Selling of Ventriloquist Figures

Posted on December 3, 2009 by Webmaster

From time to time I’m asked why I offer some of my figures for sale from the Ventriloquist Central Collection and the answer is pretty simple.

In the real world most of us just do not have unlimited funds. I am one of those. I have learned that you must , at times, sell items that you hate to part with to allow for the arrival of new items. This is true of ventriloquist figures as well.

I am constantly searching for new Marshall figures and sometimes when they appear you had better be ready or you will miss them.

The figures from the Ventriloquist Central Collection that I have offered for sale are great examples of figure makers and would be a great figure for anyone else’s collection or performer for that matter. I pride my collection for being a high quality collection.

Upgrading is the cornerstone of creating a great collection. This was true even with W.S. Burger. He did a lot of wheeling and dealing and was constantly upgrading. I did have a few people that emailed and were kind of upset that I would sell some of the figures but this is just what happens to make the collection grow and get better so to all those who were cringing at the thought of me selling off a few figures, take heart the collection will get better.

 

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 2009 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 | 2 Comments

Mark James Ventriloquist Serving Our Country

Posted on December 2, 2009 by Webmaster

mark-james
Mark James

Our good friend Ray Guyll just sent this information in to me and I decided that this was something I had to post on Ventriloquist Central.

 

Hey Dan,

Mark James is in Baghdad right now with the Air Force reserve and will be there till March. I think that it would be great to put it on the blog with his contact information (we do have his permission to do so). Maybe we can get a lot of cards and letters to him. Here’s the info……

Mark James Catledge
MNF-I CJ2 (A&P Section)
APO AE 09342-2002

Ray

 

Please take a few moments to send Mark your well wishes either by the address which Ray has provided or you can certainly leave a comment here for him to read. Mark is one of our followers here on Ventriloquist Central.

Thanks Mark for what you are doing for all of us here in the good ole US of A.

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 2009 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 | 2 Comments

Steve Meltzer Puppeteer and Ventriloquist was one of a kind!!

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Webmaster

steve-meltzer-ventriloquist

It is with the heaviest of heart that I have to give the worst news to all my readers here at Ventriloquist Central that our good friend, marionettist and ventriloquist succumbed to Cancer at 1:00 am Nov 30th 2009. As you all know Steve put his heart and soul into puppetry and if you watch any of his videos you can see how much he really loved what he did. Puppetry was not just a job for Steve it was Steve. The Santa Monica Puppetry Center closed this past summer and I don’t think there will ever be another puppetry place quite like it.

Steve is survived by his Mother, who is 92 and was with Steve to the end, and his sisters who I believe live in Florida

Steve I know you are showing everyone up there how to manipulate a juggling marionette and we all down here are better off for what you gave us. Rest in peace my friend.

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 2009 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, Puppetry, Ventriloquism/Ventriloquist, Ventriloquist Central, Ventriloquist Figure (Dummy) Makers, Ventriloquist Figure Building | 5 Comments

Frank Marshall Carved Hands

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Webmaster

A while back I did a blog about Frank Marshall style hands. If you didn’t see that blog click here.

I today thought you might like to see how Frank Created his carved hands.

I have pictured for you today Franks Hands in three stages of completion. The first is a block roghed out showing the actually size and shape of the hand.

frankmarshall-carvedhands-013S

frankmarshall-carvedhands-014S

 

The second is a hand nearing completion.

frankmarshall-carvedhands-015S

frankmarshall-carvedhands-016S

And the third is this hand completed.

frankmarshall-carvedhands-017S

frankmarshall-carvedhands-018S

Although the hands are carved you can also see the chuck mark on the end of the hand which shows it clearly was attached to a lath.

frankmarshall-carvedhands-019S

So it can be said that he did use some machinery in the production of the hands as well as a the carving tools. He was a master and this last style hand is the one he is most famous for creating.

 

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 2009 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 Frank Marshall Figure (Dummy), Ventriloquism/Ventriloquist, Ventriloquist Central, Ventriloquist Figure (Dummy) Makers, Ventriloquist Figure Building | 1 Comment

Frank Marshall's Rolling Eye Winker

Posted on November 29, 2009 by Webmaster

I was asked recently about the rolling eye winker and how it worked. I thought that would be something everyone would like to see so here you go.

frankmarshall-winker-011S

frankmarshall-winker-012S

This is a Frank Marshall figure’s inside of the head from the 1930’s. As you can see the mechanics are not very complicated. Marshall used glass eyes which he filled with plastic wood. he would the drill a horizontal hole through for the eye ro rotate downward upon then attached the string and spring to the back of the eye.

This was a simple yet very effective was of doing a winker. Also if you look you can see that the original cord is still attached showing that if done right cord is just as good as any direct linkage and maybe even better.

 

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 2009 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 Frank Marshall Figure (Dummy), Ventriloquism/Ventriloquist, Ventriloquist Central, Ventriloquist Figure (Dummy) Makers, Ventriloquist Figure Building | 1 Comment