I am a child of the 80's, and had hundreds of marbles and jacks given to me
by various aunts and uncles -- to my recollection, my sister and I never
played with them because we had no idea HOW one was supposed to use them. I
do remember that somehow, despite our lack of interest in them, they ended
up all over the house and yard. My mother was constantly in a state of alarm
about it, because apparently baby brothers crawl around and eat them.
 Marbles can be used in a game? Shocking. Nintendo was way cooler.