This is a selection of 3 first generation miniature boomerangs made by Ted Bailey in the early 1980s out of 4 mm Baltic Birch plywood. All three are in mint condition and they are from the collection of Al Gerhards. These are not novelty items, like the minis made by Rusty Harding and Herb Smith. When I competed in my first tournament in 1982, I quickly realized that large boomerangs were a disadvantage for many reasons, such as performance in wind and catching. As an Aerospace Engineer, I used an analytical technique called " Buckingham Pi" to scale down some of my best flying boomerangs so that the performance was the same, even though the boomerangs were much smaller than the originals. The development work was done during the winter of 1982/83 and when I started my second year of competition (1983), I cleaned up in a lot of tournaments, taking first -third places in almost every event. I made a bunch of these minis and they sold like hot cakes at tournaments. Ben Ruhe and The Boomerang Man sold hundreds of these minis, especially the V75 and V100 models which were fantastic sporting boomerangs and also used in the Fast Catch event. Few of these minis have survived over the past 3 decades, but Al Gerhards had three in his personal collection and they weren't thrown much because Al's style of throwing is tailored for very large boomerangs. I took all three minis out for a test throw before listing them and found that all were very good flyers with great range.

The Mini V100 is painted white with fluorescent orange tips. There are two small weights embedded in the lift arm, mid span. This one was made in 1984 and it has the Bailey Boomerangs stamp indicating that this boomerang was made in Toledo, Ohio. The flight is low and very circular, just like a fast catch boomerang. The flight range is 20-22 metres. You can add a little dihedral to both blades or add a coin to the upper surface of the dingle arm to tame it for sport boomerang throwing.

The Little "U" was made in 1983 and it is unweighted. It has the Bailey Boomerangs stamp indicating that this boomerang was made in Toledo, Ohio. The flight is medium high and the flight range is 35+ metres. This was one of my favorite sport boomerangs. It takes a higher release and lots of spin, but it does work well if thrown correctly.

The miniature Gerhards hook was made in 1983 and it has an embedded weight in the elbow and in both tips. It has the Bailey Boomerangs stamp indicating that this boomerang was made in Toledo, Ohio. The flight is medium high and the flight range is 40+ metres. This boomerang is a very nice flyer with great range, one of the best minis I have ever made.