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Le 27 Mar 2020 par didier

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Sad...

Sad to realize that Pete's side has closed. This is unfortunate, as he has done a lot to promote the marbles you can find information about within this website.

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Le 16 Fév 2020 par didier

1 commentaire, Le 21/08/2020 , à 08:39:13
The 2019 styles

For 2019, we had two new marbles styles, which are actually already known styles, with a different finish:

  • HEDGEHOG, which is a MORGAN style with a shiny coating


  • LLAMA, which is a BEAR style, with a shiny finish too.


One  is a new style, even if it is close to existing ones:

  • ELEPHANT


One is a renaming of an ol'one:

  • SLOTH, which used to be CAMOUFLAGE


The last one is a returning one:

  • WIZARD


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Le 27 Avr 2019 par didier

1 commentaire, Le 16/02/2020 , à 10:14:05
New styles in Greece?

Koutropoulos web site seems to be proposing quite interesting new packaging.

Some of them, the most Vacor-aware people already know, but some are potentially new Vacor styles (at least I've never seen them anywhere up to now. Check them out:

 

ΜΑΡΚ

ΑΠΟΦΑΣΙΣΤΙΚΗ

ΜΥΣΤΗΡΙΑ

 

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Le 01 Mar 2018 par didier

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Here they are ! 2018 styles

Yes these hanging bags were the real ones.


There will be:


Enchanted Forrest

 

Ice Queen

 

Sunrise

 

Mega Bot

 

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Le 06 Fév 2018 par didier

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New 2018 Styles ! Or not...

Hey, just saw on FS-USA facebook account pictures of the last Atlanta show what could be the next new styles!!!

  • Ice Queen
  • Mega Bot
  • En??? Forrest
  • Sun????

Anyone was at this show and checked them out ?


New 2018 Styles


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Le 30 Jan 2017 par didier

1 commentaire, Le 24/03/2017 , à 10:26:33
New 2017 Styles : come back, transmutation and teleportation

The new 2017 styles are there. This year, the new styles are all related to preexisting styles. Jupiter is a brand new style under a very old name. Penguin is changing to become what is elsewhere called Morgan. Superhero, Koi fish and ocean are new mega styles, that existed elsewhere before (find which ones on this site!). Fiesta is back. just the plain old fiesta!

 

 

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Le 01 Oct 2016 par didier

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FIRE BLAZE IS NOT CARDINAL

I initially found on internet some pictures of "fire blaze" type distributed in Europe and south Africa. I thought from the pictures that it was another packaging for the "cardinal" type.

 

I recently got a fire blaze net from Greece. I realized that it was not actually like Cardinal : Fire blaze has swirls when Cardinals have patches of colors.

 

This is why you will now find in the site FIRE BLAZE as a new style on its own.

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Le 26 Sep 2016 par didier

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Security!

A little technical evolution for the site : your connections to the site are now protected : the site now uses a certificate and uses https.

You can now register on the site securely.

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Le 25 Sep 2016 par didier

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Search by color

A new functionnality is now available on the site :

search by color

If you choose List>Search by color, you can select either base or structure color (by selecting respective checkboxes), and use a color picker (click on the colored zone) to select the overall color you wish to search for.

The slider ranging from 0 to 100 gives the approximate strictness in color matching : 0 means the very same color (very few marbles will come up for this value), 100 means a roughly similar color. Usually, a value of 10 should give you good result.

You can exclude transparency from the base color search : it is often difficult to define the accurate color for transparent glass. If you check this, tranparent base color marbles will be filtered out of the search.

Search by color input

The search will show you the list of the closest colored marbles, given colors, and accuracy level slider:

 

Search by color result list

I was about to allow transparency exclusion for structure color, when I realize that there were no transparency used in structure color for the Mega/Vacor marbles... Strange, no ?

Please try it and let me know what you think...

SEARCH BY COLOR

 

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Le 02 Sep 2016 par didier

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Did you know ? : Starburst

Did you know that MEGA Starburst was produced with 2 different designs. The first was based on patch, the second on swirls. Patches seem to be older, as we find it in yellow header bags. swirls are found in blue header bags.

Patche based STARBURST styleSwirl based STARBURST style

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Le 12 Jun 2016 par didier

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Vacor packaging names in different countries : crossing the streams !

May be you have noticed, if you're collecting Vacor marbles bags from different countries, that the names are not the same everywhere.

That would be no big deal if the names used in one country were not used for another style in another country.

