Ventriloquist Central - A Tribute To Ventriloquism

It has been over a month that we have run the poll on going to convention or not and the totals stayed pretty much the same for the entire time at 70% not going to 30% going. I am sure that the increased cost of fuel had much to do with this outcome.

We decided to replace that poll with a new one and here it is…..If you were given a choice of having only one figure and the two figures to choose from were a Frank Marshall figure or a McElroy brother’s figure which would you choose? Now I know the monetary choice but try not to let that swing your decision. Go to the figure collection pages and look at both maker’s figures and then decide. This should make an interesting poll.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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I’d like to take this time to extend a heartfelt thanks to Dan and his wonderful wife Helen.

On June 5th, I had my first visit with Dan. I was working on the Maasdam for Holland America cruise lines and the turn around port was in Boston every other week. Dan came down to the terminal, picked me up and took me to his home to see his collection of figures and he has a collection let me tell you. It was an amazing thing, seeing figures from virtually all the best builders. I felt very fortunate to be able to handle figures from all of them!

As we all know Dan has the biggest collection of Marshall figures but there are lots of others. Of particular interest to me was “Happy” which I grew up watching on Canadian television as a child, Brian Hamilton’s “Fats” figure, a wonderful Brant Gilmer figure that I was most impressed with and the one I really wanted to see, Lee Dunn’s first “Johnny”. In fact, during my second visit at Dan’s home I spent most of the time handling “Johnny”. I love the way this figure handles…unfortunately Dan will not part with him and I can’t blame him.

I also got to see Johnny Main’s figures. Johnny visited with my wife Tammy and I when I was working in Niagara Falls back in the early 90’s and we stayed up all night visiting coffee shops and talking about vent and the business. He was a kind man and it is nice to know his figures are in a place where they are appreciated and where others can appreciate them as well.

I also was able to spend time with their son Jason who is a talented closeup magician and we had a great time sharing some trade secrets.

I had a wonderful visit and learned a great deal about figures and their history (the highlight was meeting Helen).

Both Dan and Helen are genuine, caring people and the ventriloquist community is all the better for having them. This was just the start of what will hopefully be many visits.

Thank you Ventriloquist Central.

Mike Robinson,
June 22, 2008

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A mystery has been swarming for some time since I first published a picture of Brian Hamilton holding a female head he built in the McElroy style. More on the mystery figure to follow.

Stay tuned for the update but prior to the update coming you can look at her by clicking on this link.

Click here for Mystery Figure

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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All writings here are copyrighted by Dan Willinger and Ventriloquist Central. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

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I feel it is my duty to alert everyone to things like the fraudulent auction on eBay yesterday. I only wish I could do more for the ventriloquist community. I immediately recognized the Mortimer picture as having been a figure that was owned by Bill Nelson and he had a very hard time about 8 months ago with this scammer trying to sell using Bill’s pictures. He and I thought this guy was taken down but unfortunately he reared his head again.

Last time he had hacked into Bill’s bidder list and was using them to do the fraudulent sales. This is why I wanted everyone to know not to bid. This hacker is good and once he has your eBay name he somehow is able to get your password and then repeats the procedure.

Always remember the add age ” If it sounds too good to be true…..” You will never find a Mortimer Snerd figure for a starting price with no reserve for 99 cents or 9.99. It just isn’t going to happen. Also any sale that asks you to contact them outside of eBay for a quick buy price, well the bells and whistles should be going off.

I appreciate all those that emailed me thanking me for the update but I just want everyone to be safe in this internet world in which we all now play.

Ebay was contacted by me and others I am sure, and the listing was taken down in just a few hours after being listed. I also contacted the seller whose name had been used and told him he had to contact eBay to change his user name and password. Hopefully this will not happen again very soon.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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All writings here are copyrighted by Dan Willinger and Ventriloquist Central. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

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I simply must alert everyone that there is a scam artist who is trying to sell a Mortimer Snerd figure on ebay and it is a scam sale. If you look at this link you will see this figure.

http://tinyurl.com/48abq9

It is a wonderful figure but the add is totally false. DO NOT BID !! AGAIN CAUTION DO NOT BID!!! This scammer has a method of getting your name and password so stay away!!!

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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

All writings here are copyrighted by Dan Willinger and Ventriloquist Central. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!