How to Collect Antique Marbles

Collecting antique marbles can be fun for young and old.

Antique marbles are classic children’s toys. They glisten in the sun and hold many colors. They are festive and pretty. Marbles can bring back the child in adults, too. They may not be as flashy as video games and computers, but they still can entertain children for hours and provide a hobby. Since most marbles are unique, collecting them can be an eye-opening experience for youngsters.

Instructions

1. Seek marble collecting forums on the Internet. Forums such as Land of Marbles has discussions about marbles, places you can ask about collecting in general or ask specific questions about value and prices. This is a good place to start. As with nearly every collectible these days, there is a wide range of information about marbles available, including appraisal and selling websites.

2. Decide what level of marble collector you wish to be. If you are helping a child begin this hobby, you probably only want to start small. You can help the child with a starter set of marbles that may intrigue him or her. The more information you have about marbles yourself, the better you can help the child learn about the hobby. You can gather this information from marble websites and books, and by talking to collectors. Essentially, there are two types of marbles collected: hand-made and machine made.

3. Start with your local toy or department store. Some stores, especially specialty stores, may have new collections of marbles for sale. Marbles also come in games such as Chinese Checkers, but they tend to be monochromatic. These are good sources for playable marbles, ones kids can "shoot" and play other games with, even if they are not collectible from an enthusiast's point of view. They may start the interest, too, for later collecting of antique marbles.

4. 

   Try local antique stores. This is where you can find sets of marbles once collected by little boys in eras past. Marbles were big with boys throughout the 20th century and many preserved their large collections. Sometimes, these collections, big and small, end up in antique stores. Prices may range greatly. A dealer who is a marble enthusiast can help you start to see what types of marbles there are to collect and help get you started.

5. Check out flea markets, garage, yard and tag sales. These can be inexpensive places to get marbles. They generally will be in bunches, often collected in glass jars. They may be dull or not very pretty, and they may not be collectible by higher standards, but they can make a good start for kids. They also may have that occasional rare marble tucked in the middle that makes the whole set worth buying. At some marbles websites, you can upload photos of marbles to get appraisals and other information about them.

6. Move to the Internet. eBay is an obvious choice, but there are many other websites about marbles and those that sell them. These can range from basic to very expensive collector’s marbles. Asking questions of both the sellers and on the marbles forums can get you started with collecting from online sources. Online sellers often have photos of the marbles. You can copy these photos and show them to other collectors online or in person to get their opinions about price and collectibility.

7. Go to marble and antique shows. Marble shows generally take place in bigger cities, but most areas have regular antique shows in church halls, American Legion and VFW halls and in schools, especially near the holidays. Antique shows will have fewer marbles than marble shows naturally, but they will often have some.

Tips & Warnings

• There are many types of marbles. Start by collecting those that appeal to the eye first.

• Marbles can be marble or glass.

• Be careful not to collect marbles with chips as they are considered flawed and might even cut the handler.

Resources

• Land of Marbles
• Marbles forum
• Marble collecting books