Risking scratches for more marble joy, or, The Zen of Marble Collecting

[bumblebee]

Recently I took several small bags of my better machine made marbles and combined them all into a cigar box, sort of out of frustration for a lack of display options.

It made me realize just how much I enjoy rummaging through my marbles and rediscovering them in a box like this, compared to when they are all neatly laid out on a solitaire board, for example. Plus I can fit so many more this way that otherwise are hidden away in keeper trays or small baggies in my closet.

Indeed, this feels more natural and more like how I remember enjoying marbles as a child. It also reminds me of that thrill of picking through a new lot found in the wild.

Of course the risk here--perhaps a sacrilege to some--is that I am inviting the accumulation of micro scratches and even the occasional ding by doing this. As collectors we know the minor miracle that is a vintage marble that survived in mint condition.

But do I really care at this stage in my life? These are marbles I might be able to sell for $1 to $15 each, but probably most in lower range. My children have no interest in them and certainly won't cry over scratchier marbles when they are dealing with dad's marble hoard some day.

Sure, I do have some killer keepers that will stay in my nice brag boxes, but why am I not relaxing and letting down my guard on the mint cheaper marbles so that I can enjoy them more?

Has anyone else loosened up in a similar way in order to enjoy their collection more?

[Marbleized]

21 minutes ago, bumblebee said:

Recently I took several small bags of my better machine made marbles and combined them all into a cigar box, sort of out of frustration for a lack of display options.

It made me realize just how much I enjoy rummaging through my marbles and rediscovering them in a box like this, compared to when they are all neatly laid out on a solitaire board, for example. Plus I can fit so many more this way that otherwise are hidden away in keeper trays or small baggies in my closet.

Indeed, this feels more natural and more like how I remember enjoying marbles as a child. It also reminds me of that thrill of picking through a new lot found in the wild.

Of course the risk here--perhaps a sacrilege to some--is that I am inviting the accumulation of micro scratches and even the occasional ding by doing this. As collectors we know the minor miracle that is a vintage marble that survived in mint condition.

But do I really care at this stage in my life? These are marbles I might be able to sell for $1 to $15 each, but probably most in lower range. My children have no interest in them and certainly won't cry over scratchier marbles when they are dealing with dad's marble hoard some day.

Sure, I do have some killer keepers that will stay in my nice brag boxes, but why am I not relaxing and letting down my guard on the mint cheaper marbles so that I can enjoy them more?

Has anyone else loosened up in a similar way in order to enjoy their collection more?

As I go between buying jars and buying individual marbles on eBay I am constantly wondering what is more important to me, acquiring a stellar collection or enjoying the beautiful surprises, though not perfect, from a jar. Today, I was looking at my individually bagged mint and near mint marbles sitting next to a tray of dinged and played with marbles and, to be honest, seeing the colors and shine of the imperfect marbles in the tray made me appreciate them more. (I also can't bring myself to buying marbles worth anything in the hundreds, btw.) LOL! For myself, I will be happy with a collection of marbles that are not perfect and are in played with condition, but have great color and pattern, or maybe are examples of marbles that are unique to a maker (like a less than perfect rootbeer float) , or maybe provide a springboard for conversations/ discussions with a fellow collectors or someone who just wonders why I even collect marbles. I am happy with admiring everyone else's exemplary and extensive marble collections and learning about these from seasoned long-time collectors. My husband told me that I should label and price my marbles so that when I'm gone someone can sell my collection for what it's worth. My first question was, "Why, do you know something I don't?" LOL. Then I said, that wouldn't be my problem. Hahaha! To each his/her own. 

[Berryb]

All I know is; picking thru a pile of mibs makes me truly happy, even if none make it to the display (that is usually the case). I spend more time in my halfway house (mibs that are too cool for the junk jar, but not good enough to show off), than I do in my display case. Thanks

Bruce

[Fire1981]

I flat out don’t have many mint marbles. I lucked out on the early Ebay days as a Bottom Feeder. I have great examples of marbles but maybe just from one or two sides. My other interest is sports cards. I collect the most beat to cr@p cards of legendary players who’s mint cards are in the 3-4 figure range. I have some that were obviously ‘buzzers” from days of running them through the spokes on the front tire of your bike like I did when I was a kid. As long as they’re out and I can see them then condition doesn’t matter 🔥

[Marbleized]

Yeah, they are still beautiful, which is why I need to get them out of their bags and into some sort of display. 👍

[William]

6 hours ago, Fire1981 said:

I flat out don’t have many mint marbles. I lucked out on the early Ebay days as a Bottom Feeder. I have great examples of marbles but maybe just from one or two sides. My other interest is sports cards. I collect the most beat to cr@p cards of legendary players who’s mint cards are in the 3-4 figure range. I have some that were obviously ‘buzzers” from days of running them through the spokes on the front tire of your bike like I did when I was a kid. As long as they’re out and I can see them then condition doesn’t matter 🔥

Sports cards...not to get this thread off track (apologies!), but are you still at it? And just guessing, because a number is tough when one still has a bunch, what do you have left? 

