Scoop

I have a beautiful wooden ball that's laminated like that.. But, more layers and colors... It's probably 3" or so... Carpet ball size. I have no idea what or why it is!!! It may simply have been a woodworking challenge to get it round?? It's in much better shape and doesn't look as old... But, I could change that by tossing it out in the yard until spring!!! LOL

Andrea, sometimes it's better to have quality over quantity!!! You did a great job of that. Those are beautiful!!! LOL @ Brad... Yeah, it's hard to stop at one!!! Nice groups!! Cees, great flowers!! The mottled pottery ones are great!! I think your right about rarety.. They look kinda familiar to me, but I don't know why or where I may have seen one (Probably at Bert Cohen's) If they were made local (by country) and not exported.... They would be really tough to find outside of the Netherlands....

Thanks Scott!! I found that one in the wild... Many years ago, I ran it though Running Rabbit. But, I had a purpose and a goal in mind and it didn't meet reserve... It could happen again, but not for a while... LOL Hey, looking at Bill's stash (And drooling profusely on my keyboard...) if that green agate is 1¼", the others must be pretty big!!! Does that mean carpet balls can play here, too??? "BALLS!!!," said the Queen!!! ("If I had 2 I'd be King!!!")

Hi Gene, yep, both are the real deal... The Vitro trays seem to be a little less common than the Fisher trays... The fisher trays have a "hammered" texture to the front (It doesn't show on the back) The Vitro trays are smooth... I'm not sure which came first. There are a few known variations to the marbles... Helmets are definitely one of them. My feeling is, yours is authentic.... Yep, they do seem to be rare!! I was watching and buying trays for a while, but I haven't been keeping up to date lately... Based on what I saw (And, this may have changed in the interim...) The solid colors seem to go around $20-25.00... There are colors that are very common (Tan-ish) and may be a harder sell... Other colors (Not sure off the top of my head) are harder to find and go a little higher... My guess (and it is just a guess...) would be, the helmets might go in the $50 range?? Depending on whose looking for them at the time?? They also come in a larger size, with 1" marbles... My recollection of these is in the $100 range... I've never seen one with the hammered finish, but I don't remember what's on the back (Vitro or Fisher) There are also NY World's fair trays... The logo is pressed right into the brass and I've only seen solid color marbles in that design... Bev Brule's collection had a FANATASTIC large size tray with alternating red, white and blue 1" solid color marbles, in it's original 1939 World's Fair box!!! I don't remember if it had the logo on the tray... I've never seen any others in the large size, with the logo, so I'm assuming it didn't... But, there's no doubt that it was created with the alternating colors.... I have a helmet tray with a penny type coin, showing the Statue of Liberty, attached to the center of it... Oooo, I DID find a picture of it!!! Other things to watch for... A table clock... Big Ben type... set into a small size tray... I got this lamp for Christmas a few years ago... It matches a patent plan, but it has several features that cause me to believe it isn't as old as it "should" be... So, a line may have been produced later? ... If so, I'm guessing post 1960's... OR, it's just been beautifully restored and wired. It has no markings... I don't care... I love it!! LOL Here's a pic of another... Can't remember whose this is... Al?? When buying any trays... ESPECIALLY on ebay!!! Be sure the back is still on it. If it doesn't have pictures of the back, ask... Bear in mind that the backings can come off and be put back on again... If you see a Vitro back on a smooth surface, odds are, it's married... If you see marbles that are way out of line (like Akro...) odds are, the marbles have been replaced.... I've (casually) collected enough of these to believe I may have all colors available (or, close to it...) I only have the one above with helmets... I have had a few opportunities to buy others... But... Yeah!!! I agree!!!!

I can get you some pics, Gene... Any specifics?? Front, back? I have this on file....

I know we set up a clarification of this a while ago and it seems to me "Buy, Sell & Trade" is everything BUT ebay sales... Ebay sales are welcome on this forum... I don't think this thread lags at the top so long as to be an inconvenience...

Exactly my first impression....

I'm SO bummed to hear this... I've been trying to get more info, but it's pretty thin out there... Michael was such a good guy... We had a great internet friendship, but I wish I had gotten a chance to meet him. I know he lived a very simple life, that got very hard at times. But, he got by doing what he loved to do and being true to himself and his friends... He's gone way too soon, way too young... But Marie, with the illness he was suffering, it must have been so hard and painful... He's been set free. Cry for us, but not for him... He's finally at peace.

Really?? With those colors? Though, the colors could be tweaked a little, too... Too bad they don't show the seam better.... Which prompts me to wonder WHY they don't show the seam better....? Juuuuust enough so that we see there is one, but not well enough to really see it.... That look of "Mo-Sheen" is a whole new look that we need to learn. It seems like, in some marbles, it's a totally different look than I've been trained to see... I'm gonna have to get used to it!!! Apparently, someone has faith in it...........

Leroy, I know that's a statement that will bring out a lot of contrasting feelings... But.... I also agree... Having seen the evolution of marble collecting over a very long period of time, your statement fits very solidly into the pattern. When Larry Castle announced he was writing a book on Cat's Eyes, I remember feeling the very same way that many feel about Jabos, now... "OMG, you've GOT to be kidding!!!" In the big picture of things, production of Jabos has been much lower than Cat's Eyes... And the focus has been on the appearance. The coolest thing is, the best will not be damaged in play. How many times have we said, "What a GREAT marble, too bad it's beat up..." This will not happen with the best of the Jabos... The thing that remains to be seen is... How will that factor effect their value?? There is no natural elimination of the top of the line through loss, or play... This is ground we've never traveled before... It will be interesting to watch!!

What a BEAUTIFUL marble!!!! Too bad it's such an incredible stretch from what it's being represented as...... It's so sad to see nice glass work getting a rotten name because some ass wants to make a crooked buck..... (Or, they've been fed a serious line of crap and run with it...)

Sad but true..... Then, throw in Cyclone, Cobra & Lutz, just for fun?? LOL

Yeah, I agree with Burt... That's how I read it, too. And, it is clarified in the description... I was going to suggest that wording in an ebay title should be taken lightly, since there's a limit on characters... But then, the "? LOOK" kind of negates that theory!! The word "or" coulda fit!! LOL It is a cool looking marble... And, even though I really don't have a clue, I kinda get an Akro feel for the colors, too....

WOW!! How cool is that?? OK Joe... Now the most important question.... How the heck do you convince kids to go out and shovel snow??? I think the only way I could've done that with my kids, would be to suggest that the Exotic Feline Rescue Center was running low on fresh meat!!! LOL

I dunno about 1900 old... But, it looks like it has some age. Probably Murano, not German... The problem here isn't how new or old the vase is... It's how DAMNED good the Chinese glass workers are getting!!! I try to cruise the Home Goods, Targets, Pier One type stores to keep up on what's coming out on the market... Forgive me if this vase is one of them!!! But the work does look pretty clean and the base seems finished off better than most of the newer Eastern imports. Crafters are using Chinese production work glass beads and pendants for handmade glass jewelry that can carry the claim of being handcrafted, because the item is... But, the beads and pendants are a rude slap in the face to legitimate glass artists... Yes, they are handcrafted. But, mass produced by the millions, for cheap... I was a little sadistic this Christmas season... Every crafter, or kiosk seller I saw with these beads and pendants, I would ask, "Where is the glass made?" The answers were often very creative and entertaining....

DAMN!!! . . . . . . But, it WAS fun letting our imaginations fly!!! LOL

Cool Beans!!

GREAT JOB, Joe!!!!! Thank you!!!

Hey, if you ever need a picture of a steelie crunched with a sledge hammer, let me know..... YEARS ago... Just about the time the Paul Bauman's first edition came out, I bought a bunch of steelies on a board... I'd never heard of them and couldn't see the seams... So, I sacrificed one to curiousity... It's around here, somewhere................ LOL

OK... I was confused as to who's they were and who ended up with them!!! LOL Yeah, it would be awesome to get a picture of it... I've seen some very cool old hollow rubber balls... Usually, they're either broken, or on the way... But, I've come close to moments of "weakness!!" 'Just never found the right one, at the right time, in the right condition, for the right $$$ I guess...

Really? Handpainted?? Cool!!! If it's possible, can we get a better pic?? Too wild!!! What are the odds one would show up while we're discussing them.... Excuse me... I'm going shopping!!! LOL . . . . . Maybe we should start discussing other HTF stuff and check out a theory!!! ROFL

Yeah, thanks Dani!!! I LOVE the blue one!!! But, the one with the little kids??? What is that??

Ouch!! There's always someone with 4-wheel drive that thinks they can conquer the Earth!!! ................. 'Til they hit that patch of ice............. 'Hope everyone scored something wonderful and brought it home safe & sound!!!

'Been there, done that.... It ain't pretty!!!! ROFLMAO!!

'Found another stash of pictures, I didn't know I had!! I'm not sure if these are my pictures, or someone elses.....