Alan

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....

"Worm:Win32/Conficker.B is a new piece of malware targeting a vulnerability in Server Service affecting all supporter versions of Windows, including Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1, and Windows XP SP3. Microsoft published details related to the new malicious code designed to exploit the MS08-067 Critical vulnerability reported in 2008, and patched with an out-of-band security update in October. Essentially, the software giant informed that Worm:Win32/Conficker.B was a variant of the Worm:Win32/Conficker malware, which was initially associated with attacks against MS08-067. "

Conficker infects Vista machines as well.

One of the easy diagnostics for this worm is to check your Windows Update status (Start - Windows Update). Look on the right side for whether Windows Update is set for automatic updates. If yes - then you are probably fine (Conficker turns off automatic Windows updates). If not - turn auto updates ON. If you cannot turn them on - you have a high probability of having the Conficker worm and need to fix it asap.

Felicia: I thought I would illustrate some of the variability of oxblood from a single manufacturer - Akro. I have roughly 100 pieces of their oxblood cullet and most is mixed with a dark cherry red, a dark orange, dark green and sometimes black - depending on the marble run they were making when they dumped it. Oxblood without the black detail glass (often feathered in) is fairly flat looking and appears much lighter colored to the eye. In truth though - it is really the same brick red. Here are some variances in oxblood from Akro (by no means exhaustive):

Large air bubbles can be a sign of re-heating. Without seeing it in hand - guessing by photos is just that...so I can't draw any conclusions.

I'll simply note that there are far more air bubbles in the glass than is normally seen.

The rooms and the show were fine this year. The New Philly show is always a popular one and 2009 proved no different. Here are some show pics from 2009: http://marbleconnection.invisionzone.com/i...1&hl=philly

Examples of Akro oxblood:

Very nice work - as always.

"Out of round due to thumbprints of being a favorite marble of the shooter." That may be the strangest line I have ever read in an Ebay marble auction.