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00:00I don't want to ask about these trains.
00:01Those are the finest cars Lionel ever made.
00:03Wow, these are just so cool.
00:04I just couldn't imagine being a kid back in the day
00:07having one of these.
00:08They're in an amazing condition for the age.
00:10I haven't seen Frankie this locked in on a piece in a while.
00:13Would you entertain an offer on these?
00:15It would have to be an awful good price.
00:18Ooh, look at this.
00:19Ball and change.
00:19Is it a real one?
00:20Oh, yeah.
00:21This guy is a judge and a retired school teacher.
00:24What do you value that at?
00:25I'm going to be cheap.
00:26I mean, he's strict.
00:27I'm sure I'm not the first guy that's stood in front of you
00:29asking for mercy on something with a ball and change.
00:34What do you got on the cold cold sun?
00:36About $100.
00:36What do you got on this?
00:37About $100.
00:38What would you have to have for this?
00:40About $100.
00:41Everything seems to be about $100 today.
00:42It's clear that he's trying to brainwash me
00:44with this $100 thing.
00:46I want to give you a special deal.
00:48About $100.
00:49He thinks I'll break, but I won't.
00:52I'm Mike Wolf.
00:53And I'm Frank Freck.
00:55And we're Pickers.
00:57We travel the back roads of America
00:59looking to buy rusty gold.
01:03We make a living telling the history of America
01:05one piece at a time.
01:13All right.
01:14Good luck with everything.
01:16Today, I'm sending the guys to Kentucky
01:17from the Nashville store.
01:19You're going back to Iowa, right?
01:20Yes, I'm heading back to Iowa.
01:22You guys are headed to Kentucky, however.
01:23Do you have Cecil Hopper's address?
01:26I've been working on this for a while.
01:27He's a toy guy, right?
01:28He's a super toy guy.
01:29So I tell Frankie, this is a you lead Frankie.
01:32I'm sending you to Cecil Hopper.
01:34He's a toy guy.
01:35This is a Frankie day.
01:36Got it.
01:36This is like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.
01:40See you back in Iowa, Danny.
01:41Get him on the way.
01:41Get in the car.
01:41I hope they find a lot of good stuff in Kentucky
01:44because we need the inventory.
01:46See, it's not that hard.
01:47You got to get him into the car.
01:48That's the hard part.
01:49You want to take a coffee break?
01:55Mmm.
01:56This guy's got a nice pad.
01:57You smell that?
01:57That smells battery operated.
01:59Yep.
02:00This guy was a dentist, and when a guy has good money,
02:02he buys quality stuff.
02:05Frankie loves toys.
02:07All right, dude, let me handle this.
02:09This is totally you, man.
02:10Sweat is beating off his forehead.
02:12I can see the little hairs on his arm are standing up.
02:15I can see toys already.
02:16Here he comes.
02:17I'll blow it.
02:19Hey.
02:19Hey.
02:20How you doing?
02:20How you doing?
02:21Are you Cecil?
02:21Hey, I'm Cecil Hopper.
02:22You talk to Danielle?
02:23Yeah, I sure have.
02:24My name's Frank.
02:25Frank.
02:25Hey, I'm Mike.
02:26Hey, Mike.
02:27How you doing, my friend?
02:28Fine, fine.
02:28Danielle said you had the first train you ever bought
02:30from when you were a little kid.
02:31I've got quite a few things I had when I was a kid.
02:34I kept all my toys that I got from 1939 to 1949,
02:38man, and I stored them while I was going to dental school
02:42and through the Air Force.
02:43I've always been a collector my whole life.
02:45Can we look around?
02:46Sure.
02:47Oh, gracious.
02:47Come on in.
02:48Me of the way.
02:48Come on in.
02:49Oh, wow.
02:50Look how big this place is.
02:51Look at this.
02:51This is how we like it.
02:52There's stuff everywhere.
02:53Just on his entryway, he's got abundance of stuff.
