User:DragonZest/sandbox

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"Marbles" redirects here. For other uses, see Marbles (disambiguation).

Marbles of different sizes and types

A marble is a small spherical toy usually made from glass, clay, steel, plastic or agate. These balls vary in size. Most commonly, they are about 1/2 inch to 1 inch (1.3 to 2.54 cm) in diameter, but they may range from less than 1/30 inch (0.111 cm) to over 3 inches (7.75 cm), while some art glass marbles for display purposes are over 12 inches (30 cm) wide. Marbles can be used for a variety of games all of which can be referred to as "playing marbles. Clay Marbles were known to be common in Ancient Rome, Egypt and elsewhere in the ancient world, however the exact genesis of marbles eludes scholars for the spread of marbles is a completely global phenomenon. Various games and shooting styles exist around the world, developing nations still have vibrant contingencies of young marble players, whereas the children of the developed world have largely moved on to electronic forms of entertainment in favor of marbles. Marble collecting collected, is also a popular past time for those who grew up playing marbles and enjoy the nostalgia, dazzling colors, and the thrill of the hunt for rare and exotic marbles. There has been a modern resurgence of handmade marbles from the increasing popularity of glass blowing as hobby, and the high price demanded by the intricate pieces of art. In Northern England the objects and the game are called "taws", with larger taws being called bottle washers after the use of a marble in Codd-neck bottles.

History

Roman children playing with nuts, child sarcophagi circa 270-300. Museum Pio Clementino, Vatican

Game of Marbles, Karol D. Witkowski

Various balls of stone were found on excavation near Mohenjo-daro. Marbles are also often mentioned in Roman literature, like Ovid's poem Nux about nuts playing and there are many examples of marbles from Chaldeans of Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. They were commonly made of clay, stone or glass.

The earliest recorded small-scale production of marbles comes from Germany in the 1800s.

Ceramic marbles entered inexpensive mass production in the 1870s.

A German glassblower invented marble scissors in 1846, a device for making marbles. The first mass-produced toy marbles (clay) made in the U.S. were made in Akron, Ohio, by S. C. Dyke, in the early 1890s. Some of the first U.S.-produced glass marbles were also made in Akron, by James Harvey Leighton. In 1903, Martin Frederick Christensen—also of Akron, Ohio—made the first machine-made glass marbles on his patented machine. His company, The M. F. Christensen & Son Co., manufactured millions of toy and industrial glass marbles until they ceased operations in 1917. The next U.S. company to enter the glass marble market was Akro Agate Company. This company was started by Akronites in 1911, but was located in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Today, there are only two American-based toy marble manufacturers: Jabo Vitro in Reno, Ohio, and Marble King, in Paden City, West Virginia

Marbles games

Numerous marbles games exist, with a multitude of slight variation, some involving circles of concentric rings, some involving squares, some involve holes like Golf, some involve sting, lines, walls, or shoes, some involve intricate obstacle courses which players must navigate, some even involve the intentional obliteration of target marbles on impact with a steel shooter, but all involve the spirit of imagination of children who often invent games only known to them and their friends. The most well known and commonly game is called "Ringer" which is the game of choice of the British and World Marbles Championship. Ringer is often referred to as simply "Marbles" or "the Game of Marbles", but in England it is known as "Ring Taw"

Some marbles games involve a minigame to determine the order of the play, the most common is called "Lagging" where each player attempts to be come the closest to a target, such as a line, a rock, or any conceivable thing. Some games may re-visit the lagging mini game between each round of play. Some games involve contributing marbles for other players to potentially win during play, called playing for "Keepsies" or "Keeps", while other games do not risk any of the players marbles.

Ringer

Ringer itself has many variations, but essentially all versions involve a single ring about 8 feet in diameter, where in target marbles are shot at until they are knocked out of the ring. Sometimes the marbles in the middle are arranged in an X pattern, while sometimes they are merely scattered at random within a small inner circle. The game usually begins with all players firing at the ring from behind a line, after which the players shoot from their taws final position from the last shot, other players can knock a players taw out of the circle, forcing them to take their shot from the outside of the circle which is much more difficult, if any player overshoots the circle they can shoot from a location along the edge of their choosing. Players typically continue shooting if they are consistently knocking marbles out of the ring.

Boss out

This is one of the oldest marble games, described by the Roman poet Ovid, and played by Augustus, who founded the Roman Empire. The first player shoots one marble onto the playing field, which can be any area. The second player tries to hit the first player's marble. If they hit it, they collect both marbles. If the two marbles are close enough, he or she can attempt to 'span' them. He places his or her thumb on his or her own marble and his or her index finger on his or her opponent's marble. He then draws his or her hand up while bringing his or her fingers together. If the two marbles hit, he or she collects both marbles. If he or she misses, the first player may shoot at either marble on the field. If a player collects the last marble on the field, he or she must shoot a marble for the next player to shoot at.

