marblenoobs Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Hi All, I'm new to collecting and excited to join some online forums. I found this one along with land of marbles and another called marblin madness. I can't seem to get to registered for that one though. I looked at glass addiction, but it seemed to be a modern sort of glass collecting site. I'm looking forward to getting to know you all. Could anyone recommend some books that you would consider a must have for a new collector? Thanks, Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 (edited) Hi Joe. Welcome. I'd recommend Everett Grist's Big Book of Marbles, by Everett Grist and Lloyd Huffer. The Fourth Edition has been freshly released. Another good book is American Machine-Made Marbles, by Dean Six, Susie Metzler and Michael Johnson. It is heavy into historical information. For older handmades, Baumann's Collecting Antique Marbles is a classic. There are some classics by Bob Block but some of that information has become dated. For example, in some cases, different terminology and additional information about makers have come out since their publication. I wouldn't discourage you from getting them, and maybe someone else would put them high on the list. This is just my $.02. There is also a classic by Stan Block, called Marble Mania. Does that have a new edition? (muttering to myself while I go look that up) Yes, it does. I haven't seen the new one yet. There are lots more marble books, including specialty books on cat's eyes, Jabos, ceramic marbles, etc. I don't mean to leave anyone out. I just picked the ones I thought might be good first buys. I look forward to seeing others' recommendations. Disclaimer about values given in books. It's very tricky to get a handle on marble values, in case you're getting books to help you assess your marbles instead of just identifying the marbles. I've used books to estimate marble values for sale and received quite the lesson when my $2500 marble sold for only $80 on ebay and my $50 marble went for $5. . Edited February 22, 2011 by Steph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marblenoobs Posted February 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Thanks, Steph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ann Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 I'm on the new Marble Mania list -- publication date is now about March 1 (has been pushed back a couple of times). All the books that Steph said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Marbles Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Joe, Welcome!!! Books are a great place to start. Also visit the study hall section here at MC. It has a ton of photos & Info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancy cooper Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Someone here shared this link to an awesome site with me. I'll pass it along to you. I've spent countless hours pouring over the pictures there... Nancy http://www.joemarbles.com/default.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvrons Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 WELCOME,learning marbles will not be fast or easy. It can be a challenge,but enjoyable and sometimes rewarding. Don't rush,give it time,and stay with it. People here will help in anyway they can. Visit often as you can ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNYD Posted February 24, 2011 Report Share Posted February 24, 2011 I found that books are good for general identification. The best route to follow would be to attend some shows if you can. Nothing beats holding a marble in hand to get the actual image in your mind. Also, people like WVRON have some of the greatest knowledge and history you could ever find. I have taken marbles to Sistersville and Ron has spent hours going through each marble and IDing them for me. I put each marble in it's proper ID box and now use them for helping me do IDing myself. I think he enjoyed it too, as he saw some special marbles that were harder to find types. He did it and never wanted anything in return, how great can people be ! ! ! ! Another great person to find and ask is Steve Smith from Ohio. He is always helpful and honest. He also has some contacts to find hard to find mibs. Be careful, there are those out there selling marbles that do not know as much as they lead one to believe. Get to know the folks at the shows and it will not take long to know who the standout people like Ron are. Books can not give you that personal attention and they can not have all the marbles pictured in them, at least not as many as you will see at a show. Check out the show listing here, in this web chat site, they are updated. Welcome to the great sport of marble collecting and remember, the greatest benefit of collecting marbles is truly the great people you come into contact with. SNYD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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