crashbelt

Final board with green micas - 1" faceted pontils.

Stellar onion Chad!!

One more next week!!!

Here's another, likely original, solitaire board of faceted pontil 14mm green micas.

Yep that's a beaut - tri-stage with a great middle layer of turquoise jelly strands. I've never seen one before either!!

Another board of green micas - original faceted 7/8'

A nice solitaire board with 33 17mm faceted green micas this Thursday.

This is my only big (2") onionskin. Its had a life but I really like it as we rarely see these kind of marbles in the UK.

Apologies if I've posted this before. John Jaques' Royal Garrison Game (larger version of German Tactics) c.1860-1875. Set up as the game's start position with 3 larger 'officers' defending territory against 50 smaller 'men'. Sadly not the original marbles, but I once saw long ago an image of a perhaps original set containing micas like this, so I copied that for my board.

Here's board of brightly coloured pinch pontil swirls this week. Bought as a set and likely all original.

3 naked ribbon swirls this Thursday.

Happy New Year from mica-land!!!

Sorry Chad I should have said impossible rather than tough challenge!! Its actually these 2

We see quite a few of the JWSpear solitaire sets, usually with transparent banded swirls like yours and the clay 'red man' for the centre hole according to the instructions on the box. Here's one of mine and the marbles measure 12 or 13mm so some are a hair over half an inch. But I call this a pee wee set too. Your variation of the box lid is different to mine, but the picture of the guy playing the game. is always the same. Thanks for showing it Jeff.

Great sulphides Chad! As you like Josephs here's a board I've not posted before. Early 20th Century I suspect from the rather plain board and colourful Josephs with rough pontils. An original set probably, which came with 31 marbles - I added 2 to complete it but can anyone spot them? Tough challenge!!!

Xmas greetings from the UK this Thursday - here's a few 11/16" ribbon swirls.

Some solid core swirls.

Here's a few swirls this Thursday.

Always great to find an unusual board. This is a 10.5" Nine Men's Morris (aka The Mill or Merelles) board, almost certainly John Jaques of London (the concave sides are the giveaway). Great board probably 1850-1875 so I've filled it with period-correct micas. It would have been sold with two opposing 'teams' of 9 marbles, but I've put two lots of 12 on to look good.

Some Onionskins and Josephs Coats from my solitaire boards

I don't know about agates Ric - is it dyed that colour?

Just bought this bunch of Benningtons - dead common but I like them.

German pee wees were made extensively for UK game board manufacturers from I believe the 1850s right into the early 20th Century. I have many, probably original, sets including micas, swirls, onionskins and clays. That's just counting strictly half inch sized marbles. At 13-14mm size there are many more. Here's a nice example of a late Victorian FH Ayres complete games compendium with the small rectangular solitaire board and pee wee swirls. I'm sure pee wees were also made for selling separately, but an enormous number must have been imported from Germany by Ayres, Spear, Jacques, Glevum (I have examples by all of these) and others for their boards.

Here's a favourite from the very first jar of German handmades I bought in Edinburgh in a vintage toy shop. Must have been 1991 when I was up for the Edinburgh Festival that Summer. Its 1" and in perfect condition (those are just reflections in the pic). Still love this one 32 years on!!!!

Well I backlit all my Indians - found 3 unexpected maglites but no interesting cores. Here's a rather bashed old soldier - but interesting with the green and white latt strands.