Pinx

Still waiting on mine. I e-mail Schiffer and they said it shipped on the 10th. Maybe tomorrow... Elizabeth

Here are the older Japanese 8 vanes in an original cellophane Camel bag. I'm guessing these are from the 1960s or earlier. Some of the colors on the newer ones that Al shows come really close to the vintage cats. Howerver, as Brian mentioned, the surface of the newer ones are oily or sometimes slightly iridescent. Could be very hard for a newbie to distinguish, especially from a picture. Elizabeth

Here's a pic from a pole of the foreign sparkler that I posted earlier. Ann was right, it does have a relatively flat ribbon that is slightly curved. Sorry the pic doesn't show a lot of detail, but it does reveal the structure. Ignore the yellow in the lower left quadrant. It is a reflection. Elizabeth

Ann ~ I'm so sorry, I confused you with Andrea in my post with the bag. Thank you so much for the cogent synopsis of the sparkler types. I think I have examples of all that you describe and there are definitely differences between them. I also have some stringy, single fat vaned types in colored glass. BTW, I, too, have heard that Vacor may have made some sparkler types earlier in their history. Elizabeth

Here is a German bag that I have that I have heard referred to as German Sparklers or German Cat's Eyes. Is this the bag that you have Andrea? The marbles from the bag are similar to what Andrea described in her earlier post. The colors are more like lobes of distinct colors. The glass is smooth, not "orange peel" , and there are crimps at the poles. Other "foreign sparklers" that I have are more "stringy" in the texture of the colored glass, with the color more variegated, as Andrea described. Then there is the one I showed earlier that has variegated color and the orange peel finish. Wherever they are from they are truly varied and interesting! Elizabeth

John - The marble I pictured is at my office so I will not be able to get any more pics today. As you noted, it has a very definite orange peel texture. I have no idea of its origin, some who have seen it question whether it is Mexican. I don't know if I will ever really know, but nonetheless enjoy its beauty. ELizabeth

Hi! I saw these auctions and was outbid on the lot of the smaller marbles. I have lots of these foreign sparklers in the larger sizes and can't even give them away at shows. Which is fine because I love them. It's great to find aventurine in them. Here's my favorite. I bought it at a Texas show from Kalli's father. Elizabeth