Patience Pays Off!!!

[Scoop]

Don has had difficulties with posting his photos here. So, here ya go, Don!!!

Sometimes, you really have to wait for a marble before you can own it, in this case it took over TWENTY YEARS, forget instant gratification. When I first started collecting marbles, I met an antique dealer that liked them too, and showed me her modest collection. I don't remember exactly when that was, it's lost in the mists of time, but it was sometime in the 80's, I really don't remember early or late. She had a nice little collection, but no headliners except one--what is or is darn near the biggest double-ribbon core swirl I have ever seen, and I've seen a few. It's a full 2 1/4 inches. She wasn't ready to sell, so I just thanked her and filed away the dream. I saw her many times, but no go. Finally, a few years ago, she took sick and died. I am on good terms with her son who is also a dealer, and since we are not interested in the same items, we get along great, he is a furniture guy mainly. I started talking to him about them, and he said his mom always meant to sell me her marbles, but ran out of time. Long story shorter, he showed them to me 2 years ago, but we couldn't get together on price.He said there were more, and he would find them, and we'd do a bigger deal. OK. It was good to see the old DRC again, to know it was still there. Finally, about a month ago, I got the call, the others had been found, and cash was needed more than the marbles. A deal was struck, I thought it was fair both ways, (in other words, I would have liked them to be less, but that's life) and I finally have brought the big DRC in from the Outlands to the embrace of my collection. It's kind of scratched up, but it looks worse in the pics than it is. I can't help it, I haven't owned it its whole life. It is too good to buff somehow, it really escaped a lot of the abuse many swirls got, so I'll just take it as is. I could polish it myself, but I am resisting temptation. Some of the others are nice, but nothing to stop traffic. All the little stuff was ordinary, there were a couple nice dark green/blue mica's. This was my biggest buy, in money and amount of big marbles, in 15 years. Depending on when I first saw them, it could be over 25 years in the making. So, as so often happens, you have to have somebody die to get something, but it pays to stay in touch, and be kindly towards the heirs! I have another similar story I may post soon, about a sulphide. Stay tuned, and long live big ol' handmade marbles, they are one of the corner stones upon which marble collecting was based.

[m!b$]

I think you should buff it just enough to make it shine

[Scoop]

I mentioned that to Don, too....

He said in hand it looks a lot better. The lights highlight the surface wear.

[MARBLEMISER]

I've seen some that were just waxed.

That would leave the surface untouched.( no glass removed )

And I'm thinking it can be removed?

(the wax )

It would be shiny & unharmed.

FWIW

Nice score btw

marblemiser

[Steph]

Great story! That's some good karma!

[Dinkybus]

My thanks to Scoop for getting my pics onto the board. I don't know what is wrong, so I will have to study the photo tutorial. I use old technology, it shouldn't be throwing any curve balls at the computers of today. Whatever.

It is very tempting to do a little buffing on the big DRC, but I am holding off for now. I ought to write my dissertation on polishing and see how many agree, it is a controversial subject. I'll just say I am happy to finally own the big DRC after all these years. I actually met the former owner in 1976, when I first hit the trail looking for marbles. She was set up in an old roller rink with several other dealers, one of whom I bought my first sulphide from, he was a real crook, and sensed I didn't hardly know what I was looking at. He had a goat sulphide that had the figure actually broken in half, and when I asked about it, he acted like it was in his case by mistake, and raised the price right in front of me! I didn't know any better, and was dying to own a sulphide, so I bought it anyway, for $30. But back to the dealer with the DRC, I don't think it was until the 80's until she showed me her collection. What a journey! It has been rather barren this century, so I am glad to finally be able to write off the unfinished business of the big DRC marble, without going bankrupt. I only know of one more possible little stash out there (in the wild, so to speak, not owned by a collector), I guess I ought to try to track it down. Stay tuned, sports fans. Marbles just happen sometimes..........

[RunnersDad]

Great story Scoop, glad you were finally able to make it happen!

[zaboo]

YES, ONE GREAT STORY! (Marblemiser's right. acrylic floor wax! the industrial kind would do it wonders. yes it can be removed. I tried some once on a marble just to see what it would do. it also has those teeny surface wear minute scratches, and it work beautifully.)

[Scoop]

Hey RD, I made the post happen... But, not the story. That was Don's!!

I wondered about "Glass Wax"... I haven't seen it in a while, but I remember having some when we were kids... ('Seems to me we had it to do Christmas designs on the windows....)

Also... An old brick mason once told me...

If you put masonary sealer in a "sick" bottle, it will eliminate (or cover) the stain and it's so tough, it holds up for ever...

I've never tried it...

On a marble, the problem would be how to coat it evenly without leaving any marks... But, with a handmade, maybe a type of "punty" could be glued to the pontil???

Maybe a candle, melted to the pontil? So, the wax would act as a resist?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............. :ph34r: