💫 ✨ big feelings on the internet 💫⚡️
Jelle’s Marble Runs is run by two brothers, Jelle and Dion Bakker, who are based in the Netherlands. Jelle has been building marble machines since he was a child. He’s already at dreams-come-true status, having opened his own marble museum exhibiting his marble machines. He began filming his creations, and viewership grew thanks a tv feature that went viral. Fellow marble enthusiast Gred Woods discovered the series and joined forces with the Bakker brothers.
The youtube channel features several different series. Marble League (formerly MarbleLympics) with events from ice hockey to synchronized swimming, Marble Rally with offroad courses, and Marbula One, multiple-lap series on different teams’ tracks. Additionally, there are special holiday tracks and cool non-competitive videos.
Maybe you don’t believe me that watching marbles race is exciting. Perhaps you cannot tap into the vague familial memories of a century ago when kids would play with marbles like we play Pokemon Go. So here are some little details that I also enjoy, to help you get the full picture of this hobby I’m proclaiming as the new best sport.
JMR’s attention to detail should impress anyone with even a passing interest in miniatures, art design, or stats. It’s clear that Jelle puts a lot of love into continually improving every run. The marble run’s growth is remarkable as you progress through the videos. The Marble League opening and closing ceremonies feature stop motion processions of marbles and Rube Goldbergian designs to light and extinguish the torch.
Now, there are large crowds, doing the “wave” with tons of fan signage. Plus, there’s multiple camera angles, animated graphics, and marbles hiding in the background. Sometimes a streaker might race across an event. I love the idea that Jelle’s Marble Runs brings all the details of real sports to events where no people are competing.
Stat lovers will appreciate all the details available to log and recall. The Sand Rally events always feature temperature, wind, sand saturation. Standings for every marble, point differentials, all these little details give the people something to really sink their teeth into.
Part of the fun is the personification of these little balls of glass. Greg Woods will often discuss their strategy or feelings as he commentates. All the marbles have backstories, and Marble League team beginnings are extensively detailed on the fandom wiki. If a marble gets injured, you can bet there are photos of their recovery on the wiki! Team Momo in particular has dealt with multiple season-ending injuries.
I must take the time to shout out Greg Woods and his excellent commentary. With such a fast pace, it can be hard to take all the details in. As a quality commentator, Greg lays out everything that’s happening in such a smooth way. He has a knack for discussing the marbles in a way that describes all the action and treats the marbles like drivers who make choices, and not just random balls of glass. His tone is light and reminds you that, of course, these are marbles, and we’re all just having fun here.
Overall, the audio is awesome. Adrenaline-spiking intro music, perfectly underlaid crowd noise and chants. Everything just fits so well! Is it a hockey event? Listen for that organ. Are the O’Rangers currently competing? There’ll be an “OOOOOOOOOOO” chant in the background for sure. The Green Ducks are up, you say? There’s gonna be some quacking. The marbles also make excellent ASMR clacking! Seriously, every detail is well-done and charming as hell.
JMR has everything I could hope to get from a sport. There’s the thrill of competition, because the races are truly random. None of these marbles have more muscle mass or are taking performance enhancing drugs. They’re just balls of damn glass. The playing field is so level, you truly never know who is going to win, or get stuck somewhere on the course and not even finish!
The thrill of the game! We got constant position jostling and come-from behind wins. On field injuries and on-the-spot manager firings, even!
It is real easy to get yourself invested, and luckily teams have great logos and slogans (and merch, ofc) so you can rally for whichever marbles speak to you. It’s a positive community where cheering for multiple teams is encouraged.
I’ve been spending a lot of time on the r/JellesMarbleRuns, lately. There are also subreddits for individual teams, but JMR is where you’ll find the most activity. It’s also one of the most positive communities around. I’ve been delightfully charmed by all the great fanart and memes. Speculation, power rankings, and lighthearted dunking on rival teams make for an overall quality community experience with thoughtful discussion and playfulness in equal measure.
When your sport is marbles, nothing is too serious. It makes for a great environment. There’s been a recent surge in popularity thanks to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’s sponsorship of Marble League 2020, and the overall mood is basically a party cheering when they see a new group of people arrive.
Sure, it’s silly. But what sport isn’t, when you really look at it? Football is just men running around with a leather hand egg and jumping on each other in tight leggings, for example. That’s fucking silly. The thing is though, Marble League fans know the stakes. It’s such a great time, because no one takes things too seriously.
But watching beautiful shiny glass orbs (uh hey fellow dice goblins: you will love this shit) roll around, smack into each other, and come from behind to upset a race is really thrilling. It’s wholesome and adorable. Marbles. Miniatures!
You need this in your life, trust me.
youtube.com/jellesmarbleruns
reddit.com/r/jellesmarbleruns