02:56It's not all in glass cabinets and all cases.
02:59Who knows what he could have?
03:01That's cool.
03:02That's Pathé News.
03:03That's one of the rarest toys I've got.
03:05What do you value this at?
03:06$3,000, $2,700.
03:11Strike one.
03:12Even if this guy has the best stuff in the world,
03:15if we can't get together on prices, none of this matters.
03:18This is my computer room, which I've got toys everywhere.
03:22Where's the computer at?
03:23Well, it's right over there.
03:24They barely sit.
03:25Piled up, man.
03:26Everything is toys.
03:28Toys in cases, toys on the floor, toys on top of his desk,
03:31toys stacked to the ceiling.
03:33This guy's got more toys than Santa Claus.
03:35That's a great, if you like it.
03:36I love that.
03:37Popeye the champ?
03:38Yeah.
03:39I was getting to see some toys that I have only seen in books.
03:42This is it, Frankie.
03:43It's the top of the food chain and Popeye toys.
03:46The Popeye Brutus boxing machine,
03:47you just don't see that stuff.
03:49Whoa!
03:50When Mike wound it up and it actually was working.
03:52These guys are going at it, man.
03:54I've never seen one work.
04:08And what do you value that at?
04:09About $3,000.
04:10This is $3,000, huh?
04:12$3,000.
04:13I've got the box for it, too.
04:14Everything that I put my hands on in this place,
04:16he wants three grand for.
04:18That's upper end of full retail.
04:20I listen to offers.
04:21All right, would you do $1,500?
04:23No.
04:25Strike two.
04:26Hey, Cecil, what about your kiddie cyclist here?
04:28Oh, yeah.
04:29This is made by Unique Art.
04:31They're not a very big toy maker.
04:32They made some motorcycles.
04:33They made Artie the Clown.
04:35Immediately, I'm interested.
04:36That's the early one.
04:37Right.
04:38They made like four different variations of them,
04:40because a lot of them had them.
04:41This is the earliest one.
04:42Right.
04:43It's from about late 20s, early 30s.
04:45They reproduced that toy in the 50s.
04:48The early toy has spoke wheels.
04:50The newer toys have wheels that are solid with the designs on them.
04:55Is it complete?
04:56Uh, yeah, it's complete.
04:58The fact that this is the first generation of this toy
05:00is a big deal.
05:01Even some of the 1950s models are worth money,
05:04but far less than the originals.
05:06What would something like this run?
05:07About $250.
05:09Ooh.
05:09There we go again.
05:11I mean, its prices are just too high.
05:13This is really not looking good for us.
05:18How about $150?
05:19How about $200?
05:21$200 is the absolute highest price I can go on this
05:24and still make some money.
05:25But I'm going to do it because I want to break the ice
05:27and get Cecil in a selling mood.
05:30$200 is fun.
05:31All right, great.
05:32Great.
05:33Well, it turns out there might be hope for this pick after all.
05:36Ooh, look at this.
05:37It works.
05:37It's all busted up, but it's still cool.
05:39This is the front glass.
05:40Yeah.
05:41In his office here, he has some quality stuff.
05:43What about Popeye in the corner there sitting on a box?
05:45That is Popeye and Olive Jiggers.
05:48How about King Kong?
05:49What's up with him?
05:50I'm looking around the glass cases, and there I see it.
05:53The King Kong, the big one.
05:54Yeah, it's battery off.
05:56Right, everyone about the little one?
05:57Yeah.
05:58He's pretty cool.
05:58Yeah, he's cool.
06:01He's awesome.
06:02He was just waiting for somebody to unleash him.
06:06I can't believe the big one is sitting there.
06:08He looks like he's in great shape.
06:09I love him.
06:10Does he work?
06:10Oh, yeah.
06:11Ever since I saw the remake from 1976 when I was in fourth grade,
06:15I was a huge King Kong fan.
06:18You know why I like King Kong?
06:19Well, he was an underdog.
