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 catalog in the early 1970s. Before Al Gerhards started making his S/L hooks, Herb Smith was the only commercial suppliers 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 models even after the introduction of his Paxolin models. The Paxolin models were smaller and usually painted in two colors with simple line art banding. The wooden models were often decorated with colored 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 both Paxolin and finely decorated wooden models. This continued until his death in 1995. Herb's models have become among the finest of collectable boomerangs as the supply continues to dimish.

This "Sussex Hook" boomerang was made out of Birch plywood in 1993. It is finely decorated showing a Pheasant in flight on the elbow and with colored lines and bands on the blade tips. This is a large hook, but it is unweighted so the flight range is expected to be 50-60 metres. It is signed and dated and has the name of model printed on the underside. It is in mint condition and probably has been thrown only a few times.