Steph

Thanks Kevin (and Sue). my next question would be whatever gave anyone the idea, hey, let's put this gold here in the torch and see if something good happens

Ah, found it. Felicia has pointed it out to me on your "about me" page at eBay. I coulda sworn I read the whole page, but apparently I stopped too soon.

A double ingot is two marbles which got rolled together when they were still hot enough to merge into one round ball. Sometimes double ingots are made from two corkscrews. When they merge their ribbons can do very strange things. They can look like Peltiers or like unusual WV swirls. Sometimes they're joined so tightly that you can barely tell they are two marbles. If they have wild ribbons, it can be really easy to miss it. Ronnie's examples are patches, which makes it so much easier to see that's what they really are -- two marbles stuck together. Thanks Ronnie! Perfect pix.

There, I asked it. Felicia once said she'd read your explanation and appreciated it. I think I missed it. I don't know whether I didn't see it, or whether it went over my head.

Well maybe not 50 but it's pretty neat.

Utterly fascinating look inside a polished onionskin. Wow times 50. (From an ebay auction.)

Here are eBay pix of Bicentennial Special Packs from a couple of different listings. I didn't get the seller names on either of these. (sorry) Both of these have lots of the white swirls. I'm pretty sure I've had some Bicentennial bags with almost none of them. If I remember correctly there could be wide variation between the contents. I can't recall exactly because I got my bags a long time ago and couldn't resist the temptation to open them. I'll try to keep my next bag sealed. :-) Actually I got my first bag in 1976 when I was 12. The teeny tiny ones were fun. If you look closely you can see some Vitros which look like all reds but without red. I mention this because it has been a bit of a puzzle to figure out where those came from if not from all-red bags. Looks like some Heaton black cat's eyes too.

Here are some from Rinesmarbles auctions. Here's some from another eBay seller. Didn't get the name. Are these the ones called "brains"?

Thanks for the numbers, Mike. That's a great story.

How many were made? How many were released to the public? How many were given to kids or other unsophisticated collectors who might have allowed them to escape into the wild?

No. 1 Shooters (from eBay auction) This box sleeved box of No. 1 Shooters doesn't say Vitro on it anywhere, according to the seller. "Everyone" knows what the contents look like! (LOL) but these are some nice pix newbies might appreciate: (click to enlarge)

Just checking: is the plus needed? would 3/4" be okay? update: Ron wrote this at LOM: (source) While I'm updating, here in Post #4 is another nice quote from Ron which talks about the numbers of colors on parrots. Also talks about good stuff like aventurine. Vitro multi color marbles - Are these Parrots?

p.s. regarding the name game ... Yep, I'm a player. But I'm trying to keep it true. As close to historically accurate as possible.

Part of my present quest is to get an idea of the pelt timeline in a world without absolutes. from a time when there were a whole lot more important things going on than marbles. the depression. the war. If tweeners are at home in national boxes ... seems like a good clue in a fun but not all-important game.

You've surprised me Galen. The specials box looks like it includes sunsets and others which if I posted them separately for ID would be labelled as Rainbos. I would have guessed you'd have seen the box as good examples of tweeners.

