sarash29 Posted November 20, 2015 Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 Hi guys. We lost my little bro a few years ago and I've finally accepted he is gone... and it's time to sort the marbles I had aside for him. I have a lot, and no idea where to start! Any help would be appreciated. :-) So far I sorted them by approx color or glaze but beyond that I'm lost. I took photos of similar groups, could you please have a look and tell me if there are any that might be special and worth me taking individual photos? Btw not sure how to post pics but will see what happens. .. :-p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarash29 Posted November 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 Hmm no way to upload from phone. Hafta try embedding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted November 20, 2015 Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 Hello Sara, sorry for your loss. We'll try to help as well as we can. It might be easier to load them to the gallery than to the attachments if you don't know how to resize them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarash29 Posted November 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2015 Thankyou! I finally managed to upload- the phone didn't show half of the page, including the upload bit. I use fastimageresizer so that part is fine I made an album in the gallery, would appreciate any input pls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted November 21, 2015 Report Share Posted November 21, 2015 I'll go check those out now. Here's a link for anyone else who wants to join in: Sara's Gallery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted November 21, 2015 Report Share Posted November 21, 2015 Well, they're almost all modern marbles. Might be one or two which could be id-ed as vintage. By modern we mean made in 1970 or later. Many were made since 2000. Basically it's a nice assortment of marbles made mostly outside the U.S. The first pic in the gallery looks American. Post-2000 Marble King Rainbos with an acid wash to make them frosty. As I said a nice assortment follows, including at least a couple I haven't seen before but which I have to assume are modern. It's always cool to see unusual ones from outside the U.S. The two which stood out to me as good chance of being vintage were #2 and #3 in this photo: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted November 21, 2015 Report Share Posted November 21, 2015 As to value, they don't have substantial monetary value. So you have leeway in collecting them for sentimental reasons or giving them to children who would appreciate them. In years to come they could become more collectable. But mostly these are for standard enjoyment -- looking at or playing a game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted November 21, 2015 Report Share Posted November 21, 2015 This style is a "cat eye". Are you familiar with that term? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted November 21, 2015 Report Share Posted November 21, 2015 These look like Vacors, made after 2000. Vacor is a company in Mexico. (The company has a new name now -- Fabricas Selectas -- but Vacor is easier to remember.) The style name was Spaghetti. Vacor Spaghettis -- nice name, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarash29 Posted November 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 I'll go check those out now. Here's a link for anyone else who wants to join in: Sara's Gallery Thankyou for the link Well, they're almost all modern marbles. Might be one or two which could be id-ed as vintage. By modern we mean made in 1970 or later. Many were made since 2000. Basically it's a nice assortment of marbles made mostly outside the U.S. The first pic in the gallery looks American. Post-2000 Marble King Rainbos with an acid wash to make them frosty. As I said a nice assortment follows, including at least a couple I haven't seen before but which I have to assume are modern. It's always cool to see unusual ones from outside the U.S. The two which stood out to me as good chance of being vintage were #2 and #3 in this photo: I figured the frosty ones were modern - they look very "perfect". I'll take better photos of those 2 later then- I expect most will be from 1980's-2005 made in Aust. This style is a "cat eye". Are you familiar with that term? I remember the term from when I used to play- there are ones with only one line up to 6 (star/flower?) - do you label them by colour or number of lines etc? These look like Vacors, made after 2000. Vacor is a company in Mexico. (The company has a new name now -- Fabricas Selectas -- but Vacor is easier to remember.) The style name was Spaghetti. Vacor Spaghettis -- nice name, eh? Hehe these looked modern too but prob my favourite- one has a bubble right in the middle that looks like it's being held by the swirl LOL. Im trying to add a few photos using the attachment function here but it is saying it's an illegal link? I was just copying the url from the photo when viewing it in the gallery :/ For now I'll just put the name so if you have time later I'd appreciate if you could try to see which ones I am tal;king about (from my gallery): I was curious about the "9" swirl finish on #3 in this pic as I was told that was normally done by a particular company? 20151120-174142 Also these (and a few others) are really wonky - does that indicate handmade or just cheap offcuts? 20151120-172957 Some of them I found similar ones with a main difference- eg this one looked similar but on close inspection one has a definite pontil crease and different glaze and the other looks "perfect" - would one be a reproduction of the other or just different technique? 20151120-172934 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 I'm not aware of an Australian company which manufactured toy marbles. (I'm pretty sure there were marble machines in Australia, but I think they were used for industrial purposes -- like for the marbles which sometimes were used as bottle stoppers.) Cat's eyes are generally first ID-ed as U.S. or not U.S. Some of the Asian ones with six or more vanes are collectible ... if the vanes have a particular uncommon pattern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 I was curious about the "9" swirl finish on #3 in this pic as I was told that was normally done by a particular company? 20151120-174142 #3? Do you mean the third from the right? Ooops ... when I described marbles as #2 and #3 above, I was counting from the left. Well, on #3 from the right, I see why you would think of the "9" which is often described as desirable. However, the 9's of the the M. F. Christensen company, for example, come from the marble being hand-gathered and clipped in a way which created a tail which circled around the marble. All the marbles in this photo are machine-made. No hand-gathering stage. So the little swirl is coincidental. Also these (and a few others) are really wonky - does that indicate handmade or just cheap offcuts? 20151120-172957 These are "cold rolls". Errors. From the glass cooling off to quickly for the marble to be completely rounded on the rollers. Some of them I found similar ones with a main difference- eg this one looked similar but on close inspection one has a definite pontil crease and different glaze and the other looks "perfect" - would one be a reproduction of the other or just different technique? 