Chasies

The American version of Boss-Out is called "Chasies" (pronounced "chase-eeze"). In the American version, the player who hits or spans to his opponent's marble takes that marble. Then, as the winner, he tosses his own marble ahead. However, if the distance between the marbles is less than a step but more than a span, the shooter has the option (always exercised because of the variety it offers) of picking his marble up and dropping it straight down from face level in an attempt to hit his opponent's marble. This is called "Bombsies," and a successful strike wins the bomber one or more marbles, as the players have previously agreed upon.

Poison

For 2 or more players, alone or in teams. The playing field is a dirt area with a small hole one to two inches across in the middle and a starting line on one end.

The playing order is determined by a practice shot from the line towards the hole. Whoever is closest or makes it into the hole is first. One at a time, each player shoots their marble toward the hole. The first shot is from the line. All other shots are taken from where the marble lands. The goal is to get it into the hole so the the player that makes it in can become "Poisoned." Only one player can be Poisoned at a time (or more if playing in teams). The Poisoned player gets another turn and tries to hit other player's marbles. If he hits someone, they are out and he shoots again until he misses. If someone else gets a marble in the hole, they become the new Poisoned player.

Other players may hit each other as a part of their strategy. You do get to go again but no one is out. If somehow their marble hits the other marble two times (if it hits and rolls up a hill and hits the same marble while going down) it's called "Double Shots" and you get to shoot your marble two more times. If a non-poisoned player hits the poisoned marble, he is out. The last marble (or team) in play is the winner. They get to keep all the marbles that were in play from the beginning

Black Snake

Dig a series of 7 holes at different distances from one another to make the course. The holes shouldn't be in a line and can be different sizes and depths. Imagine the holes mark out a snake from head to tail. Players take turns shooting at the holes in order from the head to the tail. If a player gets a marble into the proper hole, he earns another shot and continues his turn by shooting from any spot within a span of the hole. Players who miss shoot from wherever their marble ends up.

When he's shot his marble into all seven holes, a player shoots at all seven in reverse order, going backwards through the course. Once a player has made it through all seven holes twice, he becomes a "black snake" and shoots at other players' marbles. There is no limit to the number of black snakes in a game.

If a black snake hits another player's shooter, that player is eliminated from the game. However, if a black snake shoots his shooter into a hole, he himself is eliminated. The winner is the last player to remain in the game.

If you're playing on a hard surface or just want a different kind if game, use everyday objects like shoes, cups, trash cans, or books instead of holes. A marble is considered in as long as it hits that object, and players continue shooting from wherever the marble stops rolling.

Newark Killer

Make a circle on the ground with a shoelace - you can tie the ends or just leave them touching. Draw a taw line about 10 feet away.

Each player gets 10 marbles and takes turns shooting or rolling his marbles at the circle behind the taw line.Some marbles will get knocked into the ring by other marbles and others will get knocked out of it.

The player who ends up with the most marbles in the ring becomes the "killer." They can shoot from behind the taw line at any marbles outside the loop. If they hit one, they keep it and continue shooting from where their shooter ended up. Once they miss, the game is over. All unclaimed marbles go back to their owners.

Off the Wall

Mark off a taw line five to ten feet away from a wall. The first player throws a marble against the wall to serve as a target. On each first shot, players shoot from behind the taw line, aiming to hit the mib after rebounding from the wall first. The shooter must hit the wall before it hits the target marble. If a player misses the mib, she leaves her marble where it lands. If a player hits the mib, she collects it along with all the marbles on the ground. She then throws out a new mib, and the game continues.

If all the players have taken their first shot and none have hit the mib, the game continues, but each player shoots her marble from wherever it landed on the last turn. The game is over when one player wins 10 marbles, or a previously determined number of marbles.

Variation: When all the players have shot and missed, any marble between the wall and the line is a target. Players still shoot in order, from where their marbles lie, but hitting a mib only wins that player that one marble. The game continues until all the marbles are gone. Whoever won the most marbles wins.

Puggy

First a hole called a "Puggy" is dug with the heel of a shoe to the depth of that heel. Then the players stand upright about six inches from the hole, and randomly drop whatever stake of marbles is decided upon around the hole, typically three. The players then shoot from a shooting line about ten feet away attempting to knock the other marbles into the "puggy" thus winning any marbles they shoot in. A player continues shooting until he misses; an expert shooter could conceivably run all of the marbles.

