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It's an obvious fake but if you came here thinking we want your marbles to be fake, my opinion is of no value to you.

Cool article. I just got off of facebook last night when I posted that reply (if you couldn't tell lol). Was kind of aggravated with a scammer calling names and so on, hence my negative post above (apologies). It can be a place with some information too.

I plan to check out my black light and see what wavelength it is, if it's advertised. I know my fluorescent one causes a much more vibrant reflection than the LED one I use does. No idea how to even tell what the fluorescent one is unless they print it on the bulb.

The more you learn about how marbles were made, the connections they had with each other, and the glass used, you'll see why such a "program" would be problematic. Parameters would be very hard to set. For example, Alox used a ravwnswood machine, Kokomo used a peltier machine, Vitro used all sorts of machines from other places (I don't mean to imply that the machine imparts a quality to the pattern, it doesn't, just showing how things were shared commonly amongst companies). Then patterns changed and tank setups changed, years went by, modifications were made, etc... Then the glass... the glass in marbles from the 40s and after largely included cullet/scrap glass that consisted of vitrolite pane glass. It was used by every swirl maker except maybe CAC. The same glass. Coke bottles. Wissmach stained window glass scrap. Companies would buy car taillights from junked cars for the red. The glass going into a run of a certain color could start out with pond's cold cream jars and end with fenton scrap. The marbles in between would have varied amounts of both. During the run the brake light red might start running out so they throw cobalt blue in and varied amounts of each begin to come out. Then you had makers like Alley who produced lots of marbles at mainly 3 locations. The equipment and setup changed as they moved and the marbles from St. Mary's could look vastly different from their marbles from Sistersville. Then you have the employees, like the Master Marble company was started by former employees of the Akro factory. So they knew the glass recipes and how to make marbles the way they learned how at Akro. Alley made his first marble at Ravenswood, so his first marbles and many after look much like Ravenswoods, because that's what he learned to do. A.I. is pretty capable now, and maybe using the latest tech that is available, some good results could be had. But with the ability we have access to in the way of a phone app, I don't think it's possible (yet). I could be wrong but there are too too many variables IMO. This is why "marbles" is hard and takes years to learn and then we still sometimes only have a best guess.

X 2

I think a lot of them just came off the rollers not as shiny as others. The matte treatment I am talking about is frosted, very matte. None of those received any surface treatment IMO.

I'd agree, a little odd in pattern

Pattern looks champ to me.

Maybe Alley #1, ???champ??? #2, and Heaton #3 IMO

it's not Jackson for sure. The one you are comparing to has UV cream colored white that glows brightly, commonly used by Jackson. The one you have looks like the blue glows, which is uncommon for heaton. Otherwise the marble does look like Heaton.

I read somewhere years ago that Vitro put a matte finish on some of their marbles with an acid dip of some type. I have found lots of them mint in every way expect for the matte finish, so it seems plausible or probably likely to me. The chalkies from Alley have chalk all the way through the marble. Whatever is in them came through the tank and orifice. If the chalk flows with the stream, it's from the tank. If it doesn't, it's outside contamination. One easy way to tell how it got there.

JABO for sure.

Cool Dave! Glad you keep up with who sent you what. I do that too. A purple taterbug!? That's hard to find! Mojo, that last one is Heaton, a sweet potato. They used to be put with ravenswoods before the digs revealed where they were made.

If you aren't on it, I guess you haven't seen, but facebook is worse than ebay for marble info. Unless you know who to listen to (very few). A shark pit. Scammers, no rules, name calling, wrong IDs, wrong info, etc... I run a couple groups and try to keep info in line but it's like trying to spoon back the ocean. Overwhelming. I looked at the two MK groups I'm on and didn't see anything about the factory. What group is it on?

Here's hoping that there is lutz in the orange/pink onion at 2:00!

I agree on that other one, my answer was for the 1st, not paying much attention to the red one assuming it was one for comparison, not ID.

Akro slag.

Right, some are just ones that we decide which way we lean most and file it as that. They can always be moved to another box later. The pics at top right and middle right look most Alley to me, the large pic looks most RW to me. The steady width of the ribbon and tracing ribbon looked more RW to me, and the size points to RW to me, so I went with which maker got the most check marks in my own mental process. That doesn't mean it's not Alley. I can easily see it being Alley too and Ric's checklist might have worked similarly but with more check marks on the Alley side. Sometimes the answer is clear to nearly everyone, sometimes the answer is clear to a few, and sometimes nobody knows for sure.

Yep, if it's in the 5/8" neighborhood.

I spend a lot of time on that same fence Ric, this marble does it too.

Alley or Ravens. I lean Ravens.

I'll put Master out there.

I could call that Ravenswood.

Having a hard time seeing Alley here with the size and that pink combined... I think newer.

Yep both Wales pinchers. I don't have much love for the pinchers except for these, they are a really nice type.