Item BG12
This Item was Sold on 3 April 2009
for $173
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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
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 the " Tigarang " made out of 3 mm Paxolin.
The upper surface is painted dark blue with gold tips and
with red and black border lines. Near the lift arm tip is
one of Herb's logo decals. These are almost never found on
Herb's Paxolin boomerangs. The underside is painted dark
blue and has " Tigarang 1986" written in black ink. This
boomerang is in very good to excellent condition with no
paint chips, but there is some wear and light scratches on
both surfaces from use. I have not thrown this one, but I
would expect it to have a range of 70-90 metres and it would
require a moderate to high power throw.