Pokémon Collector Marbles - Completing the Marbledex
In January 2000 Toy Biz licensed the Pokémon trademark to release a line of Pokémon Collector Marbles and accessories with signed agreements to distribute their products in all five major toy retailers of the time. Toy Biz was a subsidiary of (The) Marvel Entertainment that specialized in the production of children’s toys which sometimes licensed non-Marvel property.
It’s been suggested within the marble forums that these marbles were supplied by Vacor, which would seem correct due to Vacor’s known production of iridescent marbles and overall explosion into the market in the late 90s and early 00s. However, this informative article from Leigh Buchanan of Inc. Magazine records Marble King as the producer of these marbles. Verified by the CEO of Marble King, Beri Fox, "We knew it would be short-term, like the pet rock… unexpectedly, the orders continued for more than three years”. Fox claimed the company supplied Toy Biz with 500,000 marbles per day.
I wonder though, what company printed the images - this is not a service I know of Marble King performing.
Marble Varieties & Products
From my research these are all of the transparent base-glass colors that can be found:
- Clear
- Pale Pink
- Pale Yellow
- Yellow
- Light Amber
- Dark Amber
- Green
- Light Blue
- Dark Blue
Toys R' Us Exclusive Mew Marble
All 151 Pokémon were included on transparent base glass colors immediately upon the initial release, however the iridescent power marbles were spaced out into three series. Each series contained 50 different Pokémon , released in their Pokédex order. This inevitably leaves #151 Mew out of the power marble lineup, which I believe may have been due to an exclusive Toys R’ Us Mew marble that’s printed on a completely unique opaque blue base-glass. Like many retail promotions of the time, this mew marble was overproduced and can still easily be found in original packaging.
Trainer Marbles
There also exists an opaque mint-green base-glass, but only the trainer marbles were printed on this color. These trainer marbles were only available via the Poké Ball Carry Case product and are therefore the rarest Pokémon -related marbles from Toy Biz. Only five trainers were produced, they include:
- Brock
- James
- Jessie
- Misty
- Ash
Sealed Product Odds
Considering the 9 possible base-glass colors, collecting a specific Pokémon and color can pose quite the challenge - especially in sealed products! Reckon a collector wants a sealed pouch product with a very specific marble in the visible slot, for example a light-blue squirtle. If all Pokémon and colors were created at equal distributions, then 1 out of 1,359 products were created with a light-blue squirtle mib in the visible window. The odds further stack against the collector if a specific Pokémon on the pouch is desired, and an exact pouch color in addition would be a miracle.
Pokémon Collector Marble Pouches
The signature Pokémon Collector Marble product contains a marble pouch and 10 random marbles, 8 basic mibs and 2 power marbles. Only a single basic marble would be visible through the blister packaging. Marbles have been sold in similar groupings for decades, with one or two marbles being larger shooters; however, all of the marbles released by Toy Biz are the same ⅞” size and the only differing feature of the power marbles is an iridescent shine. I imagine this iridescence is meant to resemble the chase holographics of the already successful trading card game. The uniform size was likely a choice to keep all marbles compatible with the supplemental shooter.
There were 24 total Pokémon printed on pouches, 8 in each of the 3 series.
Series 1 Pouches
- Charmander
- Pikachu
- Meowth
- Machamp
- Hitmonlee
- Koffing
- Rhydon
- Dragonite
Series 2 Pouches
- Charmeleon
- Butterfree
- Sandshrew
- Clefairy
- Vileplume
- Golem
- Electrode
- Eevee
Series 3 Pouches
- Blastoise
- Poliwhirl
- Slowbro
- Exeggutor
- Kangaskhan
- Electabuzz
- Snorlax
- Mew
Pouch Colors
Pouch colors were not specific to any Pokémon or series and included:
- Dark Blue
- Light Blue
- Yellow
- Brown
- Teal
- Red
- Purple
- Orange
- Dark Red
Pokémon Collector Marble Cases
For the more protective collectors Toy Biz released hard-shell marble cases that held up to 10 marbles, featuring a built-in magnifying lens and belt clip. While still containing 2 power marbles like every other product, the cases were not serialized and only came available in 8 styles with fixated colors:
- Venusaur (Blue)
- Squirtle (Yellow)
- Beedrill (Green)
- Raichu (Blue)
- Arcanine (Purple)
- Cubone (Green)
- Hitmonchan (Purple)
- Zapdos (Blue)
Poké Ball Collector Marble Shooters
Of course Toy Biz wanted kids to play with the marbles, rather than develop a new game and ruleset they stuck with the traditional marble playstyle with an advanced twist in the form of a mechanical shooter. This battery-operated marble shooter launches a marble via the classic spring plunger and automatically loads the next mib from an internal tray via an electric motor. Intended to resemble the action of deploying a Pokémon to the battlefield, each shooter was packed with a Pokémon Battle Mat. A Marble Value Chart was included with each Shooter to guide trading deals with friends. It’s quite impressive how successful The Pokémon Company has been in their brazen gambling-esque marketing scheme. Unlike the pouch, but similar to the case products, the shooters were not released in series and only feature one of three Pokémon on the center tray: Venasaur, Charizard, and Blastoise. There are also no color variations across shooters leaving only the three possibilities to collect, a stark contrast from the other products.
