Frank Marshall did quite a lot of work for commercials and this figure was undoubtedly for one of them. It is quite possibly one of the last figures he carved because he didn’t quite finish him. ( A work in progress)
I have talked many times about Frank Marshall and his being a prolific builder of figures even though his figures are rare today. He spent a half century doing nothing else for a living except building figures. We have guestimated that his output was around 800 figures but unfortunately exact records are not know so we will never know for sure.
During the three decades of 1970, 1980, and 1990 we had Craig Lovik building figures. His figures were sold through Maher Studios and he produced many figures over the thirty or so years but unfortunately exact numbers again elude us. Maybe Clinton Detweiler could shed some light on numbers since he ran Maher during this time period.
Here’s a great write up about Doctor and Ventriloquist Bob Baker. We posted blog with a video of Bob from the ConVENTion just a few days ago (click here to see that blog).
When you are a collector, no matter what the item may be, you start with the common and less expensive items and usually work your way up into the rarer items and items of greater value.
This is exactly what happened to me. I wanted to replace the original Dummy Dan figure I had when I was 5 years old and had to return to my friend who I had traded with to get him. I never forgave my mom for making me return him. Well really I did forgive her!! LOL
Here’s the second part of pictures from ventriloquist figure maker, James Manalli and his wood carving (if you missed part one, click here).
