Hello Corey,
You have asked a good question about "Why did grandpa love his marbles"? I am a grandpa myself and I have thousands of marbles that I have collected over the years. I also recondition marbles as I can't stand to see a hurt marble if I can "fix" it. I love my marbles and here are some of the reasons why and maybe your grandpa had some of the same reasons. When I was a kid our favorite past time was playing marbles (this was back in the early to late 40's.) We spent every school recess playing marbles. As my generation grew up we got away from marbles as other things came along (you know, girls, college, jobs and etc). Than we re-discovwered marbles, but not to play with, but to collect. This brought back memories of our wonderful childhood. We love the beauty and many types and kinds of marbles. I never look at my marbles without remembering the hours spent playing with them when I was a child. Some of my old marble buddies are gone now, but their memories linger on whenever I'm with my marbles. I feel sure that your grandpa had some of the same reasons for having his marble collection as I have for mine. If you have any pictures of his (your) marbles please send them to email address marblemender@neb.rr.com as I can and will be happy to identify them and put a value on them for you.