06:22Remember when I was a little kid, Frank,
06:23I'd always stand on top of the garage and beat on my chest?
06:25Yeah.
06:25I wanted to be like King Kong.
06:29Except not dying and falling off a building.
06:32And I want to check the inside of this, see how this is.
06:34It's pretty clean.
06:35Look at it.
06:35Clean.
06:36It's real clean.
06:37It's got the paper in there.
06:38I bought that at an auction in North Carolina.
06:40My son, he liked King Kong.
06:42So I would always try to buy something that we would,
06:44if he went with me, that he liked.
06:46What are you thinking on this?
06:47175.
06:49Man, he's cool.
06:50I've got to have the pair.
06:52Would you do 150?
06:56How about 160?
06:59How about 148?
07:00How about 152?
07:02Why don't we just settle at 150?
07:04150.
07:05We got there.
07:05We got there.
07:06All right.
07:07Mike loved it.
07:07He was tickled to death with it.
07:09Uh, let's go upstairs.
07:11Okay.
07:11How long have you been collecting?
07:12Since you were a little kid?
07:13Yeah.
07:14Do you find your stuff like at flea markets or toy shows,
07:17state sales?
07:18Anywhere and everywhere.
07:19Because you've gotten to the point in your life where you're like,
07:21you know, I've got to start letting some of this go.
07:22Just so much.
07:24Next week, I'll be 75 years old.
07:26I don't want to leave my children the burden of disposing of it.
07:30And I enjoy selling it.
07:32So I had a big time collecting it.
07:34And now I hope I live long enough to sell it on.
07:37This is what keeps me going.
07:38This is therapy.
07:40It's entertainment.
07:41And if you watch what you're doing, they're good investments.
07:44Completely.
07:45Sure.
07:45Yeah.
07:45Now things are really starting to click.
07:47Cecil has a lot of wonderful items.
07:49He's selling them at a reasonable price.
07:50What about the guy over here on the drum?
07:52It's time to load the wagon.
07:54And I've seen these before.
07:55One item that really caught my eye was this Mark's drummer boy.
07:59He's working.
08:00Yeah.
08:00This one was original.
08:01It was in great shape.
08:03$2.75.
08:04$2.50?
08:04Okay.
08:05That's the deal.
08:06Oh, what's that RCA radio clock there, man?
08:08This is a great crossover piece.
08:10A radio collector's going to love it.
08:12A clock collector's going to love it.
08:13$100.
08:14All right.
08:14Good.
08:15The trick dog.
08:16Here's the trick dog mechanical bank.
08:18Put the coin in the dog's mouth.
08:19All right.
08:20And then you hit the thing.
08:21And he drops the coin into there.
08:23And this one worked.
08:24A lot of them don't work.
08:25How about $400?
08:26How about $5?
08:27I'd split it with you.
08:28$450.
08:29All right.
08:30Deal?
08:30Deal.
08:31Deal.
08:31I love these things.
08:32Top and bank in the box.
08:34These things used to scare me when I was a little kid.
08:36I would go through my mother's purse, get a bunch of coins, and play with this thing all day.
08:41It was spooky, it was different, it was odd.
08:44I think that's how I crafted my eye.
08:46$45.
08:49All right.
08:55What about the big three down here?
08:57Here's three boys on a trapeze.
08:59Now, I've had this before, but never all three together.
09:02The threes are kind of harder to find because usually one of them are always getting somehow messed up on
09:08it.
09:08Well, that one's in pretty good shape.
09:10Can I try it?
09:10Certainly.
09:11Okay.
09:11Certainly.
09:12I'd be shocked if this toy even worked.
09:14These things are extremely fragile.
09:18I'm impressed.
09:19Oh, yeah, they're going for it.
09:21Obviously, Cecil has spent a lot of time and concern on picking out pieces for his collection.
09:26Pretty cool, isn't it?
09:27Yeah.
09:28What do you got on this?
