Hipocritter

I was lucky enough to know Ariel Clark since he was a little tyke. I loved this beautiful child. He was always a friendly & social youngster. Ariel was an accomplished magician who loved honing his craft at the Boston Marble Show. He tricked me at every opportunity. My heart goes out to Lanni & John Dustin. I am sure they are devastated by this horrific turn of events. I am crushed to hear of this very premature loss, Lloyd Huffer A little Hank Jr for the drunk driver- “ I’d like to spit some Beechnut in that dudes eye.” ………

Yikes, not Bill Sweet........OMG what a major loss. Bill & I dealt through the mail in the early '80's. I was thrilled, you could BUY marbles from him- almost anytime you wanted- this was almost unheard of at the time. Years of looking everywhere & anywhere for marbles & now here is Bill Sweet with a list of marbs for sale- Great! I bought plenty of special marbs through the mail from Bill over the years including my first Clambroth. I finally met Bill at his Marble Show in Attleborough MA. sp? Probably 1985. Wow, what a show that was- all the serious old timers were there- Bev Brule, Bert Cohen, Everett Grist, Art Ward, Gary Dolly, Warren Abair, Don Taylor, Jim Moeller, and of course his son Eric. He and Eric were always close, it was a guarantee if you saw Bill you would see his son too. In 1987 there was a major marble auction in Middletown Ohio. The Lindemann collection was being dispersed. Bill & Warren Abair flew out to the sale. A bunch of other collectors showed up too. We all stayed in the same Hotel & had a mini-marble-meet the night before the auction. The morning of the sale Bill invited my wife Chris & me to ride to the auction hall with him & Warren. The chance to hang with these heavy hitters was a dream come true. We hadn't left the parking lot in the rental car when I could see that the driver- Bill, more than 20 years my senior, was very nervous at the wheel. Before we entered traffic I told him that driving was as easy for me as falling off a log- I would gladly take the wheel. He pulled over immediately and everyone changed seats. We were all glad that he accepted my offer to drive. It was easy sailing after I got behind the wheel, everyone relaxed behind my smooth driving. You leave your friends at the door to the auction hall, so we fought it out tooth & nail for the best marbles. The battle for these super marbles was intense. Minor skirmishes erupted on many prime examples of all types of handmade marbles. There were record prices set on both Sulphides & Swirls. $3600 for a large Lobed Onionskin with Mica was the high price of the day. After the sale we were all friends again. Bill asked me to take the wheel on the way back to the hotel- no problem. He was at ease with being chauffeured around & I was glad to do it. This was the start of a friendship that lasted for many years. Rest in Peace Bill, You will be missed by many. I'm sad, Lloyd Huffer

Yep, that's the marble my son Brady sold on eBay a while back. He got the marble years ago from Dr. Art Ward. Doc Ward had one of the best (Read The Best ) sulphide collections I ever saw. He & Brady hunkered down in a serious trading session at one of the major marble shows. It took a while, but Brady pryed the 'Turban' & a little cash loose from Art for a sulphide that Art didn't have in his collection. Is the marble old? - yes. Is it a 'Birdcage'? - no. I'm Hip, Lloyd Huffer

Hello JVV, Nice to see you back on the board. I was lucky enough to have a few small swirls in my bag when I was about 12 years old. They were both beautiful & fascinating, but it is only that they made poor sling shot ammo that I still have those few. The machine mades were perfect for a pre-teen growing up in the 1950's. I bought my first Wham-o sling shot in 1954. I bought a bag of cat eye marbles the next day when the steel shot ran out. They make great ammo. My pop was an antiques dealer, so I was exposed to lots of exciting old things during my youth. As my interest in antiques grew, finding antique marbles became the focus of my search. For years I passed on any marble that didn't have a pontil. During the 1970's I started actively buying marbles for both my collection & for resale. In 1980 my sons started keeping all the 'round marbles' they liked from collections I was buying. When they came with me to marble shows they often brought machine mades to sell. Both boys now have special marble collections. My own collection has a few machine mades from my youth & some original boxes that I added over the years, but I have always been primarily a collector of antique marbles. I have sold hundreds of pounds of machine made marbles to collectors. For me there is no thrill like finding a 100 year old marble that someone loved enough to keep in perfect condition. My specialty has been individually made marbles, both Sulphides & single pontil End of Day types. I'm Hip, Lloyd Huffer

Here are the Oxbloods in my Yellow Popeye Box. I'm Hip, Lloyd Huffer

Here are a few you don't often see. I'm Hip, Lloyd Huffer

Four marble collectors were walking down the street in Cambridge Ohio. They spied something on the sidewalk ahead of them. "What's this?" said the first collector "It looks like dog poop." The second collector picks it up and says "It feels like dog poop." The third collector smells it and says "It smells like dog poop." The forth collector takes a bite and says "It tastes like dog poop too." All four together say "I'm sure glad we found out it was dog poop before we stepped in it." I'm Hip, Lloyd Huffer