Alan

Values and morals are taught and learned in the home (or not). The Internet is merely a reflection of society and the world as a whole. Both have their seamy side. Parents either instill the necessary morals and values to deal effectively with both - or they don't. Parents either monitor a child's use of the Internet and where they go and who they associate in the world - or they don't. Given the extreme rarity of kids playing or collecting marbles these days - I would guess that the statistical potential of a young, impressionable mind spending much time at that other place is far less likely than the chance of being struck by lightning. Stamping out speech on the Internet is like trying to do the same in the real world. Its like the "Whack-a-Mole" game at the fair....hit one and he pops up elsewhere. If someone is stating something illegal or subject to civil action in the courts - then they are subject to prosecution or lawsuit, as appropriate. There have always been and will always be those whose ideas are in stark contrast with ours. This will be true long after we have shuffled off this mortal coil. I'll also note that there are people who thrive on stirring the pot and the attention that they receive when people react to what they say or do. Give them attention, become incensed with what they say or do and rail at their ideas at the top of your voice - and one simply feeds the fire and provides the incentive to continue this behavior. It is the attention and the reaction that they crave. Remove these and you remove the motivation and reward. I do not suggest that their behavior is acceptable - just that one must rise above their level and attempt to understand their motivation and the reward that they seek. I do not go to that place. If someone there posts that I am a fool, or that my feet smell, or that I look funny, or that my mother wears combat boots - I could care less. (My mother doesn't wear combat boots, by the way). I don't need to go there to know that it is a dump. I have much better things to do with my time in this life than engage riffraff to defend myself standing knee-deep in their manure at a place that doesn't matter. "Dost thou love life? Then waste not time; for time is the stuff that life is made of." Benjamin Franklin

David: If you want someone to argue with - you'll need to find that person elsewhere. I do not understand this holy Crusade. You have been battling Scott for 10 or more years and seem to believe that you will somehow succeed changing Scott's mind or behavior in any fashion by posts of this nature . I believe that you are mistaken. I see no good coming from dragging this garbage here - but I do see the harm. We disagree on this point - but that is okay. I have no axe to grind and will not be pulled into such behavior or conflicts myself. I don't have a dog in your fight and don't want one. Respectfully, Alan

So why drag this very unpleasant battle here? Why is this thread needed? Isn't the 3-page unpleasant thread that we already have on this subject enough? You and Scott have been battling each other for a decade that I am aware of. I'm not taking sides - just stating the fact. Why not leave the unpleasantness where it is? Dragging it here just infects this Board with the very qualities that you condemn. Is this a marble collecting board for enthusiasts - or is it to become a battleground for personal grudges, personality contests and furtherance of "I am right and you are wrong" arguments? I believe that members that wish to visit that site and read vile statements are capable of finding it. Bringing the fight here to simply point at it does no service to those of us that have no interest of seeing such things. Most of us (I hope) come here for marbles - not to watch the bickering, name-calling, egos and personality contests that some people feel compelled to engage in.

I believe that he stopped a few years when he didn't feel well.

Nice box. I like 'em.

Since you like Gerry's work - I went out and took some new photos for you! Alan

I was quite fortunate to acquire that piece of history.

I have watched this crap-slinging contest silently from the sideline. Why this kind of negative name calling, reputation bashing and general malaise needs to be dragged to THIS board is beyond me. These posts do nothing but harm in the marble community, make the posters and the community look bad, have NOTHING to do with marbles or marble collecting and do not reflect well on this good Board. Continuing to whip each other into a perfect froth over something that started elsewhere serves no good purpose. Leave the manure pile where it started and don't drag it over here. Lets stick to marbles and leave the egos and personality contests for some less honorable place.

Then here is a bump for you!

Yes - lets get back to marbles and leave whatever steaming manure that is shoveled elsewhere.......elsewhere.

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.