SMD (Stupid Marble Disease)

[Melissa]

[Ric]

1 hour ago, Melissa said:

Bliiiiiinnnnng! I'll bet those would make some little "glitter girl" very happy. They remind me of my great niece, that's what I used to call her when she was young. She put glitter on everything, including herself. lol

[Melissa]

2 minutes ago, Ric said:

Bliiiiiinnnnng! I'll bet those would make some little "glitter girl" very happy. They remind me of my great niece, that's what I used to call her when she was young. She put glitter on everything, including herself. lol

Those are the worst marbles!!! 😆

[Ric]

Just now, Melissa said:

Those are the worst marbles!!!

Just put them in your hand with a bunch high end Alleys, show them to a little girl and tell her she can pick one. I can almost guarantee you won't lose any Alleys.

[Ric]

I used to do a little program for local cub scouts when they could still earn their marbles belt loop. I'd tell them a bit about the history of marbles, pass around examples they could look at while I was talking, teach them how to play and have a little tournament with them. Most of them really enjoyed it. At the end, I would give them a pamphlet about marbles and marble games and let them fill a bag with marbles to take home. The box I kept the marbles in was a big flat and I had lots of vintage marbles, JABO Classics, and in later years, some JABO investor run marbles. Guess which marbles always went first. First to go were anything with bling from the investor runs, then the colorful JABO Classics, then usually the colorful Vitros and then the rest. Most of the time, I came home with nearly every vintage marble I brought.

[Melissa]

11 minutes ago, Ric said:

I used to do a little program for local cub scouts when they could still earn their marbles belt loop. I'd tell them a bit about the history of marbles, pass around examples they could look at while I was talking, teach them how to play and have a little tournament with them. Most of them really enjoyed it. At the end, I would give them a pamphlet about marbles and marble games and let them fill a bag with marbles to take home. The box I kept the marbles in was a big flat and I had lots of vintage marbles, JABO Classics, and in later years, some JABO investor run marbles. Guess which marbles always went first. First to go were anything with bling from the investor runs, then the colorful JABO Classics, then usually the colorful Vitros and then the rest. Most of the time, I came home with nearly every vintage marble I brought.

I do have a stash of jabo classics in my collection. I’m keeping them because they were my first love and what turned me on to marbles to begin with.

[Ric]

18 minutes ago, Melissa said:

I do have a stash of jabo classics in my collection. I’m keeping them because they were my first love and what turned me on to marbles to begin with.

I am not embarrassed to say I have two drawers full of Classics in the archive - there's probably at least a couple of thousand of them in there. Some day, I need to go through them and get rid of duplicates. According to my wife, that day should happen soon. And while I hate to admit it, she's right. We're probably going to move in two years and I have a lot of liquidating to do before then. I am hoping to pare my collection down to a few thousand favorites. lol

[Steph]

On 4/28/2023 at 12:54 PM, Melissa said:

Does anyone here suffer from SMD besides me?  Are you attracted to common clearies, game pieces, and cats eyes and haven't a clue as to why?  You want to clean out your massive hoard of nonsense, set a goal to get rid of them, and just can't bring yourself to do it?  If so, please share your favorite stupid marble in this thread to show your support for all those suffering from SMD.  

 

 

I love clearies!

The noble clearie which saved Vitro from going under when Japanese cat's eyes were storming the market! 

[Steph]

Not quite the topic, but it reminds me ..... I may be making this up, but I have a pretty strong memory of someone trying to get a marble ID for some of these.



 

[Ric]

15 minutes ago, Steph said:

Not quite the topic, but it reminds me ..... I may be making this up, but I have a pretty strong memory of someone trying to get a marble ID for some of these.

Yummy! lol

[Melissa]

Are those gum balls?

[Ric]

10 minutes ago, Melissa said:

Are those gum balls?

I sure hope so. Marbles aren't so yummy. I accidentally swallowed one when I was a kid and it took a couple of days to get it back. Please don't ask me what I was doing with it in my mouth because I have no idea. All I can say is I am glad it was round and smooth.

[Steph]

36 minutes ago, Melissa said:

Are those gum balls?

Yeah ... 

[tankgrrl29]

On 4/28/2023 at 3:16 PM, Alan said:

More like that I listened to early advice that it was better to buy one $40. marble that I really liked, instead of  40 - $1.00 marbles that looked kind of interesting.

Possible unpopular opinion, but as early advice, I couldn't disagree more. Kind of along the lines of giving someone a fish versus teaching them how to fish... Getting a large variety of marbles to handle and sort and look at over and over and over again is how we "learn marbles." It's how we learn the feel of old glass. It's how we absorb through osmosis the variety of colors attributed to different companies. It's how we gain enough experience to be able to look at an auction and spot the new marbles or the wannabes (or the sleepers!!). It's how we pick up enough info to be able to pass on knowledge to other people.

Sure, you don't have to keep every marble forever. But how many of us who kept everything went back and looked at some dish or bag or jar and found something we overlooked at the time because we didn't know better? 

Not much irks me more than seeing a newbie post a marble they spent a bunch of money on, and at the same time asking for confirmation of the ID. To me that is just someone looking to buy status, rather than enjoying the hobby.

Then again, I guess it depends on each individual's goals. I'm sure not everyone shares mine. 

[Carowill]

49 minutes ago, tankgrrl29 said:

Possible unpopular opinion, but as early advice, I couldn't disagree more. Kind of along the lines of giving someone a fish versus teaching them how to fish... Getting a large variety of marbles to handle and sort and look at over and over and over again is how we "learn marbles." It's how we learn the feel of old glass. It's how we absorb through osmosis the variety of colors attributed to different companies. It's how we gain enough experience to be able to look at an auction and spot the new marbles or the wannabes (or the sleepers!!). It's how we pick up enough info to be able to pass on knowledge to other people.

