Steph

Awesome skills there. That must be wonderful just to hold and gaze at. A subsurface moon would be a circular impact point that seems to be just below the surface. There's a fracture but no missing glass. The FAQ at Marblealan's site talks about different kinds of damage: http://marblealan.com/FAQ.htm . Tweezered off? I don't know. I don't know the answer to this question about diamond paste either. But I want to highlight it again so it won't get lost. :-)

Nifty. Yes, some people are very sweet. p.s., Looks like you might have some hot glowers there. Have you zapped that bunch with a blacklight?

It's possible that this is what I was remembering. I sorta thought I should be looking for something a little more recent, with more colors, but maybe this is it. I'm told these are not Pelt either, but maybe that's what I was fuzzily trying to recapture. p.s., I have one mib which looks like these. Mine is handgathered and brilliantly fluorescent. and almost transparently opalescent.

Hi Bob. That sounds like an interesting question. It'd probably be good to ask it in the main forum. I'm not sure how many people will see it in this thread. Welcome. -s

I wouldn't have guessed Masters had 'em that much more than corks, DC. There are modern mibs with eyelashes too. Galen has a pretty set on a dish of some sort. Uh, guys, are these the eyelashes you didn't want to see? Just wanna be clear. :Evil_1:

I've been looking at some 1800's sketches, to see what images artists might have associated with different animals back then. Mike's is pretty dead on for a boar. It seems like porcupines were thought to have bushy tops, hanging over their eyes even, not ridges so much. edit: not always bushy-headed lol Charles' does look sorta like old depictions of a hedgehog, or some longish-legged, big-eared mold adapted to a hedgehog. lol ... a political porcupine for fun

That's what I figure it is. :-) Almost all the visible white is in this view. There's a seam just to the right of this pic. The white lines stop abruptly there. LOL ... yeah, I like the ones with the marble stands. Don't have to worry about their value. just enjoy 'em.

Oxblood? neato! By the way, was this an invitation? "Old Beat Up Slags" This one has one particularly good side ... but it has a built in marble stand on the other side

Looks like it could be a pig's/boar's ear. Could those be spots instead of spikes? . . . . . . from general preconceptions of the times and the basic shape of the aminal, I'd lean toward boar. but if those were spots my offbeat guess would be hyena.

how about master on yours Mike? this was an auction pic. i don't recall its provenance (click to enlarge)

wow, that one joker looks uncannily like a marble king

Hi there! No pic is showing up. Just a quick note tho' - Alan is someone people send mibs to for IDs so you wouldn't need to tell him a name in advance. I expect he would describe it well in the auction even without a headstart from us.

yah, that was it. :-) their completed listings include an 1870 newspaper with a marbles article. :-) also Charleston Daily News

:icon_lmao: :rol: :rofl: :Cartoon_177:

but how did this one end up in the pre-1970 handmade marbles section? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=260429119677

Ooh, very pretty Mike, and thanks for the clarification, Craig. Thanks Al, those greens look as if they could be a little translucent ... Are those old stock, Charles? neat stuff. Thanks everyone! If I find the box which I thought contained something really opal-ly sounding, I'll post that. Right now I just have a foggy sense that I oughta be able to find it. I don't know where though. oh well, I'll find it or I won't.

What do you think the top of this box looked like? Too narrow for a Ringer marble set box, huh? But it does look like a paper box, right? The picture doesn't match the specs of the description below it. Sorry, I didn't mean to change the subject so abruptly from Ringers. I looked this ad up hoping that it would turn out to be a Ringer box traveling incognito. I didn't do a good enough dimension check before I started posting. Edit: looking in American Machine-Made Marbles, I guess it might be a stained glass box. yeah .... that looks like the right size for the stained glass examples .... probably no mystery. Unless someone would like to talk about the box in the written description. p.s. it is my ad now! *happy dance* George Sourlis sent me the scan a little while back but then this last week he surprised me with the replica 1930/1931 Baer catalog from which he scanned it. (Thanks so much, George!)

Neat mibs! Very planetoid!

They are Akros, but it wasn't the name of a marble style. Ringer Marble Set, I think the box says. A set of marbles for the Ringer game. The official game of the national tournaments. My best guess for the box style puts it at around 1930/1931. I still haven't seen an ad for it though so I don't know. But in that general era, Moss agates were a very likely type of marble to put in the box. It all adds up. Moss corks are a much likelier bet for the average content than popeye variants with one too few colors. To the best of my understanding

I didn't see your photo when I posted. My brain is too full right now. I'm afraid to say anything. LOL. (seriously -- My brain just went on strike.) ... but ... wow ... what a sweet and unusual marble ......

The choice as I see it for most Ringer contenders is between Moss Agate variant and Popeye variant. (using the popular term Popeye rather than Tri-Onxy) There wouldn't be a Ringer variant, since to the best of my understanding Akro didn't make a Ringer marble. I can actually think of four marble types where some variation might get them qualified as a Ringer. 1) the Popeyes, of course. 2) the Moss Agates. 3) Spiral Agates with extra amounts of stray white in the base. 4) True Ace Agates with less than the usual amount of white filaments filling the base. Yes, Jess, there are moss agate corks. Here is a salesman sample box of them, with the price label :-) (click to enlarge) Mike's marble in the auction doesn't seem to have the translucent "moonstone" glass in it, so that's why I thought Popeye/tri-onyx variant over Moss Agate. (click to enlarge) Craig's look like they have the "moonstone" glass so my belief is that Akro made those as moss agates.

I think the ad writers literally meant the moss agate glass looked like moonstone. Like so:

I was thinking popeye variant rather than moss agate because the white and clear are so distinct. Moss agates would have translucent bases. They could have some clear and some white wisps but would have a prominent amount of translucence. What the Akro ads called "moonstone" glass. in my opinion, and to the best of my understanding.

:-) :-) *hehe* thanks for the smile. :-) My guess here is that Mike was right in pegging it as some sort of popeye anomaly. Made when one of the colors had run out or not started up yet. just a guess. :-)

Hey Mike, this might be the most interesting marble I've seen you list. Good luck. Hope no one minds. Guess it's not like posting a regular active auction to mention this, since it's a buy-it-now. http://cgi.ebay.com/Marbles-AKRO-AGATE-SUP...emZ160341942474