In a variation called "Killer," if one's shooter also makes it into the hole, he becomes a "killer," eligible to go after the other players shooters in addition to the target marbles. In "Newark Killer" the other player is not only out of the game, but also pays a bounty of one or more marbles.

Skelly

Skelly is played in a square about 1 foot across. Each player randomly places a few targets inside the square. Players "Lag" from a starting line to see who comes closest to the square. The one closest shoots first, and plays until he misses one of the targets. Players can shoot from elevated positions and can shoot at any of the marbles. For a marble to be counted and kept it has to go out of the square on the fly, without rolling. This game works best when dense aggies (or steelies, if all players agree to it) are used to hit lighter target marbles.

Fort

Draw four concentric circles on the ground, one inside the other. The largest circle should be about 8 feet across, and each smaller circle should be about two feet narrower than the last, so that there is a 2" circle in the center (the fort), surrounded by a 4 foot circle, a 6 foot circle, and then the outer 8 foot circle. Each player puts 3 marbles in the fort, 2 marbles in the next circle, and one marble in the 3rd circle. The outer ring remains empty.

The first player shoots their marble from anywhere outside the largest circle, aiming only at the marbles in the 3rd ring. If they hit a mib out of the 3rd circle they keep the mib, ending their turn. (If they hit a marble in any other ring out of its circle, they must return it to its original spot.) If they don't hit a mib out of the third circle, they must pay one marble into the fort and their turn is over. This penalty will continue throughout the game, no matter which ring a player is aiming at.

In any case, they leave their shooter wherever it lands. If it is outside the outer ring, they may shoot on their next turn from anywhere outside the circle. Players may shoot at other players' shooters, but they don't keep them if they hit them. If asked, a player must lift their shooter to allow another player a clear shot at a mib. They must replace the shooter in the same spot after the shot. Players continue until all marbles have been shot out of the third ring.

Play then continues with the next player aiming at the marbles in the 2nd ring. If a player hits a marble in the 2nd ring, they are entitled to one extra shot. Even if the second shot hits another marble, their turn is over after the second shot.

When all the mibs have been cleared from the second ring, players begin shooting at the marbles in the fort. Hitting a mib in the fort can give a player up to two extra turns, as long as they hit another marble out on the second turn. When all the marbles are gone from the fort, the game is over. The player with the most marbles wins.

Dropsies

A good game when you have to play on a not-so-good surface. It can be played with two, three or four players.

Dropsies is played in a square. Each side of the square should be about one medium step long. Everybody playing scatters five marbles inside the square. Stand up outside the square with your toes just touching the line. You can lean in, but you can't straddle the corners or any part of the square.

The idea is to drop your shooter from above waist height onto the other people's marbles and knock them out of the square. If you can manage that without your shooter rolling out of the square at the same time, you get to keep dropping (and also keep the "victim" of your drop). If your shooter rolls out, you can still keep your victim (or victims) but you lose your turn.

Bridge Board

Also known as Arch Board. A board with nine cutouts along one edge is propped up on that edge to form nine archways. (This is called a bridge board, and also an archboard.) The numbers 6, 2, 3, 1, 5, 8, 7, 9, 4 are painted over the arches, one number over each arch. Players try to shoot through the holes and win the number of marbles indicated by the number above the hole. Any marbles which miss become the property of the board owner. The board may also be used to play Nine Holes.

Nine Holes

This name is given to two different marble games. The first game is Miniature Golf played with marbles. Players construct a miniature golf course from materials at hand and take turns shooting their marbles around, through, and over the obstacles they've built. First player to complete nine holes wins.

The second version of the game is played with an arch board. Players take turns shooting their marbles through the arches in numerical order. Arches that are shot through out of sequence don't count. A successful shoot through the correct arch entitles the shooter to an additional turn. First player to send his or her marble through all nine holes in the correct order wins.

Bunny Hole

A very popular game with variety in its play was "Bunny Hole". The winner of this game was he who was first able to hit the other player's marble four times, but this had to be achieved under certain constraints. A hole (called the "bunny hole") was dug by pivoting the heel of the foot into the sand or dirt. A line was then marked out some 20 feet [6 metres] away, and each player in turn then pitched his/her marble from the line to see who could rest the marble nearest the bunny hole. The person whose marble came to rest nearest the hole would go first. This player would then attempt to 'fire' his marble in a manner so as to rest it in the hole. No 'hits' on other marbles were accounted to any player until (s)he had successfully played his/her own marble into the bunny hole.

"Firing" a marble meant that a player had to flick his/her marble from a stationary position of his hand. No part of the hand firing the marble was permitted to be in front of the position where the marble had been resting on the ground. Using that hand, (s)he would flick or fire the marble from his/her hand, usually with the knuckle on the back of his/her hand resting on the ground, and usually using the thumb of that hand to do so. All shots of the game were conducted in this manner throughout except the very initial pitch towards the bunny hole that commenced the game.

Once a player was able to land his/her marble within the hole, they would immediately fire their marble at the opponents' marbles. However, if any player hit another player's marble before their own marble had been to 'visit' the bunny hole, the act would be referred to as "a kiss"; the game would be over, and all or both players (in the case of two players only) would have to retreat back to the starting line to re-commence the game, without result. This, of course, could be quite annoying or frustrating if a player had already built up quite a few hits on another player's marble! So, most skilled players did not resort to this kind of tactic.

The overall aim was to hit a particular marble 3 times after getting into the hole, then you had to "run away", before the final contact shot was allowed to be played - which was called "the kill". Once a player made a kill on another marble, if the game was 'for keeps', they would then get to keep the marble [bunny] they had 'killed'. The format of playing this game was that each time you successfully hit another player's marble, you were to have another shot - even if it was not the marble you had originally intended to hit.

Of course, the ploy was to hit the particular opponent marble 3 times, and then 'run away' to the bunny hole, because once you rested the marble into the hole, you immediately had your shot again, thus leaving no opportunity at all for your opponent to retreat his/her marble before "the Kill" was made on it.

Bun Hole

A one-foot wide hole is dug in the center of the playing field. Players attempt to get a marble as close as possible to the hole without going in. Whoevers marble comes closest without going in wins a marble from each player. Knocking in your opponent's marble is permitted - if you can knock the closest marble into the hole, and "stick" your shooter you can win the game (unless the next player succeeds in doing the same to you...in this game, you want to be the last to shoot!)

Ring Taw

To play Ring Taw, you first need to make a circle with a 7 foot diameter. Then you need to make a circle with a 1 foot diameter at the center of the outer circle. Players decide how many marbles each will put in the inner circle. The first player can shoot from any spot on the outer circle with his shooter, and tries to knock a marble from the inner circle while keeping his shooter in the outer ring. If they succeed, they may go again, but if they didn't hit a marble out of the inner circle while staying in the outer circle, the next player may go. If a marble was knocked out of the inner circle but the shooter's marble left the outer circle, the target marble is replaced. If you hit somebody's marble out of the inner circle, you may not hit that person's other marbles again until you hit someone else's marble. You play until all the marbles are out of the inner circle. The player with the most marbles wins.

Cherry Pit

This is the reverse of Ring Taw. A one-foot wide hole is dug in the center of a ten-foot circle. Each player places a number of marbles around the hole so that there is about a dozen marbles surrounding the hole. Players take turns trying to knock marbles into the hole. Like Ring Taw, as long as marbles are knocked into the hole and the shooter remains in the outer ring, players may continue to shoot. If a taw goes into the hole, the owner must forfeit a number of marbles and place them around the hole to 'buy back' his or her shooter.

Hundreds

Both players try to shoot their mibs into a one-foot hole. If both mibs go in, players start over. If one player's marble goes in, and the other player's marble doesn't, the player whose marble went in scores ten points. If neither player's marble goes in, the first player now tries to hit the second player's marble. If they hit it, they earn ten points and another chance to shoot their marble into the hole for an additional ten points. If they miss their opponent's marble, the second player tries to hit the first player's marble for ten points. If they hit it, then they can also try shooting their marble into the hole for ten extra points. Whenever a marble goes into the hole, both players start over from the starting line, otherwise all shots are made from wherever the marble stopped rolling. First player to reach one hundred points wins.

Dool

In Uganda, a popular marbles game is called Dool. It requires a small pit dug in the ground for two or more players, each with his own marble. To improvise, Ugandans also use the seeds of a candlenut tree, locally referred to as Kabakanjagala (The King loves me). To start a game, a throwing line is drawn on the ground using chalk or a stick some feet from the pit. Then the players roll their marbles close to the pit. The one whose marble falls in gets points equivalent to one game. If a second marble falls in and hits the first, a player gets more points than the previous player, but all have to return to the throwing line. When no marble falls in, the player whose marble rolls closest to the pit starts the firing session. When he misses, the next opponent fires. You can only fire 24 consecutive times per turn earning one point for each hit. But all that time, a player must make sure the gap between the marbles is bigger than two stretches of the hand. If an opponent realises that it isn't, then he can make a call, pick his marble and place it anywhere. When a player is targeting a marble placed near the hole, he must avoid knocking it into the hole or else give away an advantage. There are various rules for dool but the player with the most points wins. Favoured fingers include the middle finger for blasting strength and small finger for accurate long distance target.

