It is with great
pleasure and excitement that I can announce to vent world that Cy
Leonard's McElroy figure “Happy" has now become part of the Dan
Willinger Collection.
Back in November of 2005 Mr. Leonard put him up for sale and even
though I had put in an offer, his figure sold to Mr. Ray Guyll. Ray
and Barbara Guyll, as the vent community knows, are one of the
finest teams in the world for both making fantastic ventriloquist
figures and also restoring them.
When Ray received Happy he was in deplorable condition. He had been
poorly repaired for Mr. Leonard by someone who didn't really know
how to do it and so the broken head was put back together
incorrectly causing the eye mechanics not to work right as well as
the wiggling nose which had to be sealed in place.
This is why Mr. Leonard always said
he had changed the controls. HE HAD TOO to make the figure usable.
Ray proceeded to disassemble this entire figure which included all
the mechanics, every nut, bolt, spring, lever and also took apart
the incorrectly repaired head and over a six month period restored
Happy to the way he looked and functioned when originally purchased
from the McElroy brothers.
It’s actually better!!!! He is an absolute work of art. If Mr.
Leonard was to see him today he would fall over himself because he
now looks like he did when he first purchased him. I had the great
fortune to be able to work out the purchase of this figure from Mr.
Guyll. I just can't say enough about the workmanship that Mr. Guyll
and Barbara Guyll have done for me.
They have restored many Marshall
Figures for my collection and those also look like they came right
from Frank's shop. Happy is no exception. He is even better than he
would have been from George & Glen McElroy.
If you are willing to wait (as the saying goes “Good things come to
those who wait”) the end is always a treat. Every time I open a
package from Ray and Barbara it is like Christmas and I just want to
thank them for preserving the old school of ventriloquist figure
making.
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