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 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 for several years from the late 1980s until the early 1990s. Then in 1992, Herb got his second wind and he began making Paxolin and finely decorated Birch plywood models 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 item is a full size Paxolin "Marathon" that was made in the late 1980s. It is painted silver with gold tips with black & blue lines. The underside is painted silver and has " Hand Carved by Herb A. Smith of Sussex, England ; The Marathon " written in red ink. This boomerang is from Herb's personal collection. It is one of several that was discovered in a hidden box by Herb's widow in 2005, a full decade after his death. This boomerang is in almost new condition with just a couple of tiny paint imperfections. The boomerang has a cloth bag to protect the surface from damage.