles to some people.