Shamrock Marbles

If the ball is limestone, then I would lean toward water filtration or some form of filtration. Limestone is soft and porous. A sphere has the largest surface area per unit volume. When layered in a bed or stacked in a tube/tower, you get excellent filtration without impacting media flow. If the ball is a harder stone, then milling isn’t out of the question. Fun find! It seems lonely, you need more. 😉

Used for water filtration.

According to his Facebook… Hope this answers part of your question. -John

Some examples of Shamrock Marbles (Atmosphere types in the front). Hand-gathered* and Machine-rounded. *Never actually touched the molten glass with my hands. 🙌 So, is it fair to say “Hand-gathered”?

Thank you for the reply. Looking forward to video #4. It’s been a year. Personally surprised that something that relevant wasn’t immediately released, as it appears to be a smoking gun. The next time you talk with them, please ask how the pyramids, candle holders, apples and candy were made.

Thank you!!

Nice study. What is the total weight for each marble set? What is the retail price for each set in USD?

Very nice! Be mindful of using Trademarks that don’t belong to you. Unless your goal is to get a cease-and-desist letter from Mega’s lawyers, so you can add to your marble collection! 😜

Alan and Royal are so right. May I suggest hooking up with someone from this forum and have them escort you around a show. Entering a motel room is most awkward and intimidating. If you had a wingman, it would knock the edge off and they could help with your communication with the dealers. Wishing you the best on your journey! -John

I can’t send emails to other users because my mailbox is full. I went to delete emails, only to realize that I would have to delete conversations with old friends. In fact, one is deceased and I can’t bring myself to erase those moments. What are my options?

In the video titled: El Aguila Marbles “Stories and secrets” (The rise of Vacor De Mexico Part 3) https://youtu.be/T25ibg0U8e4?si=pqvZW6RwQU8ZOFCD At 3:27 this graphic pops up. In the comments section there’s a short conversation about Atmosphere marbles being all machine made. Excerpt: Has this video been produced? UPDATE: 1) For clarity, the “myth” is that Vacor AtmoSphere marbles were “handmade”. 2) At the end of the above video, there was reference to video #4 in the series. I presume this will explain it all.

Vacor Marbles Identification Guide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=533zIrU80RI AtmoSphere mentioned at 11:32.

Thank you. Can you point me to correct video(s) and a time-stamp? And, please?

This is a priceless document. Thanks for sharing. It is interesting that the term “AtmoSphere Glass Art” was for a line of varied “objects of art” and not just marbles. ** Wonder the differences between Handmade Marbles and Spheres and Bubbly Spheres. Wonder what three sizes the Spheres came in. Wonder what sizes the Bubbly Spheres came in. Has anyone seen or have a pyramid? What size? Pyramid- - On!!

Alan is correct. I do not know of anyone in that area. Hopefully, someone here can chime in with a name or two.

Carol, Without giving specifics, can you share the closest large city (e.g. Chicago, Kansas City, Honolulu, etc.)? There may be someone close to physically visit.

14mm = 0.55 in (9/16”) 16mm = 0.63 in (5/8”) 17mm = 0.67 in (11/16”) 22mm = 0.87 in (7/8”) 25mm = 0.98 in (1”) 35mm = 1.38 in (1-3/8”) 42mm = 1.65 in (1-5/8”) 50mm = 1.97 in (2”)

I used to sell marbles for $1. 🙂 You can gather glass quickly, add color, reheat and cut in short order. No more than a two-three minute cycle. The key is not to add too much “cold” glass. Twenty-to-thirty marbles an hour. What did a laborer get paid per hour in Mexico back then? Three to four guys can make 800-1,000 marbles a day (10 hour shift). Run two shifts for a week and you have 10,000 marbles to sell. The model is based on cheap glass, cheap fuel, cheap labor and no regulation.

RAR, I never saw these marbles being made. I know how I make marbles. Would love to hear other people’s thoughts. -John

Carol, My I suggest you get these sorted into categories: 1) Antique Handmade 2) Contemporary Handmade 3) Vintage Machine Made 4) Contemporary Machine Made 5) To Be Determined (Don’t know where they go for now). ** You need someone with broad knowledge for this initial sort. ** First, I would focus on Antique Handmade marbles. Get someone with deep knowledge to identify and help value. Sell this group first. ** Second, get someone with deep knowledge on the Vintage Machine Mades to identify and value these marbles. Sell this group next. ** Third, get the Contemporary Handmade group identified, valued a sold. Get someone very familiar with this category. ** Fourth, sort and ID the Contemporary Machine Made group. Sell next. ** Lastly, clear the unidentified stragglers. ** YMMV, but I think getting this collection sorted up front is imperative. -John

I was always under the belief that the marbles were hand-gathered and machine-rounded. The internal glass patterns are unlike any stream-fed pattern. They also had a Guinea style with surface colors, which definitely would not be stream-fed. The orange-peel on the glass surface is due to surface pitting on the rollers. They used “handmade” on the bag headers. I could see how they would use that terminology, considering the process they used to gather the glass. One could quibble over the “percentage” that the machine-rounding contributes to the final marble. One would need to also factor in the effort to properly anneal each marble in a kiln or lehr. Considering the retail price for bag of three was $5.99, that was a deal. I would assume wholesale price would have been 50% of retail.

Wow! Awesome samples. Wishing you the best outcome on your task.

Thank you for the link. Japanese toy robots and pressed steel are my other interests. The reason I asked about COE is because Japan must import fuel. Some glass manufacturers used imported cullet (recycled) glass and added fluxes to further reduce the melting point, thus saving on fuel cost. The downside is that the glass marbles chip easier. Satake = 125 Moretti = 104 Spectrum = 96 Bulleseye = 90 Pyrex = 33 You have given me more to research. Arigato.

Fruit Stripes! Those are beautiful. What kid (or adult) wouldn’t want those gems? I have a couple of questions: 1) Where would one shop for vintage marbles in Japan? 2) Do you know the COE of these marbles? Are they similar to Satake Glass (COE 125)?

These are just awesome! The combination of color and simplicity cannot be beat. Thank you for sharing.