Alan

I would put in a clear glass of water to be able to see the construction better. Fill the water just over the top of the marble.

That is just an odd light reflection in the smooth concave shape.

I have seen Mark's tool for air traps - but don't know what he considers a trade secret. I think the fine nuances of the tool(s) he uses ARE unique to Mark. I had a one-hour conversation with him n just this subject and how he fine-tuned the tool and technique to achieve the level of perfection that Mark expects. He goes through quite a refinement process to get a piece that he is willing to put his name on. Some of his designs like the Comedy and Tragedy theater mask air traps are very problematic to create. Geoff Beetem makes some quite different air traps that are very nice as well.

RSC is correct. In machine-mades - bubbled glass is over-heated glass. Glass heats and cools much slower than air. That does not mean that the glass will have unhealed stress in it. Some contemporary makers create pieces with large air inclusions in them:

Bert Cohen has several on his website.

Yes, they do.

A "check" in glass terms is a fracture.

Strangely - I am reminded of a refrigerator repairman....but I don't know why.

An Akro oxblood patch on clear and green with furnace brick:

They are generally considered refuse and were discarded at the factory.

Hard to judge without seeing them in person - but the ones pictured are not similar to vintage EOD marbles.

I see spots, some twisting, red and depth in the marble - so that would make it a Submarine Guinea Cyclone Oxblood Flame. Are those sparkly reflections Lutz AND aventurine?

I don't know that there is any specific point here - other than noting that color frit on onionskins is pulled to thread shapes as they are necked down from the cane with a pair of jacks. This is pretty universal due to how cane marbles are made with frit - and that the pontils have a clear window into the marble. Any viscous material will pull to a point - and hot glass is no exception.

They aren't "flames" - they are simply ends of frit that are stretched at the pontils.... just like every other onionskin. This one was possibly an end of cane - so the color is stretched a bit more.

Lets see your marbles with holiday-themed colors or arrangements.

Hard to say for certain without having it in hand - but the surface does look polished/buffed. Lack of a pontil mark because it was a special "show sulphide"? Sorry - but thats just baloney.

What collectors call "aventurine" isn't a rare or special additive - its caused by an over-rich colorant mix. In other words - that color batch was mixed wrong. It can happen in any type.

Agreeing. I'm usually in most of them.

The term was (apparently) coined to describe the "wire-like" distribution of color in the marble.

Here: Link

Someone really ruined the batch that day!

What marble type is it a hybrid with?