Who: Samuel Davis VIII, 20, of Hartwell, a student at Xavier University (majoring in business administration and minoring in computer science), who loves marbles.

        On display: Nearly 1,000 of the little glass balls.

        Where: In a plastic bag that originally held one of his family's Thanksgiving turkeys.

        School days: “My first marble was given to me by Deante Gates, who was my best friend at Hartwell Elementary School,” Mr. Davis says. “That was back in fourth grade.

        “Deante played marbles all the time. He wanted me to play, too, so he gave me one. It was clear glass with a red flower inside. Even though it is all chipped and beaten up, I've kept it and it's still my favorite.”

        All the marbles: How did Mr. Davis, a corporate diversity intern in the human resources department of Convergys Corporation, end up with so many marbles?

        “I won most of them,” he says. “The objective was to hit the opponent's marble. So, whichever marbles we hit, we kept. I might have come into the game with eight and my opponent might have had 20 or so. On any given day, you could walk away with a whole pocketful or lose your whole collection.”

        Dear Santa: “From fourth though sixth grades, all I thought about was marbles,” he says. “So that's all I requested for Christmas and birthday gifts. Of course, I received underwear, clothes and other toys. But the only thing that mattered was the marbles.”

        Pretty darn special: The largest marbles in Mr. Davis' collection are called “cobbies.” “I don't know why we called them that,” he says. “But you had to beat a certain number of people to win a "cobbie.'

        “There were only five cobbies on the entire Hartwell Elementary School playground. I had three. I bought one at a flea market not so long ago, and I kind of felt like I was cheating. Even though I'm adult, playground rules still apply.”

        Finders, keepers: “I found my other favorite marble in between some railroad tracks,” he says. “I called it "The Plopper' because it was beat up real bad. It couldn't even roll. So, I threw it during games. That probably isn't a real marbles move, but we made up our own.

        “I don't see too many kids playing marbles today,” Mr. Davis says. “But we had a great time. We learned group skills, how to count and how to agree and disagree. After all, you've got to form a committee to decide who deserves a "cobbie.”'

        Share your prize possessions with Marsie Hall Newbold by mail: c/o The Cincinnati Enquirer, e-mail: marsolete@aol.com.

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