Steph Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 (edited) I frequently want to know what the biggest marble from any maker is. Often I vaguely remember reading some reference to the size. But that's a hard thing to search for in search engines! I've just received confirmation at LOM about the biggest Champions floating around. The intentionally large ones. Not the double ingots etc. So for Champs it appears to be 13/16". Brad/slagmarble gave upper estimates on MFC slags, broken down by color here. The largest were brown or green at 1 7/8". Mibster at Akronmarbles has said that MFC made a 3" marble. A glassie, he said. I've heard some size info about Ravenswoods. But I can't remember if I've seen any specifics. What I remember is that usually the discussion seems to move into whether the 1" marbles in Ravenswood packaging were made by them or by Akro. ... ah yes, like here. later note: At Marble Mental, David Chamberlain shows a 7/8" swirl and says that Mike Johnson owns a 15/16" version of the same. even later note: Ron says the 7/8"+ would not have been made for regular production sale. (source) For Jabo, the biggest ones they made on purpose were 1". Ron said, "1 1/4 up are always in the reject bin,usually rough or out of round." For Master, 1" seems to be the top measurement, though Roger/Sword44 hasn't given up hope for more. later note: Ron mentioned here that Jacksons weren't as large as 13/16" in regular production. Perhaps I'll ask him another time what the max size was on those. next update: AMMM says Heaton made marbles up to about 1", then later gave the figure more specifically as 15/16". Pics show some large-ish swirls. See the discussion here: Pretty Aqua. Anyone else have any good size info up your sleeve? CAC? Alley? Akro? Peltier? Marble King? Handmade? Others? Edited September 26, 2008 by modularforms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Akro Agate's largest production size was 1" - although rare experimental varieties exist larger than 1" (a very rare few substantially larger). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvrons Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Recent interview and article in the last West Virginia Marble Collectors newsletter with former employee of Ravenswood Novelty Works and discussion about size of Ravenswood marbles. Also information about the Paul Baunyan marbles,made by Akro,Master or Ravenswood. Once again another employeee states that Edwin Safreed made them at Ravenswood. ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvrons Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Edwin Safreed of Ravenswood Novelty stated that they used end wrenchs to guage the size of the marbles and the sizes were from 3/8 to 3/4 inch. Edwin was the main man at Ravenswood from the start until the last day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvrons Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Alley made many large marbles 7/8 and one inch size. Marble King made them up to 1 1/4 inch size. Of course they all had a few larger marbles and odd sizes but i believe we are talking about routine normal production for sale. One possible for the one inch marbles listed in the Ravenswood sales brochure,could have been the Paul Bunyan marbles. Not the normal Ravenswoood swirl type. I have not found any Ravenswood Novelty employee who said they routinely produced 7/8 or one inch swirl marbles,but more than one has said yes to the one inch Paul Bunyans type being made at Ravenswood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted January 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstmmrbls Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 It appears a certian South of the border company has been over looked. By far the largest machine mades. Other than MFC Peace,Galen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glass man Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 I frequently want to know what the biggest marble from any maker is. Often I vaguely remember reading some reference to the size. But that's a hard thing to search for in search engines! I've just received confirmation at LOM about the biggest Champions floating around. The intentionally large ones. Not the double ingots etc. So for Champs it appears to be 13/16". Brad/slagmarble gave upper estimates on MFC slags, broken down by color here. The largest were brown or green at 1 7/8". I've heard some size info about Ravenswoods. But I can't remember if I've seen any specifics. What I remember is that usually the discussion seems to move into whether the 1" marbles in Ravenswood packaging were made by them or by Akro. ... ah yes, like here. For Jabo, the biggest ones they made on purpose were 1". Ron said, "1 1/4 up are always in the reject bin,usually rough or out of round." For Master, 1" seems to be the top measurement, though Roger/Sword44 hasn't given up hope for more. Anyone else have any good size info up your sleeve? CAC? Alley? Akro? Peltier? Marble King? Handmade? Others? I have a blue/green clearie that is 1 and a little over 3/16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdale7 Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 Well, I have a few catseyes that are 1" and maybe just a shy over, someone mentioned handmades and have a german that is about 2 inches just a little bigger than a golf ball, and a set of I don't know what they are that were oddballs in my grandpa's stuff: several matching mibs with the largest one about 3 inches probably be considered a paperweight in todays terms. I don't have much to show anyone about mibs size since my collection is limited. Howard and Howie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoop Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 As far as machine mades are concerned, I think Galen's right... I've never seen any bigger than the Vacors. I have a few of those that size up to 1½"+..... The antique handmades are rare in sizes over 2½". I've never heard of one hitting over 3".... If there is one, it would most likely be a sulphide. The others to take into consideration would be the large glass industrial balls that were made for things like the claw feet in Piano stools.... ('Can't remember the maker....) They may have hit right around the 3" mark in the larger size... And then, there's carpet balls.... As much as many marble collectors might have one or two, they usually aren't taken into consideration as marbles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo444 Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 Josh Simpson ( and crew) make a 4 inch sphere and an 8 inch paperweight which are made round then they polish the bottom's flat. Geoffery Bettam also makes an 6 or 8 inch sphere. I think it's 8 inch Loren Stump has pulled off some really huge ones also. Dale Chilule's marbles "start" at 24 inches and go up to 6 or 7 FEET around. They are hollow and still weigh in at over 200 pounds each !!! The largest old hand made I have ever seen is 3 1/2". Collector in Texas (Carol Collier) has several of them. Machine mades, Galen nailed it as far as my knowledge goes. Vacor, 2 inch. Akro did make some machine made marbles in the 1 1/4" range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speed Racer Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 Here is an MFC brown slag at nearly two inches (looks like the Vacor beat it out) and a blue with brown Ravenswood at 7/8. Lastly a very large 1 1/4 akro. Hope this helps. BBird Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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