09:29Hundred and a quarter.
09:30Ooh.
09:32I've seen another toy.
09:34The whoopee car.
09:35Yeah.
09:36While I was getting the three men out of the case, there was a whoopee car also inside there.
09:40A whoopee car was made by Marx in about the 1940s.
09:43And what it does is it winds up and the car goes backwards and forwards.
09:46And as the car's going, the guy goes up and down, kind of whoopee, whoopee.
09:51The bottom is super clean, nice piece, winds up.
09:56I'm thinking, you know what?
09:57Bundle mania.
09:58Yeah.
09:59What would you do, both of them?
10:02$375.
10:05$375.
10:05I was thinking that a hundred and a quarter would be fine there, and I was thinking that
10:10a hundred and a half on this.
10:12You see, y'all was this hard to deal with.
10:15I've done it since eighth grade.
10:17You sympathize with me now?
10:19Yeah.
10:19What did you say on it?
10:20A hundred and a half on this, $275.
10:26Okay, all right.
10:28Whoopee.
10:29Whoopee.
10:30Has there been any restoration done to these pieces at all?
10:33I'm not a hundred percent certain about this, but Frankie, he's the toy king, and he seems
10:38really confident.
10:39That's the original paint?
10:40Yeah.
10:41I've always had a weakness for these tin-types.
10:44Ooh, yeah, there.
10:45He's got a weapon on him, too.
10:46It's missing the lid, but I don't care.
10:48The image is powerful.
10:49Those things are pretty expensive when they're a Civil War soldier.
10:53Seesaw.
10:54I love these tether cars, man.
10:56Two and a quarter.
10:57Two and a quarter?
10:58Yeah.
10:58How'd you know I was interested?
11:00The way you look at your face?
11:01The way you look at your face.
11:02You look like a dog on it.
11:05In the late 1920s and early 30s, tether cars came onto the scene.
11:10They were originally made by enthusiasts that wanted to take a toy car and make it go 200
11:16miles an hour.
11:17These cars were hooked up to a wire, and then they went around a track.
11:20These guys would time them, the distance, and calculate how fast they went.
11:24See, there's the motor right there.
11:25There's the engine.
11:26This is a child's toy that you can actually put fuel in and run at high speeds.
11:32Look at the detail on it.
11:33The exhaust is always gone.
11:34Yeah.
11:35This is the original windshield.
11:37Imagine the kids playing with this back then and how loud this was.
11:40Oh, Lord of mercy.
11:53Two and a quarter, huh?
11:54Yeah, yeah.
11:55It's not even worth trying to get you to two, huh?
11:58Two and a quarter.
11:58Not even worth $210.
11:59Mm-mm.
12:00Not even worth $215.
12:01No.
12:01I shouldn't even waste my time.
12:03Yeah, two and a quarter.
12:04All right, I'll take it.
12:05Okay.
12:06All right.
12:07Cecil is like a walking price guide.
12:09This guy really knows his stuff.
12:10How much is the Donald Duck Pluto?
12:12With the box.
12:13You got the box of this?
12:14Original box, yeah.
12:15About 18.
12:16That's killer.
12:17He's rattling off numbers that are right on retail value.
12:19What do you get for something like that?
12:22Uh, 175.
12:23175, yeah.
12:24You're right on the money on that one.
12:25We could spend the whole day here negotiating on every little item.
12:28What about the steam engine here?
12:31Hundred and a quarter.
12:32But smalls mean small profits.
12:34We need to zero in on a big item so we have a big profit.
12:37Before we leave, I want to ask about these trains over here.
12:39Okay.
12:40Wow.
12:41All of a sudden, I look over and there on the couch is this antique train set.
12:46Those are the finest cars Lionel ever made.
12:49These are?
12:49Yeah.
12:50It's called a state set.
12:51This is the state set.
12:52You know, it's got Colorado, New York, you know.
12:55It has different states.
12:56He said, this is the best that Lionel made.