To allow for that on the site, the name has to be linked to the packaging, not only to the style.

This is why when you search for a mega name for example, you may see other mega name(s) in the result list.

As an exemple : TROLL : See the troll, which is a mermaid, which a Spumoni

 

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Le 12 Jun 2016 par didier

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Vacor is in Greece too, and in Brazil too, and in South Africa too, and in Israël too, and in...

The site has been upgraded with reference to Vacor distribution in countries like Greece, Brazil, South Africa, and Israël. Greek bags are interesting, as the names are written in greek alphabet. Pictures of the bags have been uploaded whenever possible. Check them out !

No doubt there are other countries where vacor is selling. I wonder about Russia : will there be bags with cyrillic alphabet ?

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Le 09 Jun 2016 par didier

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Old mega marbles catalog views

Here are some old mega catalog pages scans (thanks to http://www.marblecollecting.com). I do not have the year for each one, but I'm gonna work on this.

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

Page 7

Page 8

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Le 03 Jan 2016 par didier

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New 2016 Style : Officers, Sea, Insect and Monster

The new 2016 styles, always visible first on the MegaFun USA facebook page. This time, Red Beard made it.

They can already be bought on the MegaFUN web site.

 

 

 

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Le 29 Déc 2014 par admin

2 commentaires, le dernier le 20/12/2015 , à 14:44:44
New 2015 Styles : fur, ivory and poison

Here they are, the new 2015 styles. At least they are on the MegaFun USA facebook page.

I can forget my bet about Odin, Red beard, Morgan or Saber Tooth Tiger...

No information about FCS date yet.

 

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Le 08 Oct 2014 par admin

5 commentaires, le dernier le 15/08/2016 , à 07:55:03
In search of lost nets...

HI,

In my constant effort to gather mega bags of different design, I realized that some of them may be difficult to find, even if they were not produced a long time ago.

This is a sort of wish list of these nets that were very shortly available, stuck between a design change and an "end of production" date:

These are : Agate, Fiesta, Leopard, Oily, Orangutan, Steely torpedo, Tree Frog, Centipede, Flamingo, Hurricane, Tidal wave, Twister and all the discontinued painters set (Michelangelo, Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh).

Agate Fiesta Leopard Oily Orangutan Steely torpedo Tree frog Centipede Flamingo Hurricane Tidal wave Twister

Regarding painters set, I could not find any picture of a different design for the year 2010 : I'm not sure there were different design (Oily for example kept the same picture).

If anybody has one of these, let me know...

 

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Le 31 Aou 2014 par admin

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Different header styles in MEGA US Marbles themed packaging

Putting together my collection of Mega Marbles, I realized that there was a significant number of packaging styles over time. Few people collect the different styles, focused on the marbles themselves. However, it may be useful to have a reference of these packaging, just to spot in time when the marbles bags we have were available in stores...

This list covers the US Mega brand headers. Of course, there were also different styles in other countries, but this post wouldn't have enough room to show them all...

  • SHIELD SHAPE

First packaging I know is shaped as a shield. I have only one like this, and I'm not sure to what extent it was used for multiple marbles theme.

Shield header (face)Shield header back


  • YELLOW HEADER

This packaging last until 1999. the header is a 92mmX78mm rectangle. It is available with MEGA brand name (Vacor US) or QUALATEX brand name (Pioneer Balloon Company).

MEGA:

Yellow header (face)Yellow header (back)

 

QUALATEX:

Qualatex header (face)Qualatex header (dos)


  • BLUE HEADER

Starting 1999, Mega headers are Blue or Magenta, the size being unchanged. Not sure at this time why some headers were blue and other were magenta. Not sure either if a marble name was distributed with the two different header color...

BLUE:

Blue header (face) Blue header (back)

MAGENTA:

Magenta header (face) Magenta header (back)


  • THEMED SQUARE HEADER

By 2003, 2 major changes happened : first, the size changes to a smaller 70mmX70mm square. But more important, the marbles types got each their own dedicated design, with a specific picture....

1ST VARIATION:

Specifics: Naive painting, red triangle as a warning sign icon, includes two display rings, and no game rules on the back, distribution brand is "Mega Marble USA":

Themed square header, first style (face) Themed square header, first style (back)

2ND VARIATION:

Specifics: Same as first, additional game rules on the back, some lost the recycling icon:

Themed square header, second style (face) Themed square header, second style (back)

Note: Some yellow warning triangle appeared on some packaging, not sure though that these were distributed in USA.

3RD VARIATION:

Specifics: Same as second, but the warning sign is smaller. The Mega Marbles icon on the back is more stylized:

Themed square header, third style (face) Themed square header, third style (back)

Note: This variation seems to be dedicated to the new styles issued in 2008.

4TH VARIATION:

Specifics: The painting changes for existing style and becomes more photo realistic. The warning sign is included in a black rectangle, with white letters. No more red triangle. Now includes "fun facts" within the header, and distribution brand becomes "Fabricas Selectas USA":

Themed square header, fourth style (face) Themed square header, fourth style (back)

5TH VARIATION:

Specifics: Same as fourth, but the warning sign is now black on white. Some includes the two display rings, and then not anymore:

Themed square header, fifth style, without rings (face) Themed square header, fifth style, without rings (back)

Note: Starting 2012, the "Mega" logo on the back reverts to a less stylized drawing (no "shading").

6TH VARIATION:

Specifics: Starting in 2013, the marbles on the front of the picture disappear. Compliance statements appear on the back, along with a 2013 copyright:

Themed square header, sixth style (face) Themed square header, sixth style (back)

7TH VARIATION:

Specifics: Starting in 2014, The 5+ is mentionned on the front. Okay, very light change, but still...

 

 

8TH VARIATION:

Specifics: For year 2015, border disappears, MEGA logo appears on the front. The front picture is repeated shaded on the back

Note: Only the new 2015 styles will have this style : Asian elephant, Jaguar, Poison dart frog, Red panda, Snow leopard.

9TH VARIATION:

Specifics: As for 2015, year 2016 sees a new change of the bag style for the new styles. The label turns to a vertical rectangle.

Note: Only the new 2016 styles will have this style : Firefighter, Police officer, Scorpion, Seahorse, Starfish, Troll.

10TH VARIATION:

Back to square world in 2017. Name is now written in a more stylized way, with bigger font. No more Mega logo on the front of the label.

Note: Not all 2017 styles will have this style : Jupiter and Penguin, though the marble styles changed, retained the former label styles

11TH VARIATION:

In 2019, themed new styles appear. For 2019, it is based on "animals". The front logo is back on the top left, along with the theme name. The style name is written under a picture of the animal, white on green. A Blue zone displays the marbles counts, and the warning sign. On the back, MegaFun is replaced by Play Vision, the new owner of the Mega brand in the US 


 



 

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Le 05 Avr 2014 par didier

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A new label design in 2013

Starting November 2012, US Mega nets labels have been slightly changed. The picture itself was not changed; On the front, the marbles (one to three) that were before appearing on the picture were removed: see below the pictures for the rooster style. On the back, the mega logo was "simplified" a little bit.

FACE 2

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Le 08 Mar 2014 par admin

1 commentaire, Le 12/03/2014 , à 12:39:14
THUNDERBOLT = BLUE BLACK PANTHER?

HI

I recently purchased a bag of what looked like blue and black  marbles in a 2000 era packaging. When I received the package, I discovered a bag labelled THUNDERBOLT, but the marbles where not swirled as I was expecting from the pictures I had seen so far : they actually looked very much like blue BLACK PANTHER ones, with two blue patches on each side of a black marble (you can see it on the thunderbolt detail page on this site).

Dos d'étiquette

Anyone can confirm what were initially thunderbolt like? Please, feel free to send me pictures of marbles or packaging you may have in your collection.

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Le 31 Jan 2014 par admin

pas de commentaires
Il est né, le site!

Ca y est !

Après quelques journée de travail, il est temps de laisser sortir le diable de sa boite, et de le laisser rencontrer le monde.
Nous allons pouvoir nous frotter aux amateurs de billes Vacor (peut-être quelques dizaines de personnes dans le monde), et voir si ce site peut fédérer leurs envies de communiquer. Pour commencer, le site offre une liste qui se verra au fur et à mesure la plus complête possible, référençant les différentes billes Vacor. Parcourir cette liste sera possible dès la page principale, une sélection pouvant être faite pour "spécialiser" la liste. Ensuite, chacun, une fois enregistré, pourra saisir le contenu de sa collection et le suivre en ligne. Enfin, un blog permettra à tous de communiquer toutes ce qu'il peut y avoir à dire sur les billes de cette fabrique. Voilà, c'est à vous! Faites vivre ce site et surtout, n'oubliez pas : si vous avez des vieux sacs de billes qui trainent; pensez à moi!