Golli

India, Tamil Nadu Style (கோலி குண்டு -Golli gundu) Golli is one of the most popular traditional games played all over India. It is also called kanchey in North India and Marbles in English. It is considered a street game and is banned by many parents nowadays. The game increases aiming and concentration skills.

A set of Golli (kanchey) (marbles or small colored glass balls about 1 cm in diameter) ◦2 or more players ◦A shallow hole is dug in open ground

How to Aim? The marble is held tautly in the forefinger of the left hand. Then the finger is stretched back like a bow-string by the pressure of the forefinger of the right hand the golli is shot by releasing the finger Remember, while pushing the marble, the left thumb should firmly touch the ground.

How to Play: The objective of the game is to throw the Golli into the hole. ◦Each player contributes two gollies. The first player throws them together aiming at the hole using one hand. ◦In those two gollies one may fall in the hole and other outside the hole or both outside the hole. Then the co players choose a golli, and then the first player is asked to hit the selected golli with another golli that belongs to him. If he succeeds, he wins all the gollies in the hole. If not, he gets the one with which he hit. ◦The next player takes his turn with the remaining gollies. ◦If all the players golli does not go into the hole at the first try then second starts, in this the players have to strike out of the way the goli thrown by the other boys. Or, with a gentle blow from one’s goli, push the other goli, so into the hole. ◦The player who ends with the largest number of marbles is the winner.

Australian play

In Australia, games were played with marbles of different sizes. The smallest and most common was about 15 mm in diameter. The two larger, more valuable sizes were referred to as semi-bowlers and tom-bowlers, being about 20 mm and 25 mm in diameter respectively. They were used in much the same way as ordinary marbles, although sometimes they would be declared invalid because of the advantage of their larger mass and inertia. Owners of large marbles were also afraid to use them lest they be lost to another player as "keepsies". They were usually of the clear "cat's eye" or milk glass type, just bigger.

World championship

The British and World Marbles Championship has been held at Tinsley Green, West Sussex, England, every year since 1932. (Marbles has been played in Tinsley Green and the surrounding area for many centuries: TIME magazine traces its origins to 1588.) Traditionally, the marbles-playing season started on Ash Wednesday and lasted until midday on Good Friday: playing after that brought bad luck. More than 20 teams from around the world take part in the championship, each Good Friday; German teams have been successful several times since 2000, although local teams from Crawley, Copthorne and other Sussex and Surrey villages often take part as well; the first championship in 1932 was won by Ellen Geary, a young girl from London.

Marble terminology

• "Mib" a marble
• "Mibster" a marble player
• "Taw" also known as a "shooter" marble is generally a larger marble of about 1" inch in size, or 25mm, used as a players main game marble to shoot at other standard .6"inch, or 16mm, marbles called "ducks"
• "Knuckle down": the position adopted at the start line at the beginning of a match. The player begins with his or her knuckles against the ground, where the marble is held in place by being wrapped up by the index finger, it is then flicked out of the hand with the thumb.
• "Quitsies": allows any opponent to stop the game without consequence. Players can either have "quitsies" (able to quit) or "no quitsies".
• "Keepsies" (or "for keeps"): the player keeps all the marbles he or she wins.
• "Elephant stomps": when called, it allows a player to stomp his or her marble level with the ground surface, making it very difficult for other players to hit.
• "Bombies": when called, it allows a player to take one or two steps while holding his or her marble and, while closing one eye, will line up over one of the opponent's marbles and drop the marble trying to hit the marble on the ground.
• "Leaning tops": when called, a shooter leans in on his or her off hand for leverage over an indentation on any type of surface or obstacle.
• Various names refer to the marbles' size. Any marble larger than the majority may be termed a boulder, bonker, masher, plumper, popper, shooter, thumper, smasher, taw, bumbo, crock, bumboozer, bowler, tonk, tronk, godfather, tom bowler, fourer, giant, dobber, dobbert, hogger, biggie or toebreaker. A marble smaller than the majority is a peawee, peewee or mini. A "grandfather" is the largest marble, the size of a billiards ball or tennis ball.
• Various names for different marble types (regional playground talk, Leicester, UK): Marleys (marbles), prit (white marble), Kong (large marble), King Kong (larger than a bosser), steely (metal bearing-ball). Names can be combined: e.g. prit-Kong (large white marble). There are many more such names, as discussed in the next section.

