Item AS25
This Item was Sold for
$182
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Historical Pricing information for this and similar collectable
boomerangs can be found on the Boomerang
Pricing Guide
Herb Smith was one of England's greatest boomerang
makers. Herb started making Birch plywood hooks and
traditional boomerangs in the 1960s and 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 world to
Paxolin material, a dense and hard composite material that
significantly extended the range of his plywood models. Herb
continued to make plywood models as Sports boomerangs, even
after the introduction of the Paxolin models. The Paxolin
boomerangs were smaller and 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 employed the
skills of master forgers in the prison where he worked. Herb
stopped making boomerangs in the late 1980s and the
boomerang world was without one of it's greatest craftsman.
Then suddenly in the early 1990s, Herb started making
Paxolin and finely decorated Birch plywood models again.
This continued until Herb's death in 1995. Herb's models
have become among the finest of collectable boomerangs as
the supply continues to diminish. This item is a Paxolin " Marinja ". The upper surface is
painted dark purple with gold tips and with red and black
border lines. This is the first one of this design and is
designated as "No. 1". The underside is painted dark purple
and it has " Hand Carved by Herb A. Smith of Sussex, England
; Sept. 1992. ; Marinja ; Gemstar Designs ; No 1. " written
in black ink. This boomerang is in excellent, almost new
condition. I have not thrown this one, but I would expect it
to have a range of 70-100 metres and it would require
moderate to high power. This boomerang was supplied directly from the estate of
Herb A. Smith. The proceeds of the sale of this item will go
directly to Herb's widow - Anim Smith. The price of this
item will be reduced every week until it is sold.