Alan

Razorback

A cullet marble is just that. Nothing more or less. In many cases you can identify which manufacturer's cullet it was if you have handled a fair amount of cullet. IMO when the cullet was ground-down doesn't factor into the issue. There is no way to tell and in the end analysis it doesn't matter. The fact that recently someone is trying to pass off ground cullet marbles as vintage is a sad commentary. Carefully worded sales descriptions don't forgive the sin.

Thanks for posting this Steph. There are a few I'm going to give a go at.

Ken does great work - as always.

Looks the same to me. Definitely ground cullet. Perhaps the buyer figured out what it wasn't.

Voted!

Popeyes were of course sold in the more familiar red and yellow Popeye boxes. There were also 100 count Popeye boxes.

Its simply a polished chunk of cullet. Someone overpaid by $220.

Have any of these areas proved to be productive? My sense of it was that a few odds and ends turn up - but they weren't much like the prime refuse sites of the past.

Helping hand: http://marbleconnection.invisionzone.com/i...?showtopic=7312

Very nice - as always.

At the risk of butting into what seems to have become a semi-private debate - I'll offer this observation: The term "oxblood" as it is used in the marble collecting hobby is used to refer to a color of glass sometimes used by certain manufacturers as a decorative accent. At the end of the day - any term we use should be reasonably clear and one should be able to hold a marble in the hand, point to it and say "THAT is oxblood". If we attempt to become highly scientific or to embrace all possible permutations into the the 1/100th of one percent of extreme examples - the term becomes less and less distinct, less universally understood and at some point - useless as a descriptive term. We judge by our eyes, our memory and our experience. The terms we use in the hobby (and it IS a hobby... lest we forget) need to be useful, helpful and meet our needs to describe a thing. If we attempt to over-describe a term beyond practical limits - we run the clear risk of that term becoming useless - and a whole new family of terms being spawned to replace what used to be one. If there is a true problem in describing oxblood in a way that the 95+ percentile of collectors can agree and use - I have not seen it. Collectors cannot hold a marble in hand and guess/know the chemical composition of the glass. We judge based upon visual cues. I had thought that the common definition of oxblood was fairly well acknowledged by most experienced collectors. If re-defining it or defining it better is somehow indicated - I am not aware of the cause that would move us in that direction.

Bo: In all things "marbles" - there are the general rules which are correct most of the time. Then there are the exceptions which intrude from time to time. Generally, oxblood use in marbles shows oxblood as a surface feature, swirl or veneer. Of course this would vary according to the machine's set-up on a given day, how the machine was adjusted, glass temperature and how some components of the machine were worn (i.e. spinner cups etc). Here is a single-point example of a fractured Akro oxblood swirl on a white matrix in an attempt to shed a little light on your question:

Best of luck on your book. I was discussing the need for good documentation with these runs with various folks at the New Philly show.

I especially like the tails! Nice work.

Geico marbles?

I'll echo the oddly rusted/stained staples observation above.

It looks like those made by Gentile glass.

100% torch-made with Moretti glass...most likely by a beginner.

Popeye:

Surely a sign that the end of the world is nigh....