Ted Bailey is a retired Aerospace Engineer who has been making and throwing boomerangs since the early 1970s. The first boomerangs that he marketed were multi-bladers that he sold on the C.S.U. Sacramento campus in the early 1970s. In the late 1970s, Ted sold traditional boomerangs at the West Palm Beach Mall. In the early 1980s, Ted moved to Ohio and became an active Ohio tournament competitor. He developed a line of miniature boomerangs that performed well in competition. In the mid 1980s, new products included lap joint boomerangs made out of exotic woods and high performance competition boomerangs, especially Fast Catch and MTA. Ted was active in the USBA and served as Secretary, President and as a board member in the 1980s. He was the editor of the USBA newsletter, Many Happy Returns, for two decades and also produced two independent publications: Boomerang Journal and Boomerang News. Currently, Ted is involved in internet marketing of boomerang products (this internet catalog) and teaching math, physics and flight science in private schools located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Find out more about Ted Bailey on the About Ted Bailey web page.

This Super Catch set is made out of a first generation Fast Catch and Midi-MTA boomerang that Ted Bailey used in the mid 1980s to place high in the Fast Catch, and Endurance events and to dominate the MTA event. Ted Bailey was the first person to do Super Catch, which requires a thrower to throw an MTA, then take a Fast Catch boom and do at least 5 throws and catches while the MTA is in the air. Then the thrower has to catch the MTA. This feat was first accomplished in front of a number of throwers on 30 August 1986 by Ted Bailey. The feat was recorded on videotape and it was sent to Ben Ruhe for USBA documentation. After the feat was accomplished, one of the witnesses wanted to purchase a set for his own collection, so Ted took another set from his throw kit, did super Catch and sold it to the observer. Both the Fast Catch boom and the MTA were signed and dated 30 August 1986. This item is that set. A different set was used to do the first several rounds of Super Catch that was recorded on videotape, but this set was used to do Super Catch on the same day.

The Fast Catch has some dirt and an elbow ding, but no cracks and it is plenty strong for throwing. It has a small weight on the elbow and dingle arm tip. There is also a coin held onto the dingle arm with tape. This is the exact configuration that was used to do the Super Catch. It is signed and dated 1986. I threw this Fast Catch several times before listing it and found it to be in good working order, but it is significantly slower than the triblader screamers that are currently used in competition. Do not buy this item if the only thing you want is a hot Fast Catch. It works and has excellent collectable value, but you are not going to set any records with this Fast Catch boomerang.

The MTA is the classic Midi-MTA that was used to dominate the MTA event throughout the 1980s. This model still holds the World Record for MTA100 (by Eric Darnell). This exact MTA was one of Ted's favorite competition kit boomerangs. It has a small weight on each blade tip and two weights on the elbow. It is signed and dated August 30, 1986 (Super Catch). On the following year, Ted borrowed this MTA back from the owner and did a throw and catch of 62 seconds. The owner asked him to sign and date this catch, so there is a second date (1987) recorded on the dingle arm with "1 min 02 sec". This MTA is still in very good condition, but there is a small edge sliver missing from the trailing edge of the lift arm. Hard to see, but you can feel it when you rub your finger along the edge. I test threw this MTA before listing it and found that it still retains most of it's magic. I had to twist a little bit of negative angle of attack into the lift arm and add dihedral to both blades, but I obtained several flights approaching one minute in light winds. I would rather see the new owner keep this MTA as a collectable and/or use it to make copies because there are not many of these Midi-MTAs left and this one has tremendous historical value.