Is this a dragon or just a rainbo?

[Ric]

I think one of the things that becomes difficult with names, in general, is that the name itself or the definition of the marble characteristics that fits the name changes over the long term, and it becomes nearly impossible to keep up with it all, especially if you have been a long time collector like our friend @Jeff54 and many others. Not only are you trying to keep up with newly named marbles but you are trying to keep up with how the names of marbles you once knew as X have changed to Y. It all gets very confusing. When I started collecting, Dragons were NLRs with a darker green base and red ribbons. Flaming Dragons had to show yellow in addition to the red (those marbles are, apparently, now just called Dragons). Of course, if you mix red and yellow, you get orange and I think eventually the requirement that that Flaming Dragons show yellow was dropped, and any marble with orange in addition to red became "flaming" even if no yellow is showing. It's important to remember that when many long time collectors started, few if any machine made marbles even had names, except maybe the ones given to them by kids who played the game, and there was no internet available to the masses so regional differences in names and required characteristics were fairly common. Naming marbles was something that people collaborated on in person, or a rotary phone, or by snail mail using old-time photos printed on paper. Seriously, the name game is way more complicated than many people realize.

Myself, I have been tempted many times to just give up on it, but names can be very helpful, especially to new collectors, so I continue to do my best to keep up with it. The old timers have passed hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of marbles through their hands, and they know which ones they've seen thousands of and which ones they've seen three of. Like my recently departed friend Billy used to say, "I know a good marble and a rare marble when I see it and I collect what I like." It's a good strategy too, since many beautiful and rare machine made marbles don't have names - at least that I know of. 🙂

So if we are conversing, and I call a certain type of green based NLR with yellow ribbons a "John Deere", please go easy one me - that's what I called them for many years, and add to that the fact that no one I know has ever seen a yellow John Deere tractor with green lettering.

There, I feel much better now. 😄

[Carowill]

47 minutes ago, Ric said:

I think one of the things that becomes difficult with names, in general, is that the name itself or the definition of the marble characteristics that fits the name changes over the long term, and it becomes nearly impossible to keep up with it all, especially if you have been a long time collector like our friend @Jeff54 and many others. Not only are you trying to keep up with newly named marbles but you are trying to keep up with how the names of marbles you once knew as X have changed to Y. It all gets very confusing. When I started collecting, Dragons were NLRs with a darker green base and red ribbons. Flaming Dragons had to show yellow in addition to the red (those marbles are, apparently, now just called Dragons). Of course, if you mix red and yellow, you get orange and I think eventually the requirement that that Flaming Dragons show yellow was dropped, and any marble with orange in addition to red became "flaming" even if no yellow is showing. It's important to remember that when many long time collectors started, few if any machine made marbles even had names, except maybe the ones given to them by kids who played the game, and there was no internet available to the masses so regional differences in names and required characteristics were fairly common. Naming marbles was something that people collaborated on in person, or a rotary phone, or by snail mail. Seriously, the name game is way more complicated than many people realize.

Myself, I have been tempted many times to just give up on it, but names can be very helpful, especially to new collectors, so I continue to do my best to keep up with it. The old timers have passed hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of marbles through their hands, and they know which ones they've seen thousands of and which ones they've seen three of. Like my recently departed friend Billy used to say, "I know a good marble and a rare marble when I see it and I collect what I like." It's a good strategy too, since many beautiful and rare machine made marbles don't have names - at least that I know of. 🙂

So if we are conversing, and I call a certain type of green based NLR with yellow ribbons a "John Deere", please go easy one me - that's what I called them for many years, and add to that the fact that no one I know has ever seen a yellow John Deere tractor with green lettering.

There, I feel much better now. 😄

Well said!  Billy had the right approach.  Collect what you like!!