Jump to content

Tom Sawyer marbles


Spherophile

Recommended Posts

I’m getting ready to sell my Tom Sawyer marble bag, and was hoping to identify the marbles in it. I know these bags are rare, although I’ve seen a couple people mention that they may have Vitro marbles. 
 

Is it possible to identify them through the well-worn bag? Thank you in advance!

 

5A0F3B18-3DDA-476A-AFF6-283B5DBD540A.jpeg

3B8CF57B-1FA4-4543-A531-20DADEE0F92A.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

The first bag has a couple Vitro Type Two Tiger Eyes. The Type Two Tigers Eyes are the more sought after Tiger eyes. Type One = about $0.25 to $0.50 .  Type Two = $10.00 to $15.00. 

Type Three = $0.50 to $0.75 . Type Four $1.00 to $3.00.   So the first bag may be worth $30.00-$35.00 because of the two Type Two Tiger Eyes. If they see the Type Two Tiger Eyes ?  The bag just above which has Type One Tiger Eyes,  usually sells for $15.00 to $20.00.  This is normal marble show prices to collectors. Ebay prices are unpredictable, some may be much lower or some may be much higher ?  You can also find Tom Sawyer mesh bags with Vitro marbles. Don't confuse the plastic bag prices with older more rare mesh bags. Those are lots more money. I will take and post a picture of a Tom Sawyer mesh bag with Vitro marbles.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tom Sawyer mesh bag with Vitro marbles. This bag of marbles came with a paddle ball toy. For those old enough who know what paddle ball was. The marbles were a give away free to get people to buy the paddle ball toy. Plus Tom Sawyer got their advertisement in front of the kids. Vitro sold their marbles, Tom Sawyer got advertisement, some one had the patent for and supplied the bags, and a toy company sold their toy.  Sadly the wood paddle is missing.  The mesh bag is worth $150.00-$200.00. With the complete paddle ball kit, it would be $300.00 .   

Free marbles back then. Soda bottle hangers had free marbles. A gas service station, a Esso near me in the early 1950's had a short drum between the gas pumps. When someone got a complete fill up, the children were allowed to get a hand full of Marble KIng marbles free. This was all over the country. The drums were red white and blue with Marble King logo on them.  These drums are very rare now. Buy a new pair of Buster Brown shoes and get free bag of marbles.  Marbles were free.  Companies bought the marbles to help sell their products. Marbles that now cost $100.00 each, many were free 60- 70 years ago.  We forget that they were VERY cheap to make and sold cheap as kids toys. 

Mesh bags $150.00- $200.00

Plastic bags $15.00- $30.00  

DSC01712.JPG.df27b253f22fb659f79c20faf32f7481.JPGDSC01715.JPG.30ac75f557245a2909d8e63ebcd16b2d.JPGDSC01713.JPG.455c89ede73e9135064216e268a138d5.JPGDSC01714.JPG.849308158001a096fb4486912e3c7739.JPG

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, wvrons said:

For those old enough who know what paddle ball was.

I flash back to getting hit in the eye by the ball using one of those terror toys😁

Did the paddle have the Tom Sawyer markings as well?

Cool stuff Ron,

Marble--On!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, akroorka said:

I flash back to getting hit in the eye by the ball using one of those terror toys😁

Did the paddle have the Tom Sawyer markings as well?

Cool stuff Ron,

Marble--On!!

I do recall that it was harder than it looked and that the trick was to really give the ball a whack. lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is Tiger's Eye but it's a mineral (stone) sphere, not glass, so not a Christensen Agate. The smaller poly Tom Sawyer bags contain Vitro Tiger Eye marbles. The Master marble company also made a marble called a Tiger Eye. And yes, it can all be a bit confusing. 🙂

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...