Peltish Little Dudes

[bubba1]

i remember vaguely something about these types that are very peltish----was it a Canadian company??

the dark ones are transparent amber.

[Poplarhead]

Probably German but show up in Canadian lots, like thye were not distributed in U.S. I have found soem that appear to be made in 1930s based on everything else in lot was that old and others that appear to be later that are smaller in size.

Don

[bubba1]

thanks---smaller sizes??? like 5/8''?? (these are all around that size)

[Poplarhead]

thanks---smaller sizes??? like 5/8''?? (these are all around that size)

No around 9/16 to 19/32 inch size.

Don

[bubba1]

thanks again!

[Steph]

I'd also suggest Japanese as a possibility. For some reason that hasn't been a popular idea. There's "made in Japan" packaging, but it has been argued that it was the box which was made in Japan, not the marbles. To me that doesn't seem consistent with the purpose of country of origin packaging laws. But I'm an amateur, so ?

The mibs below aren't an exact match for yours but maybe similar enough to give pause.

First a novelty box marked Made in Japan. The marbles here were listed as 11/16".

(extra pix, click to enlarge)

Second is a box of "Bolitas" which says "Industria Japonesa", which to me indicates Japanese manufacture, possibly intended for sale in South America. From a Marblealan auction. He said they measured about 1/2".

(sorry, no clicking, wish the pix were larger but this is what we got! :-)

[bubba1]

interesting!! i got a couple with this bunch that look just like several in that first set--the ones with the equatorial red band--and a couple of those looks pretty dang close.

was there a date (or range) that went along with these boxes?

[Speed Racer]

Gotta love those boxes! So cool!!

[Poplarhead]

I agree - after I posted I almost said Japanese possibility because I had seen similar boxes. makes you wonder why we did not see a lot in US of these marbles? At;least haven't seen in the many lots of old machine mades I have bought. Just a couple in quantity that came from Canada.

Don

[Steph]

Alan estimated the 1930's for the 100 count box.

I tried to research the Reg'lar Fellers date options and came up with a very tentative 1939 - 1941 based on an article in the June 1938 Playthings Magazine. The 1938 article said the comic strip author Gene Byrnes was launching a series of tie-ins and spin-offs of his comic strip, the details of which would be announced soon.

And then of course 1942 would not have been a good year for marbles from Japan.

Maybe Japan couldn't break into our market well in the 1930's. Either because of tariffs or because our makers were making good marbles cheaply enough here. Canada and South America would have had more need for imported marbles, right?

I can't remember offhand what I've read about the tariff situation in those years. But we did have some very protectionist eras in the past. The marble makers in the 1950's were hoping to bring some of that back to save their businesses from the cat's eyes. But the U.S. gov't said no. It was in the government's interest to have Japan selling toys to us rather than whatever they might have been selling to the Soviet bloc.

[lstmmrbls]

I do agree they are not the new MKs I was thinking about. Steph comes through again!

[bubba1]

all good info and much appreciated--maybe i'll have to send you a couple as a thank you!!

[Steph]

Not necessary! The search is its own reward. Thanks for the thought though.

[orbboy]

Give yourself a second pat on the back there Steph. Looks like you might have solved one I had in the Unknown dish. Looks real close to me. Size is a sliver under 3/4". Wish we knew the size of the ones in the box.

[Steph]

Dude! I thought that one might have been an American which slipped in by accident. But now that I see yours . . . . COOL BEANS!

(seller said 11/16")

[Scoop]

Would it be really bad to question if all the marbles in the first box were original??

The second marble in the second (from the left) box... And, the second and third marbles in the center box seem out of place to me...

Long before machine made marbles were popular... But, boxes were collectible, random backfilling was a very common practice...

[orbboy]

Awesome! within 1/16" is good enough for me. Glass is not Akro for sure so I was pondering Vitro.

[orbboy]

Wish my pics could capture how grainy the glass is Sue. I guess you could compair it to some of the Crease Pontil Transitionals that have the "grainy" look. I can't think of any American marbles that have the same texture?

Still Backfilling is always a consideration that should not be ignored.

[Steph]

It's a fine question. My vote would be original on most, but yes, I did question a few myself.

I also thought two of the marbles from the 3rd box looked out of place, but with Dave's pix of his shooter size one with similar colors, it makes it seem more like they fit in a box like that. Still not sure about the one in the 2nd box.

[bubba1]

okay finally got around to some pics----here's some more oddballs that were in the same group as the ones posted earlier that i think might fit right in those boxes.

[Steph]

okay finally got around to some pics----here's some more oddballs that were in the same group as the ones posted earlier that i think might fit right in those boxes.

Neat!

[Steph]

This just in! They're Champions! I just got a couple with a Champ box! lol

(thanks for the samples D :-)