Types of marbles

An orange and white toothpaste marble

Glass marbles from Indonesia

A green glass marble in India

• Aggie - made of agate (aggie is short for agate) or glass resembling agate, with various patterns like in the alley
• Alley or real - made of marble or alabaster (alley is short for alabaster), streaked with wavy or other patterns with exotic names like corkscrew, spiral, snake, ribbon, onyx, swirl, bumblebee, and butterfly
  • Ade - strands of opaque white and color, making lemon-ade, lime-ade, orange-ade, etc.
  • Cat's eye or catseye - central eye-shaped colored inserts or cores (injected inside the marble)
    • Beachball - three colors and six vanes
    • Devil's eye - red with yellow eye
• Red devil's - same color scheme as a devil's eye but swirly.
  • Clambroth - equally spaced opaque lines on a milk-white opaque base. Rare clams can have blue or black base glass. Medium-high value for antique marbles; rare base color valued much higher.
  • Lutz - antique, handmade German swirl, containing bands of fine copper flakes that glitter like gold. Erroneously thought to have been invented by noted glassmaker Nicholas Lutz. Medium-high value for antique marbles, depending on specific sub-type of Lutz design.
  • Oilie or oily - opaque with a rainbow, iridescent finish
  • Onionskin - antique, handmade German swirl, with many closely packed surface streaks. Medium price range for antique marbles.
  • Opaque - a popular marble that comes in many colors
  • Oxblood - a streaky patch resembling blood
  • Pearls - opaque with single color with mother of pearl finish
  • Toothpaste - also known as plainsies in Canada. Wavy streaks usually with red, blue, black, white, orange.
  • Turtle - wavy streaks containing green and yellow
• Bumblebee - modern, machine-made marble; mostly yellow with two black strips on each side
• China - glazed porcelain, with various patterns similar to an alley marble. Geometric patterns have low value; flowers or other identifiable objects can command high prices.
  • Plaster - a form of china that is unglazed
• Commie or common - made of clay; natural color or monochrome coloration. Made in huge quantities during 19th and early 20th centuries.
  • Bennington - clay fired in a kiln with salt glaze—usually brown, often blue. Other colorations fairly scarce. Fairly low value.
  • Crock - made from crockery (earthenware) clay
• Croton alley or jasper - glazed and unglazed china marbled with blue
• Crystal or clearie or purie - any clear colored glass - including "opals," "glimmers," "bloods," "rubies," etc. These can have any number of descriptive names such as "deep blue sea", "blue moon", "green ghost", "brass bottle".
  • Princess - a tinted crystal
  • Galaxy - modern, machine-made marble; lots of dots inserted to look like a sky of stars
• Indian - antique, handmade German marble; dark and opaque, usually black, with overlaid groups of color bands; usually white, and one or more other colors. Can also have many colors like blue, green and scarlet. Medium price range for antique marbles.
• Mica - antique, handmade German marble; glassy to translucent with streaks or patches of mica, ranging from clear to misty. Value depends on glass color.
• Steely - made of steel; a true steely (not just a bearing ball) was made from a flat piece of steel folded into a sphere and shows a cross where the corners all come together.
• Sulphide - antique, handmade German marble; large (1.25 to 3+ inch) clear glass sphere with a small statuette or figure inside. Most common are domesticated animals such as dogs, cats, cows, etc.; then wild animals; human figures are scarce; inanimate objects such as a train or pocket watch are very rare and command high prices. The interior figures are made of white clay or kaolin, and appear a silvery color due to light refraction. A sulphide with a colored-glass sphere, or with a painted figure inside, is also very rare and brings a high price. Like other types of antique marbles, sulfides have been reproduced and faked in large quantities.
• Swirly - is a common marble made out of glass with one swirly color.
• Shooter- Any marble but in a bigger size.
• Tiger- clear with orange-yellow stripes
• Baby - white with colours visible on the outside

Marble collecting

Some historic marbles

Marble players often grow to collect marbles after having outgrown the game. Marbles are categorized by many factors including condition, size, type, manufacturer/artisan, age, style, materials, scarcity, and the existence of original packaging (which is further rated in terms of condition). A marble's worth is primarily determined by type, size, condition and eye-appeal, coupled with the law of supply and demand. Ugly, but rare marbles may be valued as much as those of very fine quality. However, this is the exception, rather than the rule - "Condition is King" when it comes to marbles. Any surface damage (characterized by missing glass, such as chips or pits) typically cut book value by 50% or more.

Due to the large market, there are many related side businesses that have sprung up such as numerous books and guides, web sites dedicated to live auctions of marbles only, and collector conventions. Additionally, many glass artisans produce art marbles for the collectors' market only, with some selling for hundreds of dollars.

