Although the speedy little spheres have been popular toys for thousands of years, today's marble collectors are prepared to lay down some decidedly grown-up quantities of coin for these colorful trinkets.
But what differentiates an everyday glass bauble from a thousand-dollar one-off? Like many collectibles, it's a combination of condition, rarity, demand, and vintage -- but there are five standout classes that consistently draw the big bucks.
There's nothing better for collector value than ceasing production -- and nobody's been turning out these desirable clear baubles for nearly a century. Cunningly, they contain tiny porcelain figures -- usually white, although sometimes colored ones pop up -- depicting animals, mythological characters, famous buildings, and the like. Among the most collectible of marbles, good-condition examples with desirable, detailed figurines can easily fetch prices around $1,000.
At the top end? A 1900 marble containing a bust of Theodore Roosevelt, which recently sold at auction for $4,500.
German Swirl marble
And the bigger the marble, the more it's worth. Figure on anything from $10-20 for a ⅝", everyday example to several thousand for a large, finely detailed German swirl in mint condition.
They originally shot to popularity among serious marbles players thanks to their weight and hardness, the perfect combination for knocking lesser marbles out of play.
Chiefly made in Germany and the USA, their manufacturing process was labor-intensive and hazardous; the fine dust produced by the grinding machines made workers particularly susceptible to tuberculosis, and many died young as a result. This made them expensive to buy, and they remain valuable today, with good quality larger examples fetching as much as $200 a pop.
Lutz probably never made marbles himself, but after he died in 1906 his ideas would be adopted by European factories, and for a brief period in the early 20th century, glitzy "Lutz marbles" were plentiful and cheap. Thanks to World War I, that didn't last, and today Lutz marbles are rare collector's items. Once again, the key to value is condition, size, and design: even a basic Lutz is worth around $100, while larger and more intricate examples can run well into four figures.
Designers came up with numerous patterns, including painted geometric shapes, flowers, and bullseyes, but particularly sought-after are the so-called "scenic" chinas, which depict pastoral scenes around the equator of the marble and have pinwheel patterns at either end. However, only a few pastorals survive, and consequently good examples can fetch as much as $10,000. If you can find them. Which you probably can't.