Item BR08
This Item was Sold on 28 October
2007 for $118
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Historical Pricing information for this and similar collectable
boomerangs can be found on the Boomerang
Pricing Guide
Al Gerhards is one of America's most famous pioneers in
the development of long distance boomerangs. Al was an
active thrower, designer and competitor in the 1970s and
early 1980s. His most popular model is the Standard Weighted
Hook which was made out of strip laminated hardwoods. The
standard hook was occasionally made without weights, but the
majority of these boomerangs had a single lead weight on
each tip with a unique serial number stamped in the weight
near the lift arm tip. The earliest examples (1970s) had an
additional half weight inserted into the underside of the
elbow. This was discontinued on hooks made in the early
1980s because the elbow weight was often the source for the
initiation of strip delaminations. Al also made strip
laminated large hooks, small hooks, omegas, traditionals and
the awesome Big "U"s. The large hooks were sometimes called
"White Lightning" hooks and Al used one of these to set a
World Record in the long distance event with a documented
throw of more than 125 yards back in the late 1970s. Only
500 standard weighted hooks with numbers were made. The last
one has a silver star inlayed in the dingle arm tip and is
displayed in Al's living room in a specially made holder
that also displays his world record "White Lightning"
hook. I visited with Al Gerhards in early 2006 and asked him
about the integrity of his boomerangs after 25-30 years. Al
assured me that he used strong epoxy glues and that he still
throws boomerangs that he made 30+ years ago without any
problems. Al recommends that the owners of his boomerangs
rub the surface with Tung oil or Gun oil prior to throwing
if it has been in storage. The boomerang should be oiled at
least once every 3 months if it is thrown regularly.
However, I discourage the throwing of this fine collectable
unless it is thrown under very carefully controlled
conditions. I would prefer that the owner make a copy of
this boomerang for his own use and save the original as a
fine collectable. This beautiful strip laminated boomerang is the "standard
hook" model made out of Dogwood strips. It is signed and
dated June 1978. This is an early unweighted hook, making it
an excellent sports model with a range of 40-50 metres. This
boomerang suffered from delamination of the strips in the
elbow and a small crack that runs through a natural knot in
one of the central plies. This hook also has an original Al
Gerhards' repair, which was a thick layer of epoxy glue on
both sides of the delamination. The boomerang feels solid
and looks great, especially from the upper surface. I gave
this boomerang several test throws and found it to be an
awesome flyer. It still has the magic that set Al's
boomerangs apart from other boom makers. This is unusual
because many of the original Gerhads hooks have lost the
magic tune. This one has not! Most collectors would prefer
to just hang this one on the wall. This would be a good
master so that you can make copies for your own sports
boomerang throwing. You would also own a boomerang with
original Gerhards airfoiling and tuning which you can't find
on most copies of Al's boomerang products as made by others.
Airfoiling and tuning was one of the key ingredients as to
why Al's boomerangs flew so well. This is a very desireable
collectable.