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ID Help - Vitro?

BENgineer

By BENgineer
in Marble I.D.'s

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BENgineer Contributor

BENgineer

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17 minutes ago, Ric said:

Type I Vitro Tiger Eye with whacky ribbons - imagine pressing the orange and yellow up toward the purple patch so you have a white patch on the bottom . . .

image.thumb.png.41565547422aada90b02bd6f27777f54.png

I was going to say it doesn't look like a white pole since it's so small. This is why it's so hard for me to grasp the IDs lol. Then again I'm less than a week into them

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Carowill Grand Master

Carowill

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Just now, BENgineer said:

What do you recommend to measure? I think it can switch between inches and mm. I haven't found it yet, though.

Most calipers will do both.  Mine has a small button to push for either mm or inches.  A 0.625 inch marble normally would be reported as a 5/8” marble.  However, it is not a really big deal, although some threads in the past have denoted that fractions are highly preferred.

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BENgineer Contributor

BENgineer

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6 minutes ago, Carowill said:

Most calipers will do both.  Mine has a small button to push for either mm or inches.  A 0.625 inch marble normally would be reported as a 5/8” marble.  However, it is not a really big deal, although some threads in the past have denoted that fractions are highly preferred.

Got it! Thanks for the info. Have a notebook going to help me 

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Jeff54 Experienced

Jeff54

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7 hours ago, BENgineer said:

Thanks! Starting to get a feel for certain types. Can't wait until I can easily identify them.

Don't hold your breath. Obviously, your grandfather has been collecting, long time. For many marble collectors you have an instant jackpot! Jars, jugs, bags and boxes of unsorted marbles since who knows when he first started filling those miscellaneous containers? Picked up at yard sales, flea markets etc. when?

Got seat belts? Buckle up! 🥴

Machine made marbles, no exaggeration, are of the most difficult types of collectibles there is. 

The old and antique Cane-cut German's have a learning curb and gets easier. Contemporary not signed, or a known mark people can recognize; troublesome. Game, Chinese checker or solid you can push aside for later but, you'll need to learn some tough tricks as you may have some tricky ones too. Clear or completely transparent 1 color, for the most, made after circa 1925-1928, along with C-Checker marbles, not popular, hardly collectible if at all, unless pre circa 1925-8, hand gathered. Albeit, when I played as a kid, late 50-mid 60's A shooter ruby red Cleary, (I believe only Peltier made the best) was tops on kid's minds, today? junk. 🤪 

This is nowhere close to coin collecting, stamps, cars, toys U name it. The machine-made marbles can have values into a couple of grand, a few maybe more, or zip, zero, nada, sling shot fodder. 

You've got your hands full and probably make your grand-pop proud, especially if you 'Knuckle down', in more ways than one, while at it. . 😉

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chicagocyclist Mentor

chicagocyclist

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10 hours ago, Jeff54 said:

Don't hold your breath. Obviously, your grandfather has been collecting, long time. For many marble collectors you have an instant jackpot! Jars, jugs, bags and boxes of unsorted marbles since who knows when he first started filling those miscellaneous containers? Picked up at yard sales, flea markets etc. when?

Got seat belts? Buckle up! 🥴

Machine made marbles, no exaggeration, are of the most difficult types of collectibles there is. 

The old and antique Cane-cut German's have a learning curb and gets easier. Contemporary not signed, or a known mark people can recognize; troublesome. Game, Chinese checker or solid you can push aside for later but, you'll need to learn some tough tricks as you may have some tricky ones too. Clear or completely transparent 1 color, for the most, made after circa 1925-1928, along with C-Checker marbles, not popular, hardly collectible if at all, unless pre circa 1925-8, hand gathered. Albeit, when I played as a kid, late 50-mid 60's A shooter ruby red Cleary, (I believe only Peltier made the best) was tops on kid's minds, today? junk. 🤪 

This is nowhere close to coin collecting, stamps, cars, toys U name it. The machine-made marbles can have values into a couple of grand, a few maybe more, or zip, zero, nada, sling shot fodder. 

You've got your hands full and probably make your grand-pop proud, especially if you 'Knuckle down', in more ways than one, while at it. . 😉

You have really said this well, Jeff54.  I have collected dozens of categories and things over the years and those are all manufactured, as well.  But the manufacturer's tolerances and the volumes that were produced are significantly different than what you see with marbles.  Marbles were made by the millions and millions, by machines at 250 a minute  24 hours a day, 7 days a week by machines lined in a row, factory after factory, poured out in stunning numbers. I read a wonderful little story of a girl in Sistersville, West Virginia, I believe, who would go to sleep at night and hearing the distant sound of the marble making machines just outside of town!

Then to ship them out, some filled up box cars.  Train box cars!  Full train box cars of marbles!  Master Marble used a million marbles just to create their exhibit at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago!!!

It is an uncommon work situation that even your boss walking up to you and talking to you for 10 or 15 minutes about something, could cause the output of the machine that your monitoring to go wonky enough to create thousands of marbles that don't look like what they're supposed to.  Then you turn back to the machine and go, "I got to fix this", and you fix it and you just move on.   But thousands of marbles were made out of spec for the design but are good enough to pass inspection and off they go!  And then, one single one of those ends up in someone's hands 60 years later, it can be quite confusing!

They were pennies to purchase, to be just children's toys that were thought of so low that mothers threw them away by the millions when the kids moved out!!

I don't think very many people that are starting to collect marbles understand the volume that were manufactured or the variances that can occur.  I know I didn't!!!!!

I swear, the more I learn, the less I know.  Things I could identify quickly and easily 4 months ago I can't seem to recognize today even with a name tag hanging around their neck!  However it's just fun and interesting and exciting and the variance is part of the magic because the range and variance of beauty and art and fabulous things for the eyes is what you don't get in other collecting!!

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BENgineer Contributor

BENgineer

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Yes, I am just trying to go one by one and identify them and I feel like once I have a few of each type I will be able to reference those to ID others. There's definitely a lot to learn and will take a great deal of time. I have so many of what seems to be endless types to go through. Slowly but surely I will go through each and every one and build my own database to reference. I've already ordered a book to help learn more and have referenced several other sites to help me.

 

I spent a few hours researching online and watching videos to just ID the Vitro Exotic Conqueror I posted on the general chat. I'm basically putting all like marbles together as I go jar by jar and trying to ID each one - putting all cats eyes together, all opaque solids together, all translucent together, etc.. Then I will later circle back to those and ID them for maker/type. I even found what seem to be wood marbles. Of course maybe 10 jars of clays/Bennington looking marbles also. Even if no value, I'm enjoying taking the time to hold and look at each one as I learn. 

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