12:58Wow.
12:58Cars are worth $2,000 a piece in two-tone brown.
13:01They made it in two different colors.
13:03Two-tone brown and two-tone green.
13:06And the two-tone brown is the rare of the two.
13:08They made less of these.
13:10Of this color?
13:10Of this color.
13:11For as long as you've been collecting trains, how many of these sets have you seen of this color?
13:15About three or four.
13:16Wow.
13:16These things are huge, you know.
13:18And I was just starting to, wow, these are just so cool.
13:21I just couldn't imagine being a kid back in the day having one of these.
13:24You want to see how the top comes off?
13:26Sure.
13:28Oh, wow.
13:29See the bathroom here?
13:31Yeah.
13:32This is 1931.
13:351931.
13:36Yeah.
13:36He showed me how the top comes off, how, you know, it has lights and everything.
13:40I mean, I'm starting to really get involved in this.
13:43Amazing condition for the age.
13:45I mean, I haven't seen Frank this locked in on a piece in a long time.
13:49So there's five of them in a set.
13:51Four cars and the engine.
13:52Is there a caboose?
13:53No.
13:54Not in a passenger.
13:55Okay.
13:56Caboose is for the freight sets.
13:57You know, I'm a real toy guy, but I'm into cast iron.
14:00A little bit on the wind-ups, but trains, I don't really know that much about them.
14:04That set, when it was new, cost $75.
14:081931.
14:09You buy a car for that?
14:10Yeah.
14:10How long have you had these?
14:11Oh, 15 years.
14:13I got in the car and drove to Fort Myers, Florida to pick them up.
14:16I brought it over the telephone.
14:18They said, well, we'll ship it to you.
14:19I said, no, we'll get it in the car and pick it up.
14:22Because I didn't want to take a chance of it getting damaged.
14:25Were they everything you thought they were?
14:27Oh, yeah.
14:27So we drove all the way to Florida and turned around and drove back.
14:43Are these something you would sell?
14:49That's the finest set I've got.
14:52This is the cream, huh?
14:53That's the cream of my collection.
14:54God, this is a great toy.
14:56And I was just thinking to myself, that could be your big item, Frank.
14:59Well, would you entertain an offer on these, or...?
15:02It would have to be an awful good price.
15:04About $7,000 or $8,000.
15:10Okay.
15:11For $7,000 or $8,000, I'm going to need to call a friend.
15:14All right, Franky.
15:15So me and Mike take a few pictures.
15:16He didn't close on the color.
15:17Big smile.
15:19We send them off to our friend, Bill, and walk outside.
15:23This is Bill Hill.
15:24Hey, Bill, this is Frank and Mike here.
15:25Hey, Frank, what's up?
15:26Everything good?
15:27We're doing good.
15:28Did you get those photos?
15:35No, we think we can get it between $7,000 and $8,000.
15:38What do you think?
15:46Okay, we'll talk to you later.
15:50Toys are like cars.
15:51Condition is everything.
15:53If it's bone stock, nobody's messed with it.
15:55They can bring a lot of money.
15:56We're interested in it.
15:57I got one question for you.
15:59Okay.
15:59Has there been any restoration done to these pieces at all?
16:03As far as I know, there hasn't.
16:04That's the original paint?
16:05Yeah.
16:06I haven't done anything.
16:07Yeah, but you know how they can really...
16:09Oh, I know people can really...
16:10They can really touch it up.
16:11I'm looking closely at this thing, and I can see some flaws.
16:14It has a few dings, a few missing parts,
16:16but, I mean, it's hard to expect mint condition
16:18from something from 1931.
16:21Would you do the $7,000 on it?
16:28I can...
16:29No.
16:29I can't...
16:31I can't do that.
16:32I'll just keep them, because you just can't replace them.
16:35Okay.
16:35Because this thing is so incredibly rare,
16:37I'm betting this would be a good investment.
16:39How about $75,000?
