Item BR06
This Item was Sold on 10 July 2007
for $200
Other collectable boomerangs for sale can be found on the
Collectable Boomerangs or Hardwood
Boomerangs or Art Boomerangs links.
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 boomerang is a medium large model made out of
Paxolin. The underside is signed and dated 1993. The
boomerang is in very good condition. It has been thrown
numerous times, so it is probably a very nice flyer. The
paint has lots of fine scratches and surface wear. The paint
is dinged in a few areas around the edges, but all of this
is minor and not noticeable unless you look at it up
close.