I collected from the early-mid nineties until maybe 2018. Mostly football is what I have left with a smattering of baseball, basketball and nascar. Still have literally thousands here.

[Fuzzy Chubbs]

As a Pokémon card collector, I have to admit my admiration for condition.  I try my best to isolate the mibs I notice are still rather wet/Mint or those I specifically want to defend from further damage. A habit I likely won’t break tbh. 
 

That said, I still love putting a dozen+ marbles on a cloth and rolling them around. Mmmmmmm that clink sound 
 

I’m curious, has there ever been any sort of “grading” company for marbles? Official or unofficial 
 

I have a few Pokémon cards that have been slabbed and graded by PSA, and tbh I kinda don’t like them (bought them graded, did not send them in myself). It’s cool knowing that the card is protected, but it feels more distant.  I think the majority of card collectors nowadays are grading just to increase/retain value, which I understand is a logical reason but makes the hobby less fun IMO. 

[William]

1 hour ago, Fuzzy Chubbs said:

As a Pokémon card collector, I have to admit my admiration for condition.  I try my best to isolate the mibs I notice are still rather wet/Mint or those I specifically want to defend from further damage. A habit I likely won’t break tbh. 
 

That said, I still love putting a dozen+ marbles on a cloth and rolling them around. Mmmmmmm that clink sound 
 

I’m curious, has there ever been any sort of “grading” company for marbles? Official or unofficial 
 

I have a few Pokémon cards that have been slabbed and graded by PSA, and tbh I kinda don’t like them (bought them graded, did not send them in myself). It’s cool knowing that the card is protected, but it feels more distant.  I think the majority of card collectors nowadays are grading just to increase/retain value, which I understand is a logical reason but makes the hobby less fun IMO. 

I remember way back when card grading services first came into existence. I considered it but ultimately decided against sending any of my cards in for fear of the ole "switcheroo" scenario.

I've only owned 1 Graded card over all these years and that was a Gem Mint 10 Adrian Peterson RC, which I recieved from a vendor by trade. I have since traded it away. 

Grading overall? I can live without it, and have chosen to. I have never heard of a marble grading company, or of anyone who would be considered a "professional" grader. I would stick with and prefer the experienced opinions of my peers here at MarbleConnection standing in as my unofficial "grader's". These folks are some of the best in the collecting business.

IMHO, I think grading would have and does have it's upsides and downsides. And I'm sure that the opinions will vary on that. Great subject of discussion....

Myself, I also have very few mibs that would be considered "excellent" or "mint". I simply just enjoy them. Love the thrill of the chase when it comes to searching antique malls, etc. Would rather do that then buy online. Not saying I never would purchase online, I just prefer the old fashioned way 😊

[bumblebee]

In the next episode of The Zen of Marble Collecting, our initiate decides to take his precious mint slags he found in the wild over 15 years and remove them from their isolated storage area. He will then (or will he?) put them all in a container together.

Stay tuned!

 

[William]

Just now, bumblebee said:

In the next episode of The Zen of Marble Collecting, our initiate decides to take his precious mint slags he found in the wild over 15 years and remove them from their isolated storage area. He will then (or will he?) put them all in a container together.

Stay tuned!

 

Oh boy...😬

[Fuzzy Chubbs]

1 hour ago, William said:

Love the thrill of the chase when it comes to searching antique malls, etc. Would rather do that then buy online. Not saying I never would purchase online, I just prefer the old fashioned way 😊

Fully agree William. While I’ve only gone hunting for marbles in person twice with a single Pelt Rainbo being the spoils, I enjoy it much more than searching lots on online. But of course, to each their own!

I bet that AP rookie is sweet!! My father grew up in Wisconsin, so we would search out Packers - Favre, Jennings, Freeman were our big hits at the time. I also had/have a binder dedicated to Tiger Woods, kinda want to go dig that out.

I’ve never been a fan of baseball, so my favorite MLB cards were the players that had dirt stains from sliding, bc I thought they looked like “skid marks” 😅 The more it looked like a true “accident”, the more I liked it.

Sorry for getting off topic - I care for condition but it is not paramount 

[Marbleized]

6 minutes ago, bumblebee said:

In the next episode of The Zen of Marble Collecting, our initiate decides to take his precious mint slags he found in the wild over 15 years and remove them from their isolated storage area. He will then (or will he?) put them all in a container together.

