Bob Block - MarbleCollecting.com

Welcome to the World of Marble Collecting

Why marbles, you might ask. I'm asked this question quite often: Why do people collect marbles; what is it that makes marbles so popular; what is it about marbles?

My feeling is that marbles are universal. Every kid, no matter how poor or how rich, had marbles when they were young. Everyone had them. Everyone remembers playing with them. And, let's face it, you can't walk past a pretty marble at an antique show or flea market without picking it up. You're drawn to it. The ancients described the sphere as the perfect shape. 

So, if you've "lost your marbles" we can help you find them (and a few you didn't know you lost too!).

Who I Am

I'm the author of Marbles: Identification and Price Guide (Schiffer, 1996-99), Marbles Illustrated (Schiffer, 1999), the machine made marble chapter of Marble Mania (Schiffer, 1998) and the Introduction to Sulphide Marbles (Schiffer, 2001). I've written numerous articles and book sections on marble collecting and I contribute the marble pricing to Kovel's, Warman's, Rinker's, and Schroeder's guides, as well as Maloney's directories. Over the past fifteen years I've spoken to numerous historical societies about marbles, as well as at numerous marble shows, including the Amana Meet and the Columbus Meet, on a wide variety of marble related topics.

Visit us at MarbleCollecting.com to learn more than you ever wanted to know about marbles, marble collecting and marble playing.

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Let's Talk About Rarity, Grading and Guarantees

Rarity: This is perhaps the most overused word in collectibles today. I use several rules of thumb (borrowed from Harry Rinker) when I cite a marble as rare. I sort, grade and catalogue about 15,000 lots of marbles a year for my auctions (that's probably a three to four  hundred thousand marbles a year). My scale of rarity is as follows:

Extremely rare - This is something that I see less once a year.
Very rare - I see this type of marble maybe one or two times a year.
Rare - I see this type of item maybe once every two to three months.
Hard to Find - This is something I would see once every month or so.

Grading: Grading is kind of like economics. If you ask ten economists about the direction of the economy, you'll get ten different answers. Same with grading, if you ask ten marble collectors to grade a marble, you'll get ten different answers. For a complete discussion on grading, including images, go to http://www.marblecollecting.com/mcc/mecs.htm

Guarantees: We guarantee everything that we sell as to description, size and grade. If you find that the marble is not as described, simply email us within three days of receipt and send it on back. If the return is due to an error we made in describing, sizing or grading the marble, we reimburse you for the return shipping. Every transaction has to end with a happy customer, that's our policy. If you're unhappy, give us the opportunity to fix it.