Item PGN
This Item was Sold on 30 August
2022 for $185
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This long distant boomerang was made in the mid 1970s out of 8 ply 6.2 mm Birch Plywood. There are 2 lead weights on the lift arm tip and a single lead weight on the dingle arm tip. It lakes the premium art because this one was made for his personal use out of premium wood and weighted for long range flights. The old Herb Smith logo decal is on the elbow. It is signed and marked as 4 1/4 ounces and with the name "Viscount Ranger" written on the underside. It is in excellent condition. I purchased this boomerang directly from Herb's widow, Anim. She took it from Herb's personal collection so it is probably a superb flyer. I have not thrown it. It has been stored in my collection box for 20+ years. A very nice collectible in excellent condition.
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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