Herb Smith was one of England's greatest boomerang makers and throwers. Herb started making Birch plywood hooks and traditional boomerangs in the 1960s. He was one of the first suppliers of boomerangs to the Boomerang Man in the early 1970s. Before Al Gerhards started making his S/L hooks, Herb Smith was the only commercial supplier of long distance boomerangs. One of the first boomerangs I ever purchased was a large weighted Sussex Hook with a range of 80+ metres. I became an instant fan. Herb was an early Long Distance World Record holder with a carefully documented throw of 108 yards on 17 June 1972 using a large weighted traditional model called the "Gem". In the 1980s, Herb introduced the boomerang world to Paxolin, a dense and hard composite material that significantly extended the range beyond that of his plywood models. The Paxolin boomerangs were smaller and thinner and were usually painted in two colors and with simple line art banding. The wooden models were often decorated with many colorful bands, flowers, birds and occasionally other themes. Herb did most of his own art work, but while he was a prison guard, he sometimes employed the skills of a master forger in the prison where he worked. Herb stopped making boomerangs for several years from the late 1980s until the early 1990s. Then in 1992, Herb got his second wind and he began making boomerangs again. This continued for only a couple of years. Herb lost his life to bone cancer in 1995. Herb's models have become among the finest of collectable boomerangs and the supply continues to diminish.

This miniature traditional boomerang was made out of 3 mm 5 ply Birch plywood and decorated on upper surface with colored geometric line art. It is signed, but not dated. It is a fine collectable and in excellent condition.