J_Ding

I agree! Many mibs photograph astronomically!

Some time ago I learned from Roger Browse (we miss him) that he felt that MFC didn't make yellow slags--I am presently favoring this view. Cohill doesn't mention yellow either in his unpublished book on MFC. Roger also indicated that he thought that CAC did make a non-electric yellow slag that was hand-gathered, and indicated those were very very rare (and don't recall if CAC made machine yellow slags. Along with this, is the general challenge of figuring out when amber ends and yellow begins, and what brown might be. Back-lighting seems to help...but then add another level of confusion. Akro also gets the yellow tag too for fully machine. Thanks! John (ps...I'm not worried about Pelt yellow machines...I have those...and too, I get the argument of slight variation from mib to mib...boy do I get that argument!). Thanks! John

Those Vitros are so interesting...really like bubbles in those Cats! John

Oh man! Am I a Klutz sometimes. All back! Sorry!John

Thanks! I appreciate that. John

I do. The pressure was on! Glad the name passed muster....be sure to include it on your forthcoming monograph on snakes, augers and onyx Akro marbles. I want a signed copy! (full disclosure, this references a long ago thread between myself and Ann on these forms) John

I think Ann has it. I can't make out the detail of the pontil enough without hallucinating...but, the convergence of glass to that point hints to that...but, want to make sure it isn't one of those tiny line type transitionals. Either way, Ann is right on...this is a very nice marble, unfortunately. john

Thanks for the comment Richard! Here is another one, that took up most of my afternoon...which ain't nothing to give up when it comes to marbles. In hand the marble appears mostly opaque, but back lit, is another different thing entirely. I've struggled to figure out a way to image this properly, especially back lit, which usually does a poor job of surface features but is critical for a peak inside. This has been one of many favorite Akros for some time, and now I think these photos do an adequate job in communicating the features of this mib. For the sake of pure entertainment and obscurantist marble trivia, I'd call this a orange based, black ghost ribbon snake (cork). What else would it be? John

Those transparent peas...I have never found or learned of a name for these either. I do consider these related in some ways to the other Peas. I actually don't think these are common, at least in my hunts around here.

Shout out to Galen for the highest res photo of AA's in the box I've seen. I've been waiting for a better look. Just my wish, but I'd sure dig a few, even closer, and dare I say it, out of the box photos of a few of these.

Richard: That second post makes me think of what has been referred to as a crease pontil transitional by some collectors. There has been a tendency to accept the 'spidery' messy pontils as pinch pontils, and those get tagged as Japanese. Not sure if they also produced a non-spidery cut. The crease is an internal fold that obliterates the cut, or the cut is not evident, but the flow of glass hints at a cut line. These are very often much like yours above in the second set of photos where you captured this very well. Mostly, when I have a mib with a nice nine, but can't locate a distinct cut line, it turns out to be one of these. Those obliterated crease pontils I think Roger (we miss him) and others have considered might have been produced somewhere in Ontario Canada. This isn't 'slam dunk' marble info that's for sure. Also, the Yasuda corp glass doesn't quite match this in their optical properties. So take it for what its worth. John

Those pesky shipping costs sure are, well, pesky. I figured you might be finding lots of Cats over there...still, as Steph noted, you sure are doing well. Determination and patience is a big part of this business, I'm sure you'd agree.

Oh yeah! How does one find so many great American marbles in the UK! Wow...I gotta travel there, it would seem!

I like the darkly colored mibs for sure...

Thought I'd share this Cloudy Sparkler. You know, fireworks in glass.

A six finger Rainbo. Apparently not hard to find, or so I've been told, but I wouldn't be able to say that. I've only found a small handful. I guess I just always got the wrong jar. Sampling error I guess...or its presumed rarity is underestimated.

Up there... stars and stripes without a question! I'll post this Popeye flying the colors of the month.

I think Cairo is a good call for the top right one. It maybe has a bit of pink entering in, like this example.

This speaks to me as a transparent swirl. I would have nothing but a guess for this one. John

Great Winnie. Nice to see all those examples. John

This one (dug Sistersville) just came in the mail from a friend, just because (you know who you are ). From time to time we just drop something in the mail to each other...sure is fun to share and get something unexpected. This one is so stunning, one has to wonder why it ended up being tossed in the first place? Curious. This one is terrific, and I think needs no help with color and pattern. I like plenty, darkly colored marbles too.

Very nice! Very!

Here is an example of a double ingot discussed above, in this case an Akro oxblood. John

At first I thought it was a double ingot too, but it appears not to be one (the internal ribbons are not separated to either side of the mib). John

That's a nice one (well, you know....). This example show one that can reach around the marble like a ring...like a noose was put around much of the marble. No worries, it wasn't .