Al Oregon

That's sad about Norm. I know his eyesight had been failing for a few years now and it really bothered him that he couldn't see his beautiful marbles as clearly anymore. I had talked to Sami at the Vegas Show and heard that Norm's condition was deteriorating. He was an interesting guy to talk to and he will be missed.

I edited my post to show the article.

That is sad! I visited him every time I was up in Astoria, Oregon. He was such an enthusiastic person and reaaly got kids into marbles. He had local tournaments, was at flea markets and other events besides his own shop in Astoria, dedicated to marbles (probably one of the few in the US). He was working on a marble alphabet game last time I talked to him - kind of along the lines of scrabble and similar games. He will be missed by many. Here's an article from the local paper last Spring. I couldn't pull the picture from the article so just added one form the Portland Marble Show a couple of years ago (he loved the kids). Everyday people: Astoria man takes his shot introducing the game of marbles to kids By KARA HANSEN The Daily Astorian Stan Brown’s pockets rattle with the sound of a pastime he never experienced as a child. But he’s making up for lost time, and hoping he can bring some fun to children who may never have played the ancient-rooted game of marbles. “The marble business is about kids,” Brown said at the downtown Astoria marble store he opened less than two years ago. His own kids are all grown up. “It’s about encouraging interaction and pulling them away from computers a little bit.” Until he was 46, Brown worked in the moving business, most recently in Spokane, Wash. But he decided to retire and go back to college, where he studied environmental science. He picked up a few marbles at one point and began to play with them, gaining interest from fellow students and fostering his love for a game he didn’t play when he was younger. “What did you not receive as a child that you want to give back as an adult? I want to teach young people marble play,” Brown said. Eventually, it became clear what he should do. He had already fallen in love with Astoria, because it reminded him of a small-scale San Francisco, where he was born. He opened Marble Mouse House and has been promoting marble play ever since. It’s an “earth-friendly” sport that doesn’t cost much to play, he said. “No gear required.” And it lends itself well to wider horizons. Brown found that he loved the concept of painting and screen-printing on marbles, of fixing a permanent image to curved glass. He now has hundreds of the tiny works of art at his store, thanks to help from Doug Anderson, who he said pioneered the technique. He also likes to fish and was an umpire for many years, an activity he’d like to continue, if he has the time. “It’s hard to find time in between,” said Brown, who spends any weekend he can at Astoria’s Sunday Market and at the Saturday Market in Ilwaco, Wash., where he may soon host a weekly tournament. He’ll also lead games at the Astoria-Warrenton Crab and Seafood Festival at the end of April. Pockets rattling with the little balls of glass, Brown often hands out “lucky marbles” to passersby, whether they’re adults or children. He hopes people of all ages can find something to enjoy in the pastime, which dates back to ancient Egyptian and Roman games. “I’ve seen grandparents sitting at card tables shooting marbles with children,” Brown said. “I’ve played marbles with kids ages 3 and up ... Anyone can do it.” — Kara Hansen

Nice ones - will be bidding!

Beautiful marble! But, for the newbies out there, most of those colors are blends. A true 5 color cork is very hard to find.

My avatar (to the left) is one of my favorite oxbloods!

I'm leaning towards a Ravenswood on Maggie's marble - nice one!

I've posted this picture before but will do it again - some of the colorful Champions that I like. Plus another pictures of some of my Champion 'furnace' marbles.

Nice bags, Craig. I attached a picture from Sep. 2000 of a bag similar to your Pressman. It had corals in it, too. The other marbles look like they might be Champion so that may help the theory that most of these corlas were Champion (at least from a being found in packaging concept). The rippled wheat bags are neat - some different color meshes found with those. The last bag reminds me of other bags with Peltiers that I thought were done by a distributer/jobebr like Berry Pink. Pressman seemed to put his company name on his headers but there are a lot in that time frame that had no company name. Some of the 'Champion' headers on mesh bags were similar to those and they had Peltiers. Of course, it is possible that Marble King didn't use their company name when they first started packaging. They packaged Peltiers when they did start using the name so maybe these were forerunners. Berry Pink was at the beginning of Marble King and apparently did keep his owne company during the early years so maybe some kind of 'hybrid'...? You going to sell the first or last?

I'd be interested in the Vitro bag - just sent you a message through the board. The email address I had for you doesn't work any more.

I'm always interested in some of those, too, Greg. Let me know. Thanks for the offer.

I'm seeing more of the 8 vane cat's-eyes showing up on eBay and bringing good money. I'm not talking about the Vitro 8 finger transparents and opaques but cage style cat's-eyes. In my opinion, these are almost all newer marbles so be aware. They are part of the many out of the Imperial packaging from Far East, India, etc. Here's pics from one package I have.

Here's Ron Shaw's picture of his Kato with oxblood

I don't think any of them are - JMHO.

You might email Alan, too. While I don't think he has been there, he might have some good contact names.

I had never met Les but communicated with him about marble bags a few times over the years. He had a wealth of knowledge and was willing to help me learn. This is a sad day for the marble hobby! My condolences to the family!

That is a nice find! Those cello bags are pretty fragile and disintegrate pretty easily so that is probably why we don't see many floating around. The double ender headers are nice - a necessity since the ends of the bags would break more easily than the center. I have one like that. There is also a Vitro Victory Agates double ender bag that I have. Here's a pic