Item CT0
This Item was Sold on 30 November
2020 for $160
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This longer range (60-70 m) sport boomerang was made out of 3.2 mm Paxolin. It is painted gold/silver with red tips. It is signed and dated June 1986 and labeled as " Mini Tornado ". Before 1986, Herb etched Paxolin instead of painting Paxolin becaue of paint adherance issues. This is an early Paxolin boomerang and it was part of Herb's personal throw kit. I do not know why he calls it the Mini Tornado because it is almost the same size and weight as the Slim Tornado. I think that the Mini Tornado was renamed as the Slim Tornado between 1986 and 1988? It is in lightly used condition and I acquired it directly from Anim, Herb's wife, after his death. This model requires a more powerful throw with more layover and spin, so it is not a good model for young children. A very nice high performance collectible from Herb Smith's personal throw kit.
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, a dense and hard composite material that expanded the range of his boomerangs beyond that of his plywood models. Herb continued to make plywood models as sporting boomerangs, even after the introduction of Paxolin models. The Paxolin boomerangs were smaller and usually painted in two colors and with simple line art. 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 a master forger in the prison where he worked to paint a few of his boomerangs. Herb stopped making boomerangs for several years beginning in the late 1980s and began making boomerangs again in 1992, Herb continued to make boomerangs for only a couple additional years. Herb lost his life to bone cancer in 1995. Herb's models are among the finest of collectable boomerangs and the supply continues to diminish. |
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