Jack Coats Ventriloquist Figure Catalog

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Webmaster

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Gary Koepke and Dan Willinger

 

I met and spoke with Gary Koepke at the Vent Haven ConVENTion this past July and we talked about ventriloquist and figure maker Jack Coats.

Gary was lucky enough to be one of the few who actually knew Jack and because of his closeness with this great maker he became friends. I asked Gary if he happened to have Jack’s catalogue because it was one that I had not been able to find.

Low and behold Gary sent me this great 4 page catalogue and I am pleased as punch to be able to share same with all of you. You can clearly see that Jack was influenced by the great makers of the golden era.

JC1

JC2

JC3

JC4

Gary also told me he was supposed to get his picture in the catalogue but his submission was just a bit too late. Jack unfortunately passed on at a very early age in his 40’s.

His figures are rather rare today. I have one in the Ventriloquist Central Collection. Click here to see him.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2010 by Dan Willinger

NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

Posted in Ventriloquism/Ventriloquist, Ventriloquist Central, Ventriloquist Figure (Dummy) Makers, Ventriloquist Figure Building, Ventriloquist Figures | 3 Comments

Tom Crowl Visits Ventriloquist Central

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Webmaster

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Dan Willinger and Tom Crowl
www.comedyventriloquist.com

Last Friday was a very special day because my friend and pro ventriloquist Tom Crowl stopped in to say hi and to see the Ventriloquist Central Collection.

Tom was performing in Bangor ME which is a few hours up the seacoast off interstate 95 and so I asked Tom if he was flying or driving. He said he was in fact driving so I said I was right of route 95 just north of Boston so why not stop.

He decided to do just that and we got to spend a couple hours looking at the collection.

 

 

 

If you have trouble viewing the video, click here

I know he had a fun time and as I have always said if you are going to be in the Boston area please let me know and we will be happy for you to visit the collection.

 

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2010 by Dan Willinger

NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

Posted in Dummy Collecting, Ventriloquism/Ventriloquist, Ventriloquist Central, Ventriloquist Figures, Ventriloquist Videos | Leave a comment

REPLAY – Ventriloquist Central Interviews Bob Abdou

Posted on September 28, 2010 by Webmaster

Last week we had an incredible interview with Bob Abdou (AKA Mr. Puppet). If you missed it, you are in for a real treat.

Bob gave out so much useful information that this is a MUST listen for everyone. In fact, even if you did here the interview, I suggest you listen again and this time take lots of notes.

Here’s the replay of Bob Abdou’s interview:

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Click here to download mp3 audio interview

Here is an email we received from George Boosey about the interview:

 

It was great. I just lurked and laughed. Dan, Steve, thanks for scheduling this one.

And, Bob, when you talked about the disappointment you feel when others steal your material, I thought about how Johnny Main refused to perform during the last decade or so of his life at the convention just because of that. I was sitting with him one night in the hospitality suite and he asked to hold someone’s dummy and was playing around with it when someone pulled out a pocket recorder to try and record it and Johnny put the puppet down immediately and walked away.

Pete, thanks for calling in and taking the show to its end. As we all know, a good strong ending leaves everyone feeling good about the show!
— George..

 

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2010 by Dan Willinger

NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

Posted in Ventriloquism/Ventriloquist, Ventriloquist Central | 1 Comment

Oracle Ventriloquist Magazines For Sale

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Webmaster

MVC-023S

Here is a great chance for someone to get a good start on collecting the original Oracle Magazine or a chance to fill in if you are missing issues.

These today are very hard to come by and I myself have spent many hundreds to put a file together.

Here are 25 issues:

Grapevince Convention issue 1949
Grapevine Nov-Dec 1949,
Oracle May-June 1950, Oct- Nov 1950, Mar-Apr 1953, May-June 1953, Jan-Feb 1954, Mar-Apr 1954, May-Jun 1954, Nov-Dec 1954, Mar-Apr 1955, May-June 1955, July-Aug 1955, Mar-Apr 1956, May-June 1956, Jan-Feb 1957, Nov- Dec 1957, Jan-Feb 1959, Mar-Apr 1959, May-June 1959, Nov-Dec 1959, Jan-Feb 1960, May- June 1960, Sept-Oct 1960, Nov-Dec 1960

You may never get a chance to purchase these again.

 

Click here to see Oracle Ventriloquist Magazines For Sale

 

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

***************************************************

Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2010 by Dan Willinger

NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

Posted in Personal, Ventriloquism/Ventriloquist, Ventriloquist Central | Leave a comment

Great Theodore Mack Ventriloquist Figure Joins Ventriloquist Central Collection

Posted on September 26, 2010 by Webmaster

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As fate would have it I recently acquired this fantastic Theodore Mack ventriloquist figure. This figure was listed for sale on the Ventriloquist Central Marketplace a bit over a year ago and I helped the owner who had inherited it from her great grandfather price the figure for the listing.

I told her I wanted to have it for the Ventriloquist Central Collection but the price she wanted was just a bit too much for me but I did say I was sure someone would step up to the plate and make the purchase. I was right but a strange thing happened, the buyer talked with Maureen, the owner, and made an offer.

Maureen contacted me and asked if i knew the buyer, which I did. I must admit the offer that was made, I would have paid but I didn’t want to cut the buyer out. It would not have been right. I contacted the buyer and told him the story and made an agreement that if he purchased the figure he had to give me first refusal if he ever decided to part with it.

Low and behold that day came and after a couple minutes of negotiation this terrific Mack figure is now part of the Ventriloquist Central Collection.

This figure is about 98% original. He stands 42″ tall, has the head stick that goes to the bottom board of the body, has mouth movement, smoker and spitter. The smoker and spitter were still in the figure when it was sold by Maureen but the new owner removed those parts as they were not working. Luckily he saved everything so I will be reinstalling them.

I said 98% original and the reason is that when he removed the tubes he used the smallest bit of plastic wood to cover the spot in the lips where they went. This is an easy fix to bring everything back to 100%. His wig and his paint are original but again the slightest bit of paint touch up on the leather under the mouth.

You can certainly see where Frank Marshall got his influence from with the carving on this chaps face. I am certainly one happy collector to be able to have this superb Mack figure in the Ventriloquist Central collection.

I do hope you enjoy looking at him.

Click here to see this Great Theodore Mack Ventriloquist Figure

 

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

***************************************************

Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2010 by Dan Willinger

NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

Posted in Dummy Collecting, Ventriloquist Central, Ventriloquist Figure (Dummy) Makers, Ventriloquist Figure Building, Ventriloquist Figures | 1 Comment