Manufacturing

A very large American-made marble making machine at Bovey Tracey, Devon, England

Marbles are made using many techniques. They can be categorized into two general types: hand-made and machine-made.

Marbles were originally made by hand. Stone or ivory marbles can be fashioned by grinding. Clay, pottery, ceramic, or porcelain marbles can be made by rolling the material into a ball, and then letting dry, or firing, and then can be left natural, painted, or glazed. Clay marbles, also known as crock marbles or commies (common), are made of slightly porous clay, traditionally from local clay or leftover earthenware ("crockery"), rolled into balls, then glazed and fired at low heat, creating an opaque imperfect sphere that is frequently sold as the poor boy's "old-timey" marble. Glass marbles can be fashioned through the production of glass rods which are stacked together to form the desired pattern, cutting the rod into marble-sized pieces using marble scissors, and rounding the still-malleable glass.

Until the the 1900’s almost all marbles, especially those of glass, were made by hand. In 1846 a german glassblower invented glass scissors, known as marbelschere, that were used to cut the still malleable glass into marble size pieces that were then formed into round spheres by hand. This slow and imperfect process made production of marbles very time consuming. This process continued until 1903 when Martin Frederick Christensen being inspired by his freshly patented steel-ball-bearing machine, decided to tweak the design to make glass marbles.

File:Marble Manufacturing Process.jpg

Molten glass being formed by a marble furnace.

His marble machine cut a stream of glass into snippets of molten glass "slugs" which fell onto a pair grooved wheels for cooling. The machine would roll the snippet just long enough to be cool into a solid state before the mechanism would drop the marble out for another slug to be dropped in and shaped. Later refinements employed two long spiral-toothed parallel-rotating cylindrical drums with semi-circular grooves that moved in opposite direction to continuously roll the snippet of molten glass into rounder and rounder globules as they were pushed along by the interlocking threads of the two drums. These rollers quickly form the globules of malleable glass into perfectly round spheres as they cool to a semisolid state as they move down the intersection of the two drums, eventually dropping off the end into a pile of other marbles where they cool for hours or days, as the marbles are still scorching hot. Various forms of this machine are used to make marbles in the present day, usually differing most notably in the way the glass is mixed prior to being cut and dropped onto the rollers. Color is added to the main batch glass and/or to additional glass streams which are combined with the main stream in a variety of ways. For example, in the "cat's-eye" style, a colored glass stream is introduced into a transparent main stream. The starlike shape of the cat's eye's core emerges naturally as it is rolled. Applying more expensive colored glass to the surface of cheaper transparent or white glass is also a common technique. Some marbles such as the confetti type will even introduce small pieces of glass to the marble as it is rolling, covering the surface in a unique and colorful texture.

Manufacturing Process

The first step to making marbles in the the meltdown. In order to create the mixture that eventually becomes a marble, sand, soda lime, feldspar, and crushed cullet are put into a large tank. In order to melt everything the tank is heated to about 2300°F. This process can sometimes take more than a day. The next step is injection. The melted mixture is moved into another tank called the flow tank. Molten colored glass is injected in giving the marbles their district appearance. Injecting different substances give marbles their different colors. Green marbles contain iron oxide, cobalt is injected in order to make blue marbles, manganese will make the marble purple, and uranium oxide will give a marble a greenish yellow shade. Not only is the design of the marbles effected by the substances that they are injected with, but also the speed of the injection determines the design on the marbles. The last step in the process is cutting and cooling. Once the glass has obtained its distinct color, the flow tank releases the molten mixture in globs. There are cutting devices that cut the mixture into equal parts that are then dropped on to grooved rollers that shape the globes into perfect spheres as the glass cools. At the end of the rollers the marbles fall into a large bucket where they are left to continue cooling for many hours.

Manufacturing locations

There were a lot of businesses that made marbles in Ohio. One major marble manufacturing company outside of Ohio is Marble King, located in Paden City, West Virginia, which was featured in the television shows Made in America, Some Assembly Required and The Colbert Report. Currently, the world's largest manufacturer of playing marbles is Vacor de Mexico who sells their marbles under the trade name of "Mega Marbles", In 2006 Vacor De Mexico was purchased by Fabricas Selectas who has continued the production of marbles under the brand "Mega Marbles" making 90 percent of the world’s marbles. Over 12 million are produced daily.

Marbles are also made in China, and have been rocked by scandals containing lead, arsenic, and cadmium contaminants due to the use of recycled glass which it's self is contaminated. Chinese marbles are also notorious for being lack-luster, and of low quality.