20151120-172934 The creases are "seams" or "cutlines", not "pontils". The term "pontil" is generally reserved for a marble which is hand-made or at least hand-gathered. Sometimes the seams are more pronounced. Some marbles smooth out more on the rollers than others. These are machine-made. With the solid colors they're considered game marbles, and have been made by many many companies for many many years. If that is a pearlized finish I'm seeing on them, that just means they were made recently. No reproduction. Just something modern marble makers do to catch our eyes. I don't know what the method is for putting that finish on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 If you want to highlight more pictures, copy and paste the whole URL. Please. Took a long time to figure out which ones had those numbers on the end of their address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarash29 Posted November 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 #3? Do you mean the third from the right? Ooops ... when I described marbles as #2 and #3 above, I was counting from the left. Well, on #3 from the right, I see why you would think of the "9" which is often described as desirable. However, the 9's of the the M. F. Christensen company, for example, come from the marble being hand-gathered and clipped in a way which created a tail which circled around the marble. All the marbles in this photo are machine-made. No hand-gathering stage. So the little swirl is coincidental. These are "cold rolls". Errors. From the glass cooling off to quickly for the marble to be completely rounded on the rollers. The creases are "seams" or "cutlines", not "pontils". The term "pontil" is generally reserved for a marble which is hand-made or at least hand-gathered. Sometimes the seams are more pronounced. Some marbles smooth out more on the rollers than others. These are machine-made. With the solid colors they're considered game marbles, and have been made by many many companies for many many years. If that is a pearlized finish I'm seeing on them, that just means they were made recently. No reproduction. Just something modern marble makers do to catch our eyes. I don't know what the method is for putting that finish on. I did the whole URL from the address bar eg http://marbleconnection.com/gallery/image/6008-20151120-165146/but it wouldnt allow it. It says "You are not allowed to use that image extension on this community." Even without the "/" at the end. I'm going to try to upload then get it from my website instead. I meant the yellow/clear one - here's a better quality one: (http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/12279146_970995726269354_3163841649203631240_n.jpg) The blue ones are both different- the left one is all smooth, the right one has the crease (in the glass not the glaze) at opposite poles. Do machine made ones still have the obvious folded, pushed or twisted poles, or is that only present in hand rolled ones?Or just a result of cold rolling like the other flawed ones, but not so bad? (http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/20151120_172934.jpg) These have creases too (http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/20151120_173556.jpg, http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/12243534_970995636269363_8655691199827795603_n.jpg, http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/20151120_164406.jpg, http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/20151120_164814.jpg) This shows the different textured glaze on some. Left is smooth, right is rough. (http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/20151120_170742.jpg) This is the possibly antique one? (http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/11986413_970995582936035_6572766223558803870_n.jpg, http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/12240216_970995559602704_7406682016239728000_o.jpg, , http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/12247038_970995496269377_7842976523359527154_n.jpg, http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/12289626_970995542936039_1760879460586052380_n.jpg, http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/12291176_970995476269379_8727745224259641019_o.jpg) And this one- I think its just a spaghetti though? (http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/11988686_970996569602603_735784617726293526_n.jpg, http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/12250037_970996586269268_7976575928278512339_n.jpg) This is the spag with the bubble that I love (http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/12246778_970995659602694_3070935887284336396_n.jpg, http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/12289701_970995682936025_2606104564804082651_n.jpg) This is the flower cat eyes (http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/12241305_970995706269356_2794795243509729120_n.jpg, http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/20151120_170842.jpg, http://www.minifigden.com.au/marbles/12295508_970995616269365_1682407582041449589_n.jpg) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstmmrbls Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 tHey all look Mexican (vacor) or Asian to me?. The 9 is just incidental and not a result of hand gathering. The one with blue stripes end to end is a ? Maybe give the marbles a number or something if posting them like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 This is an example of a cold roll (as are many of the other creases you show). This one is probably from one spot getting hung up and the rest of the marble twisting away. Then when the stuck spot got loose it was cooled of and couldn't get completely smoothed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 The marble on the right here has orange peel. That is accidental. We've been discussing the causes recently. I don't see the finish on the marble on the left, but because of what I see inside, I suppose it has an iridescent finish. This marble would be a Vacor Flama. Or Vacor Flame. Some marbles get an iridescent (pearlized) finish. Some marbles get a frosty finish. Those are done on purpose. For fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 The Spaghettis and "flower cat eyes" are pretty. Yes, the blue is Spaghetti. Sometimes you can see big bubbles in Vacors ... I wonder if they put them there on purpose ... don't know if they can do it on purpose. But they get in there somehow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 Yes, this is one I thought possibly vintage. It looks a bit like a Peltier Rainbo in this view, but I don't 100% recognize it. So ... it's interesting ..... In other views it looks more like a different style. Like a Master Sunburst. Just ..... different ...... and cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 tHey all look Mexican (vacor) or Asian to me?. The 9 is just incidental and not a result of hand gathering. The one with blue stripes end to end is a ? Maybe give the marbles a number or something if posting them like this. Galen is right about the marbles needed some sort of numbering system. But better yet, start a new thread for new questions. Just a couple of marbles per thread. It was good to see all your marbles at once to get an overview. Now if we want to get into the nitty gritty, a new thread for new questions will cut down on confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarash29 Posted November 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 Thankyou everyone for your help. I will break them down into individual posts now that I know what to look for, but we just had a death and are busy dealing with it so wont be for a while- but I do appreciate the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 Condolences to your family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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