Jump to content

Where Have All The Old 1" Megas Gone? (pics)


Wayne in Winnipeg

Recommended Posts

I guess this is my debut post here... Been enjoying the forums and the archives for a couple weeks now.

I collect Mega, Jabo Classics and Contemporary marbles in the 1" size.

One of my current projects is trying to assemble a complete "Master Set" of modern Mega 1" marbles. It's quite a task taking into account the number of color vaiants that many came in (for example I have 9 completely different "clearys") and they continue to add to the line (The "Lilac Catseye" just came out last year)

Stuck at about 160, I have provided a couple people with my "Need" list and have been having trouble finding info on a fewer old Megas from (I'm guessing late 90's / early 00's)

Anyone heard of or seen these in 1"? ("Dalmation", "Labyrinth", "Scorpion", "Bloody")

post-1638-1190666515_thumb.jpgpost-1638-1190666705_thumb.jpg post-1638-1190666712_thumb.jpgpost-1638-1190666401_thumb.jpg

The "Scorpions" look familar, but I don't have anything in my collection that looks quite like them. I wonder if some of these older marbles were actually even made in 1"

This one "Frosty Rainbow" is another I have never seen. post-1638-1190666762_thumb.jpg

I have one "Flame" where the interior color is best described as blue. Have never seen any others.

post-1638-1190666789_thumb.jpg

These again, look familar but I don't own any:

post-1638-1190666833_thumb.jpg post-1638-1190666886_thumb.jpg

Question: Is the "Owl" the same as a "Wicked Owl"?

post-1638-1190666917_thumb.jpg

And can anyone post a pic of a 1" "Yellow Jacket"? (I have confused this with the "Bumblebee" for years)

I used to frequent a site called "Marble Mansion" who had great pics / descriptions of many older Megas, but sadly the site has disappeared. Rainbow Turtle has been a great source of newer Megas and was able to land me some older ones a few years ago but my hunt has stalled. Mega collector Al R. has also been a big help.

The list Al gave me has many more that I have not heard of or seen pics of. Al figures some of them might never have been done in 1" and that many may be old names or names for other markets. I will post the complete list next time.

I'm from Winnipeg and pickings here are slim with virtually all my marbles being procured online (although I did find a Destroyer at a buck store though)

Thanks to the guys at KCMC for hosting the great catalog pics from which I nicked the pics I used here.

Anyone 1" Mega fanatics out there? Any links, contacts or info would be greatly appreciated.

WiW (aka 300kph)

Not a member here? Mail me at [email protected]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Wayne. Nice to see you. :-)

I wish I had a Dalmation too. Any size. That's a cool looking marble for something so simple in color.

Yes, I think the Owl is the same as the Wicked Owl. Maybe slight glass formula changes as with so many Megas, but still the same essential style. imho. :-)

Here's the 2006 version from KC Marble Club's catalog pages.

post-279-1190675756_thumb.jpg

My contact for Mega marbles has been Albert at LOM. I recently got a whole lot of Megas/Vacors from him, including a 1" Sunset. Very nice.

(Albert, just in case you ever read this board and see this post, know that I'll be sending you something in the mail soon. Including my email address so we can get back in touch. I haven't forgotten about you!)

Steph

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Wayne, I think the only ones that look familiar to me, might be the owls.... I always sort through those marbles when I see 'em... And, I often buy some.... But, I hate to admit that I'm not very good about keeping track of them, they just get absorbed into the stashes!! LOL

I met some folks at Wheaton who might be a help to you... Check out

The Marble Man

I'm not sure how much he's into Mega, but he seems to have a good knowledge of what's "out there."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey guys! Thanks for the warm welcome... What a great forum!

Steph, I'd love to see what the "Sunset" looks like... could you please post a pic? Yes, the Dalmation is very cool. I like the Labyrinth too!

Sue, thanks for the Marbleman connection. Will contact him.

Here's even more from Al Rasmus' big bad list of Megas (up until a week or two ago I had not previously even heard of these) Al and I both suspect that some of these may have been re-named. Al specializes in packaging and he's at loss for most of these too.

Africa (apparantly for European market)

Corals

Corsairs

Diamond Crystal

Galactica

Glitter

Mamba

Mirage

Perico

Pirates Rainbow (aka Gumballs)

Red Baron

Ribbons

Sahara

Silver

Spotties

Starburst

Stardust

Steelies (I wonder if these are simply Steely Torpedoes?

Sunset

Tapeworm

Tomatoes

Yellow Peril

Zulu

Anyone heard of any of these? If so, post pics please!

I thought I might only need a couple dozen to complete the set, but with color variants I could need closer to 100 or more. I would love to see a photographic record of all of them. The catalogs are good, but seem to miss a lot of variations and names as well.

Who knows? Maybe I'll end up being the one to do a proper catalog.

WiW

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I get a chance to drag out a bunch of stuff, I'll certainly keep a watch out..... It might be a while, though................... :unsure:

Tapeworm??? OMG!! :lol:

Ha! I thought exactly the same thing!

As per the title of my post; "Where have all these older Megas gone"? You never see them on auction and besides the standard 80 or so modern Megas, you never see any old stuff... Even things like my Atomic Fireball and Destroyer took a lot of time to find.

I can't believe they were done in small amounts or are that rare? Is it because 1" were only included in nets with the 5/8" ones? Or is it simply the fact no one actually collected them?

Now, (and this has been the case as long as I've been doing it) dealers sell the 1" (and bigger) all by their lonesome. How long has this practice been around?

WiW

[email protected]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm gonna ask yet another stupid question..... (I'm full of 'em... But, there's only a few that I actually dare ask!!! LOL :blink: )

Let me see if I have this straight..... Megas are connected to Vacor De Mexico, right?? :blush:

I'm not sure I have all the lineage of these companies down cold.... Where does Mega come into the world by location and time-line??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First, to clarify, I do have a lot of the bags of the marble types in the list Wayne mentioned above but most are the 24+1 type. I don't collect the shooter types (25mm - 1 inch) that Wayne is looking for except in the bags. To answer Sue's question, for a while (early 90's) Qualatex (Pioneer Balloon Co. in Wichita, KS) was the US distributor for Vacor. They got out of the business in mid 90's and sold(?) the Mega distributorship to Mega (also based in Wichita). Mega has continued until the present. Here's a pic of Qualatex bag (Glitter) and early Mega bag (Jupiter) - only difference is the logo in the upper left corner of the header (so, if someone has Qualatex bags they'd like to sell - let me know).

post-60-1190741875_thumb.jpg

post-60-1190741925_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To answer Scoops question about Vacor.....yes, Vacor and Mega Marbles are connected. Vacor ( http://www.vacor.com.mx/ ) makes marbles in Mexico and the marbles have their names in Spanish down there. Mega Marbles ( http://www.megamarbles.com/Toy%20Pages/Toy_Home_Page.htm ) purchases and distributes Vacors here in the USA and markets them under "American" names. Mega Marbles was notorious for discontinuing a style and then picking it up again under a new name.

So most of the marble "styles" Wayne is seeking are still being made today - just being distributed under new names. Original older bags were pretty hard to find, especially with original header cards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Marble Mansion! Are you the same person that maintained that great site by the same name a few years ago? I got most of my info off that site. It was great!

I will contact you!

Wayne

Yes that was my website - not much time for marbles these days - although I was really sad to close down the website because it did contain tons of valuable information concerning not only Vacors marbles, but antiques overall.

By the way a geat site to see good quality photos of the more current Vacors is: http://www.emarbles.com/mega1.htm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...