Birdy Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 Hello! I have decided on a whim that I want to start collecting marbles. I have always loved antiques and marbles in particular for their beautiful colors. Recently I bought a few at an antique fair and they were so interesting! I want to collect them now, but the thing is, I don’t exactly know where to start in terms of informational resources. I purchased the fifth edition of the book “marbles, identification and price guide” by Robert Block. Are there any other recommended reads or resources that you have? One thing I will say is that I do have dyslexia so I am more likely to use a visual guide then I am to use something that is purely text. Thank you in advance! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dunbar Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 Another brand new collector here also! Will be following this post! 🙂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akroorka Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 There are too many to ID as far as books go my fellow collecting friend. You will have to pick what you like and go from there, start with an older more affordable book such as "Grists big book of marbles" Marble--On!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akroorka Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 8 minutes ago, John Dunbar said: Will be following this post! 🙂 Be carefull my friend--it may turn out to be better than you expected--you may never turn back. Try collecting train cars instead and get less addicted. We are all here to help with your further addiction if you choose such. I just love this stuff!! Marble--On!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted November 14 Author Report Share Posted November 14 6 minutes ago, akroorka said: Be carefull my friend--it may turn out to be better than you expected--you may never turn back. Try collecting train cars instead and get less addicted. We are all here to help with your further addiction if you choose such. I just love this stuff!! Marble--On!! Unfortunately, I’m a bit of a chronic collector lol. I collect a bunch of different things, but recently I stopped collecting Furbies (the toy from the 90s) which was my main thing for like three years. I guess I am just itching to have something like that again. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 Nothing will come close to attending a marble show and going room-to-room looking at, handling and discussing marbles. Looking at pics (not always good, well-focused ones) can only do so much. SA marble in-hand and discussing it with the seller or owner x hundreds (thousands?) of marbles builds a very deep and accurate recognition of glass colors, hues, pattern, glass movement and variations in a type that cannot be had on the Internet or in a book. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted November 14 Author Report Share Posted November 14 6 minutes ago, Alan said: Nothing will come close to attending a marble show and going room-to-room looking at, handling and discussing marbles. Looking at pics (not always good, well-focused ones) can only do so much. SA marble in-hand and discussing it with the seller or owner x hundreds (thousands?) of marbles builds a very deep and accurate recognition of glass colors, hues, pattern, glass movement and variations in a type that cannot be had on the Internet or in a book. This is a fair point. Do you know of any shows that you would recommend? for the record, I’m in the San Francisco Bay area. I would love to go to a show. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dunbar Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 Just now, Alan said: Nothing will come close to attending a marble show and going room-to-room looking at, handling and discussing marbles. Looking at pics (not always good, well-focused ones) can only do so much. SA marble in-hand and discussing it with the seller or owner x hundreds (thousands?) of marbles builds a very deep and accurate recognition of glass colors, hues, pattern, glass movement and variations in a type that cannot be had on the Internet or in a book. Unfortunately there don't seem to be much here in Arizona. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 18 minutes ago, John Dunbar said: Unfortunately there don't seem to be much here in Arizona. If I can suggest something (for Birdy as well): You might start a thread looking for other collectors within x hours drive from some relatively popular locale. Take an inventory and then consider creating an impromptu marble meeting. It can be done practically anywhere. Years ago we had a very small local group that met after hours in a comic book store run by one of the collectors. It was relaxed, slow and a good place to bring marbles and look at marbles owned by others. No schedule, no agenda. I'm not a Facebook person, but I imagine that you could announce interest in several of their marble groups to build an email list. An unmet need is an opportunity! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted November 14 Author Report Share Posted November 14 3 minutes ago, Alan said: If I can suggest something (for Birdy as well): You might start a thread looking for other collectors within x hours drive from some relative popular locale. Take an inventory and then consider creating an impromptu marble meeting. It can be done practically anywhere. Years ago we had a very small local group that met after hours in a comic book store run by one of the collectors. It was relaxed, slow and a good place to bring marbles and look at marbles owned by others. No schedule, no agenda. I'm not a Facebook person, but I imagine that you could announce interest in several of their marble groups to build an email list. An unmet need is an opportunity! That’s a good idea. Maybe I can try to find pre-existing local groups as well. Thank you! It will definitely be much easier for me to learn if I have people helping teach me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 I’ve learned everything I know from the kind people on this forum as well as in Facebook groups. I would specifically recommend the National Marbles group as the majority of marbles are correctly IDed there. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Nickel Guy Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 Learning about marbles is endless and for me it is moving along slowly but surely. Bedsides reading a lot here, I learned quite a bit from watching Stephen Bahr on YouTube. They are super educational, great photography and are even sometime quite amusing here and there. There are pretty many videos but I look forward to even more. Here is a link. https://www.youtube.com/@stephenbahrmarbles 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted November 14 Author Report Share Posted November 14 4 minutes ago, The Nickel Guy said: Learning about marbles is endless and for me it is moving along slowly but surely. Bedsides reading a lot here, I learned quite a bit from watching Stephen Bahr on YouTube. They are super educational, great photography and are even sometime quite amusing here and there. There are pretty many videos but I look forward to even more. Here is a link. https://www.youtube.com/@stephenbahrmarbles Thanks! I’ll check them out 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Oregon Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 You missed this one but mark it for next year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaMarbles Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 Recent new collectors here in Virgina. Few things that helped us get started. Stopped at 30-40 local antique shops in our area and left our contact at the desk for anyone bringing in marbles or looking to sell. This lead us to find that there were other collectors in our area and we connected with them. Although we were now competing they were way more advanced then us and willing to help us and sell some of there place holders so we could build. Easy way to start ID when you have one from multi makers and examples right in front of you. Some of these contacts are now some of our strongest friend groups. I also watched many Blocks auctions go off before actually buying items on them. It’s very educational for newbies. I would echo what Allan said about attending shows. We attended our first show in CT in October and it was very helpful and meet many of the people in the collection world. Best days of the week are when I know we have new marbles arriving in the mail from buys we have purchased. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaMarbles Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 5 hours ago, The Nickel Guy said: Learning about marbles is endless and for me it is moving along slowly but surely. Bedsides reading a lot here, I learned quite a bit from watching Stephen Bahr on YouTube. They are super educational, great photography and are even sometime quite amusing here and there. There are pretty many videos but I look forward to even more. Here is a link. https://www.youtube.com/@stephenbahrmarbles His Vacor video is a classic! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dunbar Posted November 15 Report Share Posted November 15 On 11/13/2024 at 7:31 PM, akroorka said: There are too many to ID as far as books go my fellow collecting friend. You will have to pick what you like and go from there, start with an older more affordable book such as "Grists big book of marbles" Marble--On!! Just ordered a copy. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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