Various examples and discussions: I See These And Am Always Stumped, CAC....Alley....Or Jabo ???? (original pix are gone, but interesting discussion, and a similar marble in Post #9) 9's Ca-9 I Need Some Id Help With This One Mushroom patches: Mushroom Patch (and Red Helmet) Tri-color Mushrooms Any Ideas What This Is? Figure eights: Anyone Looking For Figure-8's? CAC vs. Alley One Of These Is Different., Five are from the same company A Little Help Please? CAC vs. Marble King Id Help Please Ravenswood vs. Alley Marble Id Help, White base w/blue swirl Transitionals? Handmades Vs Machine Mades, who o why do most of you like machine mades so much??? (Post #8 mentions "Leightons" found in German archaelogical digs) Color-base Variation (often found in Canada) Akro vs. Vitro Can You Tell Which One Is The Vitro Imposter? Peltier vs. Vitro Newbie Need Peltier Id Help Marble King vs. Vitro Bag O' Commons Jabo vs. Vitro All Jabos?, I should start selling Multiple Companies vs. Vitro Non Vitro " All Reds " Sparkler types: Akro, Master or Foreign? ... or Alox? My Finds From Yesterday New Ones Mysterious multicolor patches Who Gets The Credit/blame For These?, Sort of a Rainbow version of a Victory Red, Blue & Yellow (Superman, etc.) Just A Show Take A Peek, " da ole cigar box strikes again " Need Id Help Asap....... Marble Mail (Vacor serpent and superman/superboy type in the same photo) Vacor vs. Vintage Peltier ???????????????????????? (Swirl with deceptive seams) Id Help On These Shooter Patches Please (Vacor Sunsets) Citrus Sunbursts (Vacor Sunsets) Marble Id, Master marble comets? (Vacor types discussed: Cobra, Clownfish) Funky Vitro? (Vacor Agate and Candy, formerly known as Comet) Id Help (I would guess that Semdot was correct.) Imperial Little Pretty, ? (Imperial or Vacor is my guess here) Any more info available? What Is This? Looks Hand Made, never seen one like this Does Any One Have One Like This . Peltier (did Ness' marble have a name?) Id Help Please, (oxblood swirl on brown) What Is This One, It Is Really Cool. Only One Of These I've Seen - Thoughts? Not A Rootbeer Float, what would you call it (is that a Master?)

Let me know when you come to your senses and are ready to dump these useless non pelts.

甘い! ありがとうスー!

I noticed some marble-less bottles listed as Codd bottles on the UK ebay. I was a little curious about them -- not sure why they were called Codd bottles. Guess it might be a generic term for bottles from the 1800's? If any of the bottles don't now have a marble in them, I think odds are they never did. Pretty sure the only way to get the marble out would be to break it into pieces first, and if you broke the marble into pieces, chances are good you'd hurt the bottle too. (I'd think.)

For a long time I couldn't find any pix of Codd bottles. I recently found one, showed it to Felicia, and she showed me about a billion more. (Well, okay a few dozen.) At the UK version of eBay. Thanks Felicia! You opened the floodgates! LOL! Now they're cropping up all over the place. Well eneeway, for fun and for the record and for bottle noobs like me who might come after, here are a couple of pix for reference from eBay. Same bottle. One pic from the front, one from the side. I think the side shot is cool. And here's a Codd bottle opener, in case you don't want to pop the marble down with your thumb. (That might get you spritzed.)

Czech corks. These are from Norm Brown's collection. (were sold on eBay shortly after their purchase at the Bonham's auction) And here's one made with guinea-like flecks, sold by Bob Block. Mr. Block estimated its date of manufacture as 1920-1930.

Quick note, found a litte more info: Chris said here, Iding Acme Realers From Pictures, that Gino Biffany "originally - and mistakenly - believed that Acme Realers were opalescent baseballs. he later found out that they are actually opalescent peerless patches." Does that explain why so many people, including Block and Marble Alan, thought realers were rainbos? And what about that partial box of rainbos? I think it would be interesting to know why Biffany first believed they were rainbos. Is there any chance it is because rainbos were also sold under the realer name? Well, I don't expect an answer about the possible cross-over nature of the realers, not right away. I'm ready to put it on the back burner. About any other rainbo types ... Dave, did you happen to find anything out about any other rainbo marketing names? (I know you're busy. No rush. Just asking while I'm thinking about it. :-)

at YouTubeSome text explaining it More marble machines, with more videos

A toy called Cury, "Die kugel im Ring". It's "das neue Gefchicklichkeitsfpiel!" (click to enlarge) From an eBay auction awhile back. I didn't get the name of the seller.

Jaspers (aka Lined Crockery): (click to enlarge) From eBay auction.