Stay tuned!

 

LOL!

[wvrons]

Never any grading company, official, licensed or unofficial.  Very difficult job and for no money, no profit for it.  Same as licensed marbles appraiser. I checked into that. To much school, records, documentation, insurance and legal battles. If your marbles are stolen or burn up, good luck. The high odds are your insurance will not pay you anything for the loss of the marbles. Because there is no way to get a official licensed appraisal for marbles. No one has a verified data base over years of sales from different sources for marbles.  

[bumblebee]

Today I put most of my oddball and random keepers that were formerly in plastic show-off trays into this wooden snack bowl(?). The round area containing Vitro Tiger Eyes is temporary because I don't think it does justice to them, so I will likely replace them with slags or benningtons.

Combining so many mint-range marbles like this required going outside my comforting zone, but it feels liberating and far more practical than their prior storage methods.

The fun part here is I can dig through and "rediscover" these marbles any time I wish by just scooping my hand in, whereas before they were scattered across stacks of show-off trays. The bowl is about two inches deep so it holds a lot. Over time I'm sure I'll pick out a few and put into separate groupings.

The human eye loves patterns and groupings of designs and colors so my bowl here is rather chaotic to the eye, but this works for me because many of these marbles are oddballs and one-offs.

Going forward I will be grouping my like marbles together. As most of you know, some marbles just require a little more real estate to appreciate their surfaces, so I will likely be doing "flats" of single layers of these types. The ones that come to mind for me are Peltier Rainbos, Akro Corks, Master Sunbursts, Vitro Tiger Eyes and Hybrid cats.

I am going to pick up a jewelry box today for more storage options, so stay tuned for more updates on this series about breaking the shackles of mint marble storage in order to find more joy in one's collection. 🤣

 

[mibcapper]

On 5/19/2022 at 9:13 PM, wvrons said:

Never any grading company, official, licensed or unofficial.  Very difficult job and for no money, no profit for it.  Same as licensed marbles appraiser. I checked into that. To much school, records, documentation, insurance and legal battles. If your marbles are stolen or burn up, good luck. The high odds are your insurance will not pay you anything for the loss of the marbles. Because there is no way to get a official licensed appraisal for marbles. No one has a verified data base over years of sales from different sources for marbles.  

my loss years ago ron was only covered with ins. in that i had pictures of the marbles and sales receipts for them. no have ... gud luk .... bill

[akroorka]

2 hours ago, bumblebee said:

Today I put most of my oddball and random keepers

I have never had enough room to display what I have. Here is a good ramble regarding marble collecting. I have collected most of my life—all things old and cool.
 Marbles are the thing!
 Plastic coffee cans have been the best way to keep the ones that I know are nice, glass vs. glass does not mean damage. I bag the ones that deserve more attention, just because. Too many marbles---no way!!
Plastic 5 gallon buckets are where the rest go---I have too many of these buckets that deserve another look. Armageddon may happen—but I still have plenty to search (what a better way to end life as we know it🙂). I know that the ones that I keep are all mint—even Near Mint went into the buckets—that is just the way that I have collected over the years.
Last year I took a bucket of what I considered to be “discards” from many years ago to fill a gold fish tank in the basement (winter freeze—pond fish) and ended up keeping most of them aside. I will never forget my wife selling jars of these without my knowledge at a rummage sale---oh well, we are still together—LOL🤪.
I know me better than most✌️—I collect Akro Agate and keep a few Pelts and others aside—always have—there are some nice bucketfuls of others that need attention---some-day—lol.
This hobby/addiction will be around for many years to come. We all have one thing in common—the end of life. The marbles that we all have will always be there for the next generation. 
RIP🧡 to all of the collectors that have passed on to the next level in the last 5, 10, 20, 30-40 years. We have not seen one half of what they have collected.—we will though, sooner or later.
Arrowheads vs. marbles will they be the same 1,000 years from now—I do not doubt it.
Marble—On!!
 

