Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Marbles 101

You must think that I've lost my marbles because I've become so into them.  But wait . . . I bet I can get you to like um too.  There are various different companies that produced marbles and some are so similar that it's hard for me to differentiate, but here is a quick lesson on what I've learned so far. 

 

These are the familiar cat's eye. You probably played with these and maybe even got a bagful somewhere.
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This is the marble that I paid $10 each for 3 of them.  I found out that they were probably made in Mexico by a company called Vacor and are worth less than 99 cents for all three.  Bummahs!
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Here are more Vacor marbles. These are called Mummy and you can buy them online at 25 for $2.99.  I might've paid 25 cents for each at the swap meet. 
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Vacor Wicked Owl, again 25/$2.99.  Pretty yah.
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I shared this one with you before.  It's one of the first marbles that I ever bought.  It's a handmade German latticinio marble.  I paid $20 for it.
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I have two now. This one has a yellow core.  I got it for $35 at Antique Alley.
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I also got this one at Antique Alley. I've shown it before.  It was $20.  It's an Akro Corkscrew.  I like the corkscrew marbles because only Akro made them and so I can easily identify them. The colors swirl neatly around the marble in corkscrew fashion and never meet. The more swirls the better.
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The ones with just two colors are called Prize Names.
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White and orange are common colors.
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This one might be called a Snake or Ribbon.  It's so cool how you can see the swirls clear through inside the marble.
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This is my favorite corkscrew-type marble.  It's called a Popeye.  I paid $5 for it from grouchy-man George.  It'll have a clear base with white whispy stranding and two colors . . . this one, yellow and red.
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Here's another one with blue and yellow colors.
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This one might be called a Hybrid Popeye.  That's when it has 3 colors instead of 2.  See the kinda golden band between the green and yellow?  Popeyes on eBay seem to go from $10 and up.  I saw a really pretty one go for almost $100.
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This one is called a Vitro All-Red.  Not sure why it's called "All-Red" 'cause it's not.  It's usually one-third red.
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Here's another one.
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Here's a batch that I pulled from Geri's stash.
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These are called Patches. See how they kinda look like helmets?  I don't know what brand they are. A lot of the marble companies made Patches. 
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This is also a Patch.  It's a Peltier brand Patch. For some reason Peltier patches are more swirley than angular. The only reason I know that is because there was a similar-looking one at Antique Alley.  It was selling for $20.
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I paid too much for this supposedly common Marble King Bumble Bee.  It was $5, but I wanted it for my collection.
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Here's a Marble King Blue Rainbow. 
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Isn't this one pretty?  It's an Akro Sparkler.  See how it looks like onion skin?
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Master Marbles makes a similar-looking style but more in earth colors. They call theirs Sunbursts.
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I'm really not sure about this, but I've identified this one as a Ravenswood Swirl because I've seen similar ones identified as such online.  I would love for it to be an older Christensen Swirl 'cause it kinda looks like it too, but it's probably not.
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Here's another one. I love the color.
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Here's a Moonie.  Not sure what make, but there are faint blue corkscrew-like swirls in it, so I'm calling it an Akro.
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Marbles with a black base are called Indians. Not sure if this is really one though.
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I think this is just a really pretty cat's eye.
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It has a chip in it.  I have several marbles that have similar chips, making them even more worthless than worthless.
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I haven't been able to identify this one.  It's red, white and blue.  Isn't it neat?
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I don't know what these are too.  Probably old, early 1900's, very valuable and worth $100s.  Hahahahaha.  NNNNOOOOTTT!!!
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If you have any marbles stashed somewhere, especially if they look like German Latticinio, or Christensen Swirls, or Akro Popeyes . . . can I be your best friend?

7 comments:

Kalin's Mommy said...

Holy smokes, I think I want to go buy marbles now! However I would only go for the pretty ones, which are probably really expensive! LOL

celia said...

I really enjoyed learning about these marbles. My fav are the German Lattivinio - such delicate details in such a small piece. What workmanship!!!

jalna said...

Hahahaha, funny Mich. Keep your eye out for um . . . never know when you might find a VALUABLE one!

Thanks Celia. I'm intrigued too on how they're made!

Nippon Nin said...

Interesting marble story/history. I was drawn to German marbles. I also love All-red, your description of all the marble are enjoyable.

jalna said...

Thank you Akemi. I'm drawn to the German ones too!

Sarah da Aunty said...

Jalna,

When I am bored and need a lift to my day, I come to your blog site and look and read and laugh and enjoy.

My pal Fay turned me on to your site when I became a Nerium distributor. Your before and after picture for Nerium just cracked me up!

In fact, I know your cousin Gerri from Waialae School (no - I went to Palolo School way before her) because our kids went to Waialae School).

Enjoyed your pictures and lessons on marbles. I REALLY don't want to start collecting something new, but it was tempting when I saw all yours! Just don't lose them - otherwise they going say you lost your marbles, lol, lol, ha ha ha ha. Okay, I know, I know. Bad joke.

Mahalos for the postings and pictures. I hope your Aunty gets better.

Sarah (da Honolulu Aunty)

jalna said...

Awww, Sarah, thanks for taking the time to comment. I really appreciate it. Words like yours give me the incentive to keep up with the blog. And . . . I'll try not to lose my marbles. Hahahaha!!