Steph

yup. :-)

In the past few days I've been making notes of some of the rust-cleaning advice I've seen. Bar Keepers Friend has been suggested often, with Bon Ami once suggested as a less abrasive alternative to that. Dustin/Mordiskul said Coca-Cola and a Q-tip work well. Steve/SplattmanSS said "If rust stained or heavily crudded, CLR works too...cut it 50/50 with water and soak 'em for a bit...Then get a toothbrush...repeat as necessary.." Someone else said to try toothpaste. William Marbles said, "They are glass, so wash them like dishes.....soak them with denture tablet.....use a jewler's sonic machine" Galen has also put in a good word for the sonic jewelry cleaner. Some more manual suggestions were an "exacto knife with a brand new blade" and "triple 0 steel wool". Finally, I remember someone somewhere suggesting a very specific brand of white bath soap ... but I haven't found that reference again.

Check post #2 here for some cloudies: Moss Agate Or Cloudy Type Marbles, Akro, Master, Peltier, Alley, who else? for example, (click to enlarge) Edit 8 years later: I think those are meteors, not cloudies. Cloudies on the left here, Meteors on the right:

Thanks. The picture in Post #6 would have done it for me. As much as I read, things can blur a bit and I forget where I read them. So when I want to doublecheck, I can't find them. That's why I started these thread lists to begin with! Now I need to go back and reread all of the links!

I didn't have a comeback for that ... so I went googling. Oh my, I sure found a good one, but it's on the adult side. So I'm taking it to the Alley! ROFL.

Gry, speaking of moonpies and R.C.'s ... Mountain Marbles: An Appalachian Tale

I think it's a special kind of red. I think it's oxblood ... or something like oxblood. I've asked a question about it in the main chat forum.

American Cornelian Marbles, 25 count, No. 1. These pictures came from an auction some time back. These are called "bricks", right?

groovy :-)

Felicia, has changing to the IPB 2.2.0 Default skin made it possible for you to use the Reply page?

Neat. I have one which looks red, but then I noticed it was half gold, and when I looked at it through water, I noticed the red was actually coming from a balloon shaped structure inside. I've read that some have used CLR. I don't think it will damage a clearie ... but I don't know. I've heard of some cleansers damaging the colors stripes on the marbles from some makers, but I'd guess clearies should be safe.

It appears that the look of the fakes is changing. This bunch from eBay has three of the white industrial balls with their now easily recognizeable magic marker drawings. Those three are larger than average, as the Atlanta porcelains have tended to be since their advent in the early 1990's. But notice that some in this lot are closer to standard size. And they're darker, and have a glazed look. They're still unnaturally decorated, but in a way they look more like older ceramic marbles. It's going to be even easier to trick people with these. This is not good!

I really really really need a doing-handsprings emoticon ....

!!!!!?????!!!!!!!!! wow

The first five color combos of the kind of tri-color cork we now call Specials appear to have been introduced in the early 1930's. These images are from Dani and Ernie's catalog. I think it sounds like the Aces may have been released to the market before the Tri-Colors. Sounds like they had some feedback from the public already and the Tri-Colors were just coming out of the experimental stage. ? ?? At least I guess those are what we now call Specials. That red, green and white one couldn't have been a popeye, could it? ?? Could the blue and white and brownish one have been an oxblood? ???

This is from the enclosure promoting the naming contest for what we now call Prize Names. It gives the names Akro used sometime around 1929. After that came the contest rules. There were to be five prizes, ranging from $10 to $100. The deadline for entries was Midnight, May 1, 1930. Winners were to be announced in the June issue of Boys' Life.

That makes sense. Thanks.

So, the company name for popeyes was Tri-Onyx? It seems that this is common knowledge ... but I never registered it until a couple of minutes ago ... when re-reading a section of Alan's ID pages which I would have said I'd read a dozen times before. Whoops! Was Tri-Onxy also the company name for lemonades and the other ades and the oxbloods in the yellow popeye boxes?

That's the word! A feast for the eyes.

The orange glass looks like it peels right off the blue in those spots. The blue looks smooth underneath. Still wonderful. Have you ever backlit it?

In some ways marbles are more fun before we learn what we are supposed to like, and just go with our feelings. It's a different kind of fun later when you know what's what and start being able to id them by maker and grade them and know their monetary value. Something's lost and something's gained. :-) And then I hear it's a whole different kind of fun when you can go to shows and mingle with other marble lovers. I haven't been to one yet.

Thanks Lloyd! Exactly what the doctor ordered!

I can barely see the "breaks" in the pictures! Smooth!

Plus, camera differences and lighting differences could make the same marbles look different and different marbles look the same. The side-by-side comparison gets both the camera and the brain to work better.

Wouldn't you know ... you pick out the patches. Several companies made patches. You might find some in the Akro boxes too. A lot of the board's Akro photos were in older threads, so they're missing right now. But I hope enough remain for you to find some for comparison. If we're talking monetary value (are we?), then clearies and solid game marbles are generally not very collectible unless they're in their original packaging. (There are some exceptions ... but it can take someone a year or more to learn to pick them out from the regular game marbles.) That said, I love clearies. The first marbles I got as a kid was one of Champion's Bicentennial bags and it was full of clearies from ultrapeewee size to shooters. They're a very happy memory for me. Plus I have a tray of solid colored marbles sorted by color. Every now and again I pull it out and admire all the hues.