J_Ding

I'm going to post this bead for opinions, in spite of the fact that, strictly speaking I shouldn't because it's not a mib. So apologies, but I find it interesting, and marble-like in some ways. I found this one, 0.63", in a terrific jar...just falling out with some other great mibs. The red looks very oxblood-like under the scope (don't care if it is or isn't) and I think this is Lutz. Wondering if/how to tell if this is, as I assume, copper lutz, or dare I think it, gold. The ribbon of lutz travels around the glass, the base glass opaque, and the pin-wheel on the bottom pole and all the red (ox) roses and colored splotches sure reminds me of 19th century hand-mades. Anyway, forgive my post, but I would like the opinion and impressions of glass people, and if no opinion, just wanted to share. Maybe someone here has seen such a thing? Thanks. John

Sounds great. Love a new jar to sort! Nothing more exciting when there is gold in there! I picked two corks out of a jar at my local antique mart yesterday....that's all I needed to recover from what was starting out as a tough day. John (ps...I think too, yours are blue oxbloods...they match and photograph, just like mine do).

Well, I couldn't count it in or out! Thanks for the input. John

At 0.70", would like to see what others think. Drizzle swirl with walnut on white. I come up with CAC (don't laugh!) (because the white is very white, the dark glass is very dark, and there is no bleed-through between these regions. I can't get Ravenswood (white is too solid) nor Champion, that white again, or Alley, don't know why. I really don't care...just want to know where to put the drizzle! Might just be wrong. Thanks, John (The first photo shows the color the best...the other two really need to go away for some better shots).

This one might be easy, but I'm stumped. Maybe some mibologists here can help me out? 0.67" Thanks! John

Nice movement in the glass and deep rich color on these. John

Ric- Smaller on this one, at 0.66". John

Perhaps my best looking MFC 9 and tail. John

This orange snake on red. John

Purple Popeye Patch. John

Finally found the cousin to #59. A sharp glower. I like the way light played on this one. John

Another, simple patch, on a blue base, and UV green to boot! John

A terrific assortment! Nice to see Masters getting some light! John

Agreed. I've a few tiny green glowers just like the ones you posted back a page. I really like them. And let me make a clear vote for tiny marbles. I don't care the size. They don't need to be big. I have a good microscope...if I want them big, I can make them really big in my head! This bias to big marbles isn't my bias...I take them all sizes...and I've got lots of tiny ones that never were made in a larger size. Which isn't to say I'm going to chuck my shooters, heck no. I just don't feed on large marbles like they are the only thing to enjoy. John

Dave: Really digging that clear Woodie...and that pie! Never heard of the lime one. Gotta add that to the list too. John

Welcome to mib collecting. My advice, take a deep breath and hang with it. It will be confusing for some time, but as you look at more and more of those things, you'll start to get a grasp of what is going on. Start slow, and look at what you have, take a break for a few days, and then look at them again. Try to have smaller goals and be patient. Try to resist spending money on single mibs...find jars at reasonable prices, and pick through them. Remember: the goal is to find the rare/desirable stuff, but you still have to learn about the common ones too. Good luck! John

Thanks. I'm sure it was normal. I just find it interesting to see the outliers.

Really very nice. The bottom left one, in post #54 with the long seam is unusual. What is does the other seam look like? I know, like any marble, the seams can be distorted from their typical appearance. John

Really very nice, thanks for posting. If you felt so inclined, a few more pix and different views of these would be great! Hard to tell just now, but notice how there appear to be some with less white ribbons, and some that are busy with white around the seam, and some that are biased to one side of the seam? Helpful to see that in one place. Wondering too if the ones that appear HG are really just random nine looking patterns which I think form, not on the pole, but on the equatorial region nearer the seam. I have a number of 'kinda' nines that I take to be random luck rather than HG. The brown one mixed in with the blue ones is just like another brown (may be just a bad batch of amber) example that a friend of mine has, and that we've taken to be CAC. Also good to see some of those bent and twisted seams so as to know what they might appear like when they are not straight.

Ah yes, the ages old problem of how wide the variation should go to include, or exclude, the possibilities. Maybe the neighborhood is the best we can hope for.

I wondered if that those could be considered a woody...but examples (tiny pictures, maybe wrong) lead me to believe they should have more coverage, be a bit more variegated, and a broader color range...sometimes things I've seen as Woodies were less transparent too!). Would be happy to know if this is one of them. Thanks Ric! john

Those are terrific. That BIG one back there....wow!

I like these a good deal and call them Varnished Rainbos. John

Of course.

I'll be re-doing the pix on the two examples. It really doesn't matter to me, but, I've seen and have a fair amount of ox, and under a scope this stuff, while not really terrific quality ox, sure looks it to me. Thanks for the post. john