Alan

Michaelangelos seem to be hot.

A Divided core.

Nice. I'd consider buying some.

"With numbers"?

They both are missing a lot/darn near all of the interior structures - not to mention containing seemingly none of the original marbles. Just my opinion - but they look like train wrecks to me.

http://www.free-press-release.com/news-alan-basinet-honored-by-the-american-marble-hall-of-fame-1327034637.html PDF: http://www.free-press-release.com/pdf/download/201201/1327034637.pdf

Alan Basinet honored for his significant contributions to the advancement of the marble collecting hobby and generosity in sharing his wealth of knowledge with American marble collectors. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Free-Press-Release.com) January 19, 2012 -- Alan Basinet Honored by the American Marble Hall of Fame January 19, 2012 Alan Basinet became involved in the marble hobby as a collector, while pursuing a career as an archeologist. With the increasing advent and popularity of the Internet, Alan saw opportunity in using the Internet as a means to sell marbles, to share marble collecting information and to establish a reputation in the marble collecting hobby. Through a website dedicated to marble collecting, Alan created a rich encyclopedia of marble types, illustrated with clear photographs and accurate descriptions that formed an excellent resource for collectors and neophytes to read and learn about marble collecting. From this early step he began to build name recognition and respect from marble collectors for his efforts to present and share marble identification knowledge. With the rise of Internet auction websites, Alan saw the potential to sell marbles through the online auction format and to reach a large potential collector base. Alan was an early adopter of Ebay for marble sales at a time when marble show attendance was flat. Although he was far from alone in early use of Ebay for marble sales – his reputation for broad knowledge spanning the marble collecting hobby and diverse marble types established his reputation quickly. Alan began selling consignment marbles through Ebay – respected by both sellers and prospective buyers alike. Over the years and through many thousands of marble auction transactions, Alan built his business such that it ultimately replaced his archeology career. Alan built a reputation in the marble collecting hobby for straightforward, honest and ethical dealings, accurate identification and descriptions, conservative grading and high quality photos to aid the bidder. As years passed, Alan’s auctions were viewed by most marble collectors – and the countless marble photos, identification and descriptions formed a considerable body of knowledge over time. His well-earned reputation for accuracy lent credibility to this knowledge and slowly became a de facto reference for many collectors. Alan’s methods of identification, description and grading benefited from his background in archaeology, and the marble collecting hobby benefited from his methods. From his business efforts – Alan built a respected knowledge base among marble collectors throughout the U.S.. The base of knowledge that Alan Basinet has created and shared is a significant, lasting contribution to collectors nationwide and a respected foundation of knowledge within the national marble collecting hobby. He has personally advanced the knowledge of collectors in the areas of marble identification and classification, and has established a respected mark for the conservative grading of marble condition. In a time where marble auctions regularly include misidentified and incorrectly graded lots – Alan Basinet’s standards within the marble collecting hobby have set a mark for others to seek to equal. For his broad and lasting contribution to the American marble collecting hobby and to collectors – Alan Basinet is recognized by the American Marble Hall of Fame for his considerable contribution to the body of knowledge within the hobby that will benefit generations of marble collectors. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Respectfully posted, Alan Z.

That was a $20 lesson. That suspicion was the little voice telling you something wasn't right. Listening to that voice helps us take a critical view and pause to work out "why" it doesn't look quite right. As others have noted above - the marble you bought isn't a Golden Rebel. Its a torch-made contemporary.

It needs a story involving pyramids and ancient Egypt.

The water staining on the box hits its value hard. The marbles appear not original to the box - so someone would need to re-stock it. The exemplar box you featured appears to have mixed examples as well.

Merry Christmas to all!

Price is indexed to the difficulty of the design and execution, the level of finish, the amount of time that goes into the piece, the credentials of the artist, demand and materials. There are contemporary pieces that sell in the $2-3K range. There are also good pieces in the $20 range.... but they aren't at the level of a $1K piece. Some artists set the mark for their unique designs. Others tend to follow the designs of others. Tank pieces are generally more costly than torch pieces. Level of detail and precision of execution count for a lot, IMO. There is an active market at both ends of the price spectrum.

I printed a copy of the box and went through with a pencil and crossed out those I felt were not original to the box. This was an exercise that I took on just to satisfy my own curiosity. Lacking the box in-hand and the ability to actually handle and example the individual pieces - such an exercise will be inexact. There is room for error in both directions. Compounding this - the photos were softly focused and somewhat over-exposed... so some pieces were washed out. On the assumption that this box will be offered again (probably before too long) - I have no desire to interfere with or influence its sale. The box is what it is. I was aware of its existence about a year ago. Some of the background offered by one person in this thread is quite consistent with what I heard a year ago. I have no personal, direct experience with how the marbles which we tend to not associate with Alley got in the box - and those of you who know me know that I like to separate what we "know" and can prove - and speculation, rumor, hearsay and supposition. The latter just confuses the matter and doesn't build the hobby's body of knowledge. Its an intriguing box.

I estimate between 38 and 41 percent are not original. I have not seen this box in person - and I could be wrong.

Someone with little clue of what they were doing torched it into some monstrosity. The punty mark is visible in the 4th picture.

Looks like quite a quantity of ades in there!

Looks like Akro Spirals with some kind of meatballs.

Its un-melted silica. These are referred to as "seeds".

Almost all buyers will find cold rolls and imbedded debris as making the piece less desirable. Consequently it will negatively impact the value.

A "pin prick" is a chip.... just a nice word to describe a very tiny chip and not use the "C" word". A surfaced bubble - like a chip - decreases the marble's condition, and therefore value.

It sounds like a cold roll. Pic?

Photo of the marble?

Size? Condition? Colors? Photo?

Yes - they have been dug at at least one Marble King site.

http://marbleconnection.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=16347