OCSFA86

Wow, absolutely beautiful. Not quite as much eye candy but this little jewel is worth a post: 8.25" Diameter, footed with swing out tray all original, came with 29 mibs, 1/2+ (+/-) (looking for 3 same cane 1/2" replacements)

How personal! Wonderful gift!

crashbelt: nice board and spot on observation. Story time: These were listed as a BIN 2 days after recent hurricane. The seller whom we will call Steve (Fort Myers, Fa.) communicated with me through several emails and share that the collection belonged to his father that passed away in 1967 and his belonging have been in storage ever since. His property was spared the flooding, but the storage facility suffered significant wind damage requiring him to deal with the contents. He simply started listing the contents as BIN's on Ebay and as luck would have it this was the first one and I was in the right place. He said his father had taken great pride in his collection and he hoped that others would be able to as well. This is but one BIN that has come my way since mid-August that were pretty special. Here is a group of 7 Indians that came from a single source out of a New Jersey estate, seller general antique dealer. Cost 27.50 per marble. I feel very fortunate.

Sry, Missed this box.

Hi folks: These pics are from a BIN I picked up last Saturday, the first is the sellers. There was nothing in the lot newer than MM and only a few of them. I am still amazed at the find. Thanks for looking. Bill

Super, hadn't consider that. The 6.00 I paid for the lot was well worth it then. Now all I need is a marble shirt to have them put on. Thanks Ann

Folks: Stumbled across these on Ebay last month. These buttons are like nothing I have ever seen. Two collar button and four larger ones. They appear to be some kind of clam shell design. The white lights up under UV and the holes are handmade. What are they? Well, I dare guess but regardless they are beautiful! Anyone seen similar ones, never even knew these existed. Thanks for looking, Bill

Sweet!!

Agreed, full disclosure on condition. In a recent listing I questioned the sellers about the number of out-of-round MFC slags present and his response was that he was just dumping out bags of marbles from a large collection without inspecting them. To his defense he made no claim of condition in the listing, letting the pics speak for themselves. I reach back out to him asking if he would be putting together hand selected group for sale. His response was that he didn't have the knowledge base to identify marbles properly. This seems curiously misleading as a quick review of his feedback from prior sales indicates otherwise. What is even more interesting is the source of the slags. Over the years we have all become accustom with dug marbles, they have produced some of the most spectacular examples, most showed signs of imbedded particles or other imperfections. The MFC slag show no wear, no damage whatsoever other than being out-of-round. As if they were culled from the production line and never made it to the dump site. Their source is puzzling. These marbles have filtered far beyond the original listings as re-seller buy them up and re-list them.

Hi Ann, We're in Fayetteville, you?

Folks: How do you grade a vintage out-of-round marble that is otherwise mint? Opinions? Reputable Ebay dealers always inform potential bidders of these defects, but a great deal of sellers treat out-of-round examples as "Mint" or make no mention in their listings. The reason for asking is the flood of out-of-round MFC slags being sold on Ebay. It's like someone took all the culled slags produced and by-passed the dump site. This may have already been address and I know I am late to the party but would like a current understanding on acceptable grading. Thanks, Bill

1st - Hi Steph been quite a long time, but you and the community have never been far from my thoughts. For those who don't know me, my name is Bill. I first became part of the marble community in 1998, at a time when Ebay didn't even have a category for marbles. What do I collect???? Better question is what don't I collect, lol. But my preference is vintage machine made. I also to a liking to early (2005 - 2010) runs of Jabo marbles, especially the handpicked box sets. My likes: Steph will attest, I love addressing questionable Ebay listing and not those listed by individual which lack basic knowledge but those that intentionally mislead new collectors. Oldtimers don't take kindly to individuals that knowing take advantage of others. At 66 I am finally fully retired and enjoying the American Dream that my wife and I fought so hard to achieve. After 7 years I am looking forward to participating in a passion for marbles shared by a group of very special people. God Bless Bill

SWEET!! Looks like you're driving through Redwood National Park off US 199.

Folks: A CAC and a Peltier gone mad, lol.

Folks: Four of my favorite easily identifiable exotics. I would love to have a signed box set! Bill

Folks: Are their any active polisher's and/or marble restorer's? Haven't addressed this in years and was interested to know if this area has developed into a thriving business or not. I am most interested in hand made's, I have never taken an interest in polished machine made marbles. Thanks, Bill

Wow!!! It belongs in a custom acrylic display box!

Join the crowd, atohtej, you could spend a life time scratching your head trying to figure them all out. I am relatively lazy when it comes to mystery swirls and just group them all together as West Virginian made, lol.

Yes, MK and a damn sweet one at that!!

I'll bet the working conditions were miserable! Wonder how hot it was with the limited amount of ventilation they had?

Done. In the best of all world the sellers will see this and realize that the best approach moving forward would be to list these as contemporaries. I have to admit that there Guinea style marbles appear to be older as I can see no comparison with the glass used to produce the untold number of swirls hitting Ebay and the Guinea's. Is there a simple method to test the age of glass?

Folks: I think it's time to have some fun and see if it has any impact. Here is the draft of the listing: -------------- @WW@ 5 CONTEMPORARY BULGARIAN HAND MADE USING RE-CYCLED GLASS MARBLES LOT 1000: 5 EA CONTEMPORARY BULGARIAN HAND MADE USING RE-CYCLED GLASS MARBLES, SINGLE PONTIL, SLIGHTLY UNDER 1", HAS SOME SURFACE CREASES, EXAMPLES ARE APPROXIMATELY 1/64" OUT OF ROUND OTHERWISE MINT. THE UNKNOWN MAKERS ARE DOING QUITE A JOB AT PRODUCING A VARIED GROUP OF MARBLES NEVER SEEN BEFORE. THE NINES ARE REMINISCENT OF MARBLES MADE YEARS AGO. IT APPEARS THAT THESE MARBLES ARE MADE FROM RE-CYCLED GLASS (GOING GREEN!) AS THE LARGE AMOUNT OF EMBEDDED DIRT WOULD INDICATE (CLEARLY SEEN IN THE FIRST AS WELL AS OTHER PICS). IT WOULD ALSO APPEAR THAT THIS PROCESS WILL ONLY IMPROVE MAKING THEIR FIRST PRODUCTION RUNS THAT MORE VALUABLE. HERE IS YOUR CHANCE TO OWN WHAT IS SURE TO BE HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE IN YEARS TO COME THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO PASS ON TO FUTURE GENERATIONS OF CONTEMPORARY MARBLE COLLECTORS. GOOD LUCK! 1st Pic in Listing: ------------- I am open to any suggestions regarding the verbiage and seek it. I will list it before I call it a day. Thanks, Bill

Welcome aboard!

Welcome to the wild and crazy world that is marble collecting!

Folks: Check out some of his listings for the clearer examples. You can see the reflection of what appears to be an out door work shop, lol. http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-HAND-MADE-MARBLE-63-64-GROUND-PONTIL-/221716238797?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item339f5151cd