16:44I just got the whole firm.
16:46Firm at $8,000?
16:47Yeah.
16:51I'm not 100% certain about this,
16:53but Frankie, he's the toy king, and he seems really confident.
16:57We'll do the $8,000.
16:58Okay.
16:58All right, thank you.
16:59All right.
16:59I'm gonna miss it.
17:00We don't want to buy the memories.
17:02We just want to buy the piece.
17:03That's right.
17:04Appreciate it.
17:06The Brown State said in that condition,
17:08that was a very fair price.
17:10All right, Frank.
17:11Whoo!
17:11You all right?
17:12You okay?
17:13Danielle really took care of us today.
17:15All right.
17:16I paid $8,000 for the train.
17:18I think we need to have it appraised.
17:20I paid $225 for the tethered car.
17:23We sold it for $450.
17:25The trapeze toy cost me $125.
17:27I'm gonna ask $300.
17:29Whoo!
17:30We did it!
17:32We got there together, my friend.
17:34Pleasure.
17:34Pleasure.
17:35Thank you so much.
17:35Pleasure.
17:36It was an honor.
17:36Thank you so much for the train.
17:38I really appreciate it.
17:39I love it.
17:40I envy them for what they do.
17:42Thank you much.
17:43All right.
17:43Bye-bye.
17:44I can't think of anything I'd like to do now
17:46that I'm retired any better than that.
17:48See you, Cecil.
17:50Bye-bye now.
17:51Come back again.
17:54Okay.
17:55Engineer Frank, $8,000 is a lot, man.
17:58$8,000 is a lot of money,
17:59but I think I'm gonna be able to flip it quick.
18:01I think I'll be doing good.
18:02Shipping it to Danielle.
18:04Getting it appraised.
18:05Down the road.
18:07Give me the tracks.
18:08That's what I meant.
18:09Down the tracks.
18:11Whoop whoop!
18:16I like this little town already.
18:17It's about the size of Leclerc.
18:19Danielle's sending us to meet a guy named Judge Dave.
18:21This guy is a judge and a retired school teacher.
18:24This is it right here.
18:25All right, so Frank and I roll up to this residential neighborhood. The judge gave us directions just to walk
18:31on in the house
18:31Hello
18:36Hello
18:38Are you the judge? Yes, I am good. How are you you talk to Danny on the phone? Oh, yeah
18:44I like what you've done with the place judge. Who's your interior decorator? I
18:51Always bought and sold junk and antiques and all those 19 years. I just gradually filled it up
18:58So have you lived in this town your whole life? Most all of it. I live in this fair city
19:03grew up here
19:04I was a school teacher for 35 years. Well, she also said he's like you're like the only judge around
19:09here in the county or something
19:10Well, this was back in the 70s when each little town had their own police corps for a period of
19:17eight years
19:18I was the judge for this town. I was teaching school and being
19:23Judge all at the same time anybody that was in jail
19:26I had to go by and see him before I went to school. Well, can we look around a little
19:30bit? Sure lead the way
19:31So I'm thinking to myself, okay looks a little shabby the paints a little bit peeling
19:35I mean I can see some stuff in here. There's some lamps. There's some knick-knacks looks good
19:41We got on this little guy I look over and sitting on top of the desk here is a little
19:45wind-up monkey toy
19:46I don't know. What do you think? It's made in Japan
19:50It has a monkey riding and then has two monkeys on both of his feet that are going up and
19:53down as he pedals
19:55This is a great item toys made in the 1950s from Japan are always highly collectible and if they work
20:01that's even better
20:02How about 35?
20:05You got it. All right Frank. Hey, I've only been here for like five minutes. I've already broke the ice
20:11I'm having a good time. I've always had a weakness for these tin type
20:16Oh, yeah, yeah, there he's got a weapon on him too. That's a good civil war soldier. He's got his
20:22pistol there his rifle
20:25Civil war tin types are extremely collectible especially when they show period weaponry. