OCSFA86 Posted September 20, 2022 Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 Folks: How do you grade a vintage out-of-round marble that is otherwise mint? Opinions? Reputable Ebay dealers always inform potential bidders of these defects, but a great deal of sellers treat out-of-round examples as "Mint" or make no mention in their listings. The reason for asking is the flood of out-of-round MFC slags being sold on Ebay. It's like someone took all the culled slags produced and by-passed the dump site. This may have already been address and I know I am late to the party but would like a current understanding on acceptable grading. Thanks, Bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted September 20, 2022 Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 An out-of-round marble needs to be clearly identified as such, regardless of surface condition. Ditto for sub-surface fractures. Anything less is not ethical and attempts to take advantage of the buyer to the seller's benefit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSFA86 Posted September 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 Agreed, full disclosure on condition. In a recent listing I questioned the sellers about the number of out-of-round MFC slags present and his response was that he was just dumping out bags of marbles from a large collection without inspecting them. To his defense he made no claim of condition in the listing, letting the pics speak for themselves. I reach back out to him asking if he would be putting together hand selected group for sale. His response was that he didn't have the knowledge base to identify marbles properly. This seems curiously misleading as a quick review of his feedback from prior sales indicates otherwise. What is even more interesting is the source of the slags. Over the years we have all become accustom with dug marbles, they have produced some of the most spectacular examples, most showed signs of imbedded particles or other imperfections. The MFC slag show no wear, no damage whatsoever other than being out-of-round. As if they were culled from the production line and never made it to the dump site. Their source is puzzling. These marbles have filtered far beyond the original listings as re-seller buy them up and re-list them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted September 20, 2022 Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 52 minutes ago, OCSFA86 said: I questioned the sellers about the number of out-of-round MFC slags present and his response was that he was just dumping out bags of marbles from a large collection without inspecting them. Thats just tap dancing around the issue. Not unlike the well-worn "I don't know anything about marbles" to explain inaccurate listings. They are just excuses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akroorka Posted September 20, 2022 Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 16 hours ago, OCSFA86 said: How do you grade a vintage out-of-round marble that is otherwise mint? Opinions? It is a simple question with a difficult answer. "Out of round" should be applied during a sale to a certain extent. "Slightly out of round" can apply to a lot of marbles, especially the ones in question in the OP. Expecting any seller to measure all of the marbles they sell is just not going to happen. Individual ones for a hefty price is a different thing. Individual marbles that start at 5 bucks and are bid up by a variety of buyers—who can blame the seller for that? "Out of round" should be applied to the obvious. “Slightly out of round” to the expensive Egg Shaped--well, you know. “Perfectly round”---hmmm? MFC was trying to produce the very best to compete with the “Germans" but they still let a few pass I am sure. The trouble with online sales is that the new technology in imaging still produces images that make round objects in macro images look "Out of round". Selling marbles, it is still a sellers dilemma and a buyers paradise imho. When to buy and when to pass is all on the buyer. My daughter was “antiquing in the Chicago area last weekend and she sent me an image of a jar of marbles (love it, yes I buy jars, always have and will) I said buy it! And have been thinking of it ever since. I will not see it until the end of the year but the potential is killing me. There are some new sellers with little patience selling old marbles, it is a great combination in my world. I have never posted any negative feedback on ebay. Either I am at fault for not doing my due diligence, or the buyer is for not doing theirs. I can accept defeat but I am batting 1000 when the seller is wrong. It takes time and patience, I should have been a Lawyer---not😁. Just my thoughts. Marble—On!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted September 21, 2022 Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 10 hours ago, akroorka said: It is a simple question with a difficult answer. "Out of round" should be applied during a sale to a certain extent. "Slightly out of round" can apply to a lot of marbles, especially the ones in question in the OP. Expecting any seller to measure all of the marbles they sell is just not going to happen. Individual ones for a hefty price is a different thing. Individual marbles that start at 5 bucks and are bid up by a variety of buyers—who can blame the seller for that? "Out of round" should be applied to the obvious. “Slightly out of round” to the expensive Egg Shaped--well, you know. “Perfectly round”---hmmm? MFC was trying to produce the very best to compete with the “Germans" but they still let a few pass I am sure. The trouble with online sales is that the new technology in imaging still produces images that make round objects in macro images look "Out of round". Selling marbles, it is still a sellers dilemma and a buyers paradise imho. When to buy and when to pass is all on the buyer. My daughter was “antiquing in the Chicago area last weekend and she sent me an image of a jar of marbles (love it, yes I buy jars, always have and will) I said buy it! And have been thinking of it ever since. I will not see it until the end of the year but the potential is killing me. There are some new sellers with little patience selling old marbles, it is a great combination in my world. I have never posted any negative feedback on ebay. Either I am at fault for not doing my due diligence, or the buyer is for not doing theirs. I can accept defeat but I am batting 1000 when the seller is wrong. It takes time and patience, I should have been a Lawyer---not😁. Just my thoughts. Marble—On!! I agree with Art I look for the uninformed, inform yourself and reap the rewards.. I love jars of marbles also... I live in Vegas after all I am a gambling man...lol... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machinemades Posted September 26, 2022 Report Share Posted September 26, 2022 Out of round marbles should be graded straight down to 9.4 and should be mentioned in the description as to the reason of the grade scale. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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