John smith Posted March 24, 2018 Report Share Posted March 24, 2018 Hello all. Thx for having me ...at an eatate sale i purchased what appers to be hand crafted wood ,glass eyed frogs with two of them barring a mark "BB7 (and the other) BB9"...can any one assist with identifying tbese marks.....thx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted March 24, 2018 Report Share Posted March 24, 2018 Hi John, nice to have a new person on the site. This would be a good case for posting a picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John smith Posted March 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2018 These guys are KOOOL..condition and style is A++....thx for taking a look ....if you have any more ?'s or want more pix jlmk... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted March 25, 2018 Report Share Posted March 25, 2018 I am going to venture some educated guesses on this one. At the very least, my thoughts might spark some memories or thoughts from others. 1) The hooks seem fairly modern, like within the last 20 years. They are not held on by split rings, so it means it is hard to change out hooks. This suggest it is fairly new. 2) The popper has a belly ballast weight, but it was crudely finished. This suggest either old or hobbyist. 3) The paint was hand done, with brush marks showing in the paint. This suggest hobbyist or old. 4) All of the old paint jobs I have seen, even the never used lures, seem to dull with age. These lures seems very bright, very clean, almost too bright. This suggest they are fairly new. 5) When I zoom in the BB7 looks like it was done with a brush, but the BB9 looks like it was done with a sharpie. This again suggest a hobbyist. If they were the same, I would think they could have been done later by someone else, but I think that it was just done at different times by perhaps the same person. My guess, somewhat educated guess, is that it they are 10 to 30 year old hobbyist creations, never used. The popper would surely catch fish today. The other one may not swim at all, and with the line tie in that top head location, I am sure that is what was intended. I suspect that the markings BB7 and BB9 are lost with the Hobbyist who made them. I don't know if this helps or not, but maybe it will spark some conversation about the observations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD_mudbug Posted March 26, 2018 Report Share Posted March 26, 2018 I would also guess that they are a hobbyist creations for all the reasons Anglingarcher stated. The BB9 looks like an attempt to recreate the Paw Paw Wotta Frog. The body shape is similar, but the hardware doesn't match up. The Wotta usually has metal diving lip and hooks on the leg ends. The Wotta also has different hardware to connect the legs. As for the BB7/BB9 , the BB might be initials and the numbers might be the maker's 7th and 9th frog attempts/models. Maybe the decedent's initials were BB? If the decedent had a last name that began with a B, the maker could be a relative. If the sale was at a residence, you could find the former owner's name at the registry of deeds/town tax assessor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted March 26, 2018 Report Share Posted March 26, 2018 One thing is for sure. While I personally don't think there is value as Old or Antique lure(s), I believe there is substantial value as folk art. My wife likes to watch the TV show "American Pickers" a lot, and I see things selling there for prices that I would not even consider. That may indicate I am cheap, or that I not the collector type. In fact, there are a lot of less flattering things it might indicate as well. But, my wife went through my tackle box and removed lures that my father and my grandfather used, and some of the ones from my childhood, and is keeping them for a shadow box collection. To her, they are history and deserve to be collected - to me, it means I have lost some favorite lure choices when I am fishing. I have to maintain peace at home, so her shadow box is more important than my lure choices. I am glad that my wife did not see these, because I am sure she would have added them to the shadow box collection. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted March 26, 2018 Report Share Posted March 26, 2018 I don’t know what there monetary worth is but they would be a sweet addition to a lure collection ...Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John smith Posted March 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 thanx too all for the quick and informative responses ...all the feed back was beyond my expectations....as far as the lures go..i think ill keep them for now as a "show and tell"..again ..thx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Young Posted March 27, 2018 Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 Cool pics. Thanks for sharing. These look like prototype baits to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