Poké Ball Carry Case
The fourth and final Pokémon Marble Collector product was a large Pokéball storage case with slots to hold a total of 178 marbles, an odd count considering a complete Pokédex with the additional trainer mibs and Toys R’ Us exclusive comes to just 157 marbles. This case opens in layers that separate at the meridian and has a handle for carrying. Contained are 3 removable trays that can be used for more granular organization. As stated earlier, this product was the sole source of the 5 power marbles that featured images of trainers: Jessie, James, Ash, Misty, Brock. There are no variations to this product.
“First Edition” Marbles
Among online listings and thrift shops across America exists Pokémon Collector Marbles with a little white star surrounded by a white circle stamped next to the Pokémon . These are typically listed online as “First Edition” marbles. There are also some sealed products that contain these starred mibs in the visible window, with only a generic “First Edition Marbles” sticker alluding to the star’s significance on the exterior of the packaging. Although the trading card game did provide an official line of first edition prints, I can find no advertising or written descriptions of first edition mibs released by Toy Biz.
Considering these marbles released at a time when the vintage marble collecting hobby was undergoing a widespread infection of fake/reproduction “fantasy bags”, I think these may not be official first editions from Toy Biz. Rather I believe it’s at least within reason that an entrepreneurial individual(s) could be behind these star-stamped mibs and unbranded stickers. In a similar vein, it is known that dubious sellers have added first edition stamps to Pokémon cards for the purpose of increasing the perceived value.
Not long after their release, the Pokémon Collector Marble products began collecting on retail shelves until being moved to clearance racks in droves and making room for the newest Pokémon licensed products. Many of the sealed products found today still retain sale stickers, advertising prices as low as $1. A rather insignificant cost for a con-man with time and know-how.
The images and text on the official Toy Biz marbles were printed with ink, a rather easy medium to replicate with a small stamp and carefully concocted mixture - as seen with Peltier Picture Marble reproductions. However, I believe with a microscope it would be determined if the stars are added with the same type of ink. An excuse to buy some mibs?!? I think I may have to snag a sealed package with the sticker in addition, as I am curious if the 9 hidden mibs contain stars too.
Another observation sure to further raise the eyebrow is the absence of these first edition mibs on eBay from United Kingdom sellers. Pokémon was nearly as popular in England as America, and the demand for Pokémon Collector Marbles across the pond seemed no different. A search for “Pokémon marbles” on UK eBay is sure to produce hundreds of listings with no stars in sight; however, a search for “first edition Pokémon marbles” returns only one listing with two starred mibs at the time of writing this post. To play devil’s advocate, it is entirely possible that the first edition marbles were in fact created by Toy Biz but in such low quantity that they were only distributed in America.
While there’s no definitive evidence that the first edition marbles are fakes, there also seems to be no evidence of Toy Biz officially releasing the first edition marbles. For this reason and the litany of suspicious attributes, I will stray from collecting these stamped marbles for their perceived premium status. Although, I do want to get my hands on some for further research!
Other Officially Licensed Pokémon Marbles
There were additional marble products released over the years under the Pokémon license, however none ever seemed to capture the allure of Toy Biz’s original line. Some of these products also looked to either cut corners or reduce risk of child harm by switching the marble material from glass to plastic which really detracts from the collectible value. The desire for Toy Biz marbles specifically can be compared to the desire for Tomy Pokémon figures. Tomy being the most-desired manufacturer of the many figure makers, due to the overall quality and wide selection of products.