Timeline of Manufacturers

[[Category:Marble Manufactures|DragonZest/sandbox]

Competition between companies

Most marble manufacturers used similar manufacturing technologies, yet fierce competition between them led companies to create intricate designs and patterns in their marbles in order to differentiate themselves and gain an artistic edge for discerning children. Each manufacturer had a dossier of secret recipes that were closely guarded pieces of intellectual property. Some of these secrets are still held to the very day within the industry. There are various techniques in creating a truly unique marble in terms of color and pattern. The many different color variations are the result of combinations of fluorspar, basic sand, soda ash, and feldspar, zinc oxide, cobalt oxide and black copper oxide is used. When creating colors the temperature and the timing have to be just right. Because slight changes in temperature, timing, and other inputs led to secret recipes in order to distinguish their marbles from others. It was important to have a loyal workforce, with an intimate knowledge base who could tool the machine in accordance to a certain color and pattern. These men were true artists of the marble machine. The differences in recipes that were used between various manufacturers was so unique that to this day antique marbles can be easily identified because of their unique chemical and stylistic signature.

Art marbles

Main article: Art marble

Art marbles are high-quality collectible marbles arising out of the art glass movement. They are sometimes referred to as contemporary glass marbles to differentiate them from collectible antique marbles, and are spherical works of art glass.

Collectible contemporary marbles are made mostly in the United States by individual artists such as Josh Simpson.

Art marbles are usually around the size of a 50mm marble, also known as a "toe breaker", but can vary, depending on the artist and the print. It is strongly advised in the marble community not to drop a "toe breaker"

Marble Repair

Polishing and buffing are the most common methods used to repair marbles. "Cooking" is another way to repair marbles, but this method is much more difficult. Repaired marbles are sometimes passed off as fakes, so collectors need to be able to distinguish the difference between repaired and original marbles.

1.)“Polishing and buffing” These two methods are used to repair surface damage to antique marbles. Polishing works the best in repairing handmade marbles. The basic method for polishing marbles is grinding and buffing the surface to make it smooth and delicate. Buffing is more suitable for machine made marbles. Buffing is able to fix simple cosmetic issues. If the marbles surface has been roughed, buffing will smooth the surface and make it shiny again. Chips and fractures caused from collisions cannot be repaired by buffing.

2.)“Cooking” “Cooking” is the most difficult method of marble repair, but is necessary in repairing chips and cracks. This repair method uses high temperature to melt fractured pieces of the marble back together.

Marble video games

• Enigma (2007)
• Marble Blast Gold (2003), a "get to the finish" first person game for the PC and Xbox; a sequel, Marble Blast Ultra (2006), was released later for the Xbox 360
• Marble Drop (1997), a computer game wherein players place marbles in a complicated apparatus in an attempt to solve a puzzle.
• Marble Madness (1984), an Atari game wherein players race each other to the finish line.
• Oxyd (1991), a game for Amiga, Atari ST, and Macintosh
• Switchball (2007), a game for the PC and Xbox 360
• The World Ends with You, an action role-playing game that uses a marble-like system called "Tin Pin Slammer" as the basis for several plot events but requires the use of pins instead of marbles. The original Japanese name for this minigame is "Marble Slash".

Other games

• Abalone (board game), a board game in which white and black marbles try to knock each other into a gutter that lines the outside of the board
• B-Daman, a toy that fires marbles and can be played under several game rules
• Bakugan Battle Brawlers, a game which uses magnetic spring loading marbles which open up to reveal creatures used to play the game
• Chinese checkers, often called "Marble Checkers", a board game for two to six players using marbles as game pieces
• Hungry Hungry Hippos, a tabletop game for two to four players involving marbles
• Ker-Plunk, a game for two to four players involving marbles.
• Marble Silde: also known as Rolling ball sculpture, Marble maze, marble run, marble rail, marble coaster. Used in such things as pinball machines and Rube Goldberg machines. A game of skill, involving building using; rails, tracks, cones, wheels, levers, and ramps.
• Tock, also known as Tuck, is a cards/board game in which players race their four marbles (or tokens) around the board, with the objective being to be the first to take all of one's marbles "home".

See also

• Cherokee marbles
• Croquet

Further reading

• Baumann, Paul. Collecting Antique Marbles (4th ed.).

External links

• Marble King featured on "Made in America" TV show
• World Marbles Federation
• Associated Press, Toby Sterling (January 4, 2014). "Marbles that belonged to Anne Frank rediscovered". Yahoo! News.

Category:Balls Category:Children's games Category:Physical activity and dexterity toys Category:Games of physical skill Category:Street games Category:Collectible-based games Category:Toy collecting Category:Traditional toys Category:Glass art Category:Game equipment