Sure, you don't have to keep every marble forever. But how many of us who kept everything went back and looked at some dish or bag or jar and found something we overlooked at the time because we didn't know better? 

Not much irks me more than seeing a newbie post a marble they spent a bunch of money on, and at the same time asking for confirmation of the ID. To me that is just someone looking to buy status, rather than enjoying the hobby.

Then again, I guess it depends on each individual's goals. I'm sure not everyone shares mine. 

I would not disagree with you, however, your thinking and your purchase patterns change as you collect over time.  Eventually, it’s quality over quantity.

[Dave 13]

21 hours ago, Ric said:

That's a neat monster truck, Dave. I don't know anything about them but it sorta looks like it could use an alignment. Regardless, I'd have played with that when I was a kid!

Thanks Ric I was into RC cars ,planes and helicopters hardcore about 10 years ago 

I modified this clod buster to have 4 wheel steering and my pic is showing it can crab walk 😎

[tankgrrl29]

3 hours ago, Carowill said:

I would not disagree with you, however, your thinking and your purchase patterns change as you collect over time.  Eventually, it’s quality over quantity.

100% agree with that! my comments (and opinions) were specific to "early advice"  

[akroorka]

6 hours ago, tankgrrl29 said:

Sure, you don't have to keep every marble forever. But how many of us who kept everything went back and looked at some dish or bag or jar and found something we overlooked at the time because we didn't know better? 

 

Many times my marble collecting friend--good stuff!!

Marble--On!!

[Alan]

8 hours ago, tankgrrl29 said:

Possible unpopular opinion, but as early advice, I couldn't disagree more. Kind of along the lines of giving someone a fish versus teaching them how to fish... Getting a large variety of marbles to handle and sort and look at over and over and over again is how we "learn marbles." It's how we learn the feel of old glass. It's how we absorb through osmosis the variety of colors attributed to different companies. It's how we gain enough experience to be able to look at an auction and spot the new marbles or the wannabes (or the sleepers!!). It's how we pick up enough info to be able to pass on knowledge to other people.

Sure, you don't have to keep every marble forever. But how many of us who kept everything went back and looked at some dish or bag or jar and found something we overlooked at the time because we didn't know better? 

Not much irks me more than seeing a newbie post a marble they spent a bunch of money on, and at the same time asking for confirmation of the ID. To me that is just someone looking to buy status, rather than enjoying the hobby.

Then again, I guess it depends on each individual's goals. I'm sure not everyone shares mine. 

First - I'm not telling other people what to think, or do.  People come to this hobby with different intentions, level of interest and commitment and resources.

Reading your post, I see huge differences between how you came to the hobby - and how I arrived.  That may be cause of very different perspectives.  I gained my experience in Identification at shows.  I usually go for 3 days, and spend 16 hours/day in the room and hallways looking at every marble, talking about them, understand how to accurately identify it - almost always with 1-3 other people in the conversations other than the owner.  For a decade there was a group of hard-core collectors at the New Philly and Amana shows that would lock the door of a room around 11Pm and we would open our cases and pass key marbles around and examine and discuss them with intense study until 4:00AM.  We would see and handle everything.  Its was amazing what came out of the woodwork.  We would spend time on rare stuff, strange stuff, errors, dug material, manufacturer ephemera, boxes spanning everything imaginable.  It was called the "4AM Club".  Les Jones, Bill Cokenhauer, Albert from WV - about a group of 10.  And that was on top of spending all day in the rooms and hallways.  The ability to learn at a phenomenal pace was right there - and you came to know whose opinion to totally rely upon.  When someone didn't know, they said so.  That was your reputation.

Posting pics of a pile of marble on the Internet asking for ID is so fraught with piecemeal error, guessing and just plain speculation with no real basis is a helluva way to learn.  I realize that there are a lot of people that don't go to shows - maybe never have or will.  That (IMO) is a shame because they are left to the wilds of the Internet ID threads.  And we have the hi-jinks of the recent $3,000. Jabo thread Cyclone/Cobra thread and its many infamous predecessors.  I won't even get started on Facebook silliness where everything seems UV light reactive, thus making it rare and valuable.

I didn't have to suffer the common ID innacuracies that many have had to drag themselves through.  I was able to learn quickly in the areas I was interested in surrounded by the most experienced people in the hobby.  In-person ID lessons in small expert groups transcends the common way-out-of-focus ID pics that the so common now.

I'm not telling people not to buy 50-cent marbles.  I'm just saying that I don't want to - because I know what those become to me.  And personally, I don't prefer to use them as piecemeal ID fodder.  I know there is a much, much better way to learn - and build bonds with face-to-face dealings at show.  Just my personal preference.  Other come to the hobby in different ways.

 

[Nantucketdink]

On 4/29/2023 at 4:17 PM, Ric said:

I'm counting on @Melissa's good nature and hoping she won't hold it against us for sorta hijacking her thread . . .

I have forgotten everything I once knew about this truck - who modified it, when, and how many are out there. And I'm hoping someone else might be able to clue me in - maybe @Nantucketdink?

I believe I have a note about it in my run list.  It was one of the Tribute members I think.  Sturtz knows.  Jeff Hall aka "Truck"

[tankgrrl29]

13 hours ago, Alan said:

Reading your post, I see huge differences between how you came to the hobby - and how I arrived.  That may be cause of very different perspectives.  I gained my experience in Identification at shows. 

 

Such great points, and a good reminder of my own bubble! Those times you describe were the stuff of legends already when I started collecting almost 25 years ago. I can't count the number of times I heard the advice: get to a show! get to a show! Your advice makes a lot more sense to me in that context. It does seem like several lifetimes ago, doesn't it? ☺️