[bumblebee]

2 hours ago, akroorka said:

I have never had enough room to display what I have. Here is a good ramble regarding marble collecting. I have collected most of my life—all things old and cool.
 Marbles are the thing!
 Plastic coffee cans have been the best way to keep the ones that I know are nice, glass vs. glass does not mean damage. I bag the ones that deserve more attention, just because. Too many marbles---no way!!
Plastic 5 gallon buckets are where the rest go---I have too many of these buckets that deserve another look. Armageddon may happen—but I still have plenty to search (what a better way to end life as we know it🙂). I know that the ones that I keep are all mint—even Near Mint went into the buckets—that is just the way that I have collected over the years.
Last year I took a bucket of what I considered to be “discards” from many years ago to fill a gold fish tank in the basement (winter freeze—pond fish) and ended up keeping most of them aside. I will never forget my wife selling jars of these without my knowledge at a rummage sale---oh well, we are still together—LOL🤪.
I know me better than most✌️—I collect Akro Agate and keep a few Pelts and others aside—always have—there are some nice bucketfuls of others that need attention---some-day—lol.
This hobby/addiction will be around for many years to come. We all have one thing in common—the end of life. The marbles that we all have will always be there for the next generation. 
RIP🧡 to all of the collectors that have passed on to the next level in the last 5, 10, 20, 30-40 years. We have not seen one half of what they have collected.—we will though, sooner or later.
Arrowheads vs. marbles will they be the same 1,000 years from now—I do not doubt it.
Marble—On!!
 

Here! Here!

Well spoken.

I really like that realization that glass marbles--if kept safe--can last 1000 years or more.

My ex never sold my marbles but I am pretty sure she or my children dropped a number of them out of a brag box once because one day I realized they all had one major ding on them, and this happened in our garage with the concrete floor, but I never launched an investigation. I still wince at that damage to some of those.

Naturally my modest effort today to populate the new jewelry box has turned into a scattered field of marble chaos that will take days to clean up.

[akroorka]

Hmmm, another garage disaster---
Blame it on the dog--or cat--Chipmunk’s maybe—
Raccoons are notorious for screwing things up, blaming it on the dog/cat/wife/kids and of course playing with marbles.
I vote Raccoons. Raccoons love marbles.
(I am 1/4 Raccoon, so I know)
Marble—On!!
 

[bumblebee]

I'm now sourcing jewelry boxes to condense my collection into one maker per box. For example, testing one out with some Vitro and WV swirls:

Now I'm seriously considering this $30 two-layer box on eBay.

My goal is to retire the plastic show-off trays. Obviously these are not ideal when moving or shipping the marbles but for static storage I really like this approach.

[Marbleized]

Hmmm, I see a new collection of jewelry boxes in your future.😉😎

[akroorka]

Jewelry boxes –Yes. 
You can find some pretty nice ones that are worth collecting in themselves.
I keep my Vacor Atmosphere’s in this one---A hand-made box for some hand-made marbles—very nice. 
There are some nice mass market boxes as well. I get them when they meet my eye.
There are plenty of foam products made if you do not want them rolling into each other. It may come to that some day with Atmospheres and me---I doubt it though.
The hand-made boxes are well worth storing any marble that you may collect---less dusting too.
Marble—On!!!
 

[Tommy]

Ahhhhh Don't scratch em.....  I got allot of scratchy mibs.....I'll trade the mint no scratchy mibs for my scratchy ones 

lol...just throwing that out there.   😁

 

 

[Marbleized]

So Bumblebee got me thinking about the tactile importance of marble collecting. I bought an old drawer and dumped in it a bunch of random marbles that I had planned to identify in the near future with some other marbles that I decided to take out of bags, and Jabos and Cat Eyes. Now it is the center piece of our dining table. (Bless my husband's heart for letting me do this! We will see how long he will tolerate it. LOL!) That way, when I'm just sitting at the dining table with time on my hands, I can just dig in and choose a marble to ID. Or when company comes they will probably be more apt to ask me a question about marbles. It will be somewhat of the elephant in the room. 

[bumblebee]

On 5/26/2022 at 5:34 PM, Marbleized said:

So Bumblebee got me thinking about the tactile importance of marble collecting. I bought an old drawer and dumped in it a bunch of random marbles that I had planned to identify in the near future with some other marbles that I decided to take out of bags, and Jabos and Cat Eyes. Now it is the center piece of our dining table. (Bless my husband's heart for letting me do this! We will see how long he will tolerate it. LOL!) That way, when I'm just sitting at the dining table with time on my hands, I can just dig in and choose a marble to ID. Or when company comes they will probably be more apt to ask me a question about marbles. It will be somewhat of the elephant in the room. 

 

I like that idea! I know my ex would not have tolerated that. Stirring through a bin like that in good light should put a smile on any collector's face.

Meanwhile, I finally have settled on a strategy for my wooden jewelry box after trying to put several different makers in it. Turns out its bright felt liner doesn't work well with most opaque marbles, but it shines with cat-eyes and similar marbles with lots of clear glass. Now I just need to find an overhead light to stick under the shelf above it so I can really get the lights bouncing through these.

Edit: Note that the top drawer marbles were formerly all stashed away in show-off trays not touching each other, and now they look much better together.

[Tommy]

That really does look nice👍