Question About Champion Sizes

[bubba1]

i know i remember that champion didn't make a marble over a certain size.....was it 7/8''???

got this one today...13/16''

i can get some more pics later tonight if needed, but i was sure it was champ----then the size thing came up.

maybe ravenswood?? anyone?? help!!

[Steph]

A discussion of Champ sizes would be interesting. I know (believe) and regularly use the fact (guideline) about Champ not making very sizeable marbles.

But check out the contents of the sample bag on p. 66 of American Machine-Made Marbles.

Luckily for you, Dani appears to have made the question moot for your marble with the dug Akro she posted at LOM. Makes so much sense . . . . now.

[bubba1]

yes, thanks! and thanks dani----very, very helpful!!!

d

[MrsMopar]

What does moot mean?

[bubba1]

(copied definition from dictionary.com) "to reduce or remove the practical significance of; make purely theoretical or academic."

dani posted an almost identical marble on another board that was a dug Akro...so the identification discussion is "moot"!

still would like some input on the size question though....seems like in the last couple weeks i've had it come up several times.

d

[david Chamberlain]

Re Champion sizes: Amongst my older Champions I do not have much in the way of larger marbles. They're mostly 5/8". But the new Old Fashions have at least five different varieties that are 13/16" . There's one with Grey, green w/outline of light orange in milky white. There's a Milky and bluish white with light greens and dark browns and black. There's one like the first one I've mentioned here but denser colors and stronger orange accent. There's one specifically called a 'Gypsy Slag' that's orange, tan, brown and milky white. And there's one that's a milky red slag w/very light yellow. Actually quite beautiful. All right at 13/16". I have only one larger and it's just under 7/8" but it could pass for Vitro; it has always perplexed me.

I'd just been accused of not offering much in the way of information here on the Board in another Thread so I thought I'd just toss this out for the heck of it. What total foolishness that I don't contribute. David

P.S. There are pics of these in my Champion article at joemarbles.com but it's a group pic and the reproduction of it is a bit dark. I think it is clearer at Marble Mental. Unfortunately my photograph of them did not make it to Mike's book AMERICAN MACHINE-MADE MARBLES because they mistakingly included two pics of Old Fashions and accidentally left out the New-Old Fashions group. I have a set of something like 28 of the New-Old Fashions that I sell that I've had since about 1991 and got them from good ol' Charlie Sutsman.

[Steph]

Thank you David.

Here's the link, by the way. Now I'm off to read it . . . again. Your articles have been one of my favorite resources since I discovered them.

Champion Agate Co.

[david Chamberlain]

Thanks. I thought this Thread had disappeared. The article link is helpful and in Photo 2 you can see the Champion New Old Fashions that are larger (13/16"). Unfortunately the photo is a bit dark in its reproduction and you're not fully able to appreciate the colors in many of them. This is a killer group which I still occasionally sell. Cathy Runyan-Svacina The Marble Lady was the woman behind seeing that Dave Mc and Champion came up with these marbles because there really wasn't much in the way of cool marbles available at the time. I imagine Cathy got quite a few of these and gave them out in her many marble workshops with kids at schools throughout the communities.

I do state in the article that Dave was attempting to duplicate old Ravenswood marbles but for anyone familiar with Ravenswood you wouldn't have any trouble IDing these. They stand on their own. I think it was an effort to make some new marbles as beautiful as Ravenswood marbles which I look upon as a token of respect for the marbles of the past. Heck, these Champion marbles are already 25 years old, maybe not vintage but they do have a bit of age and it seems have receded in the minds of many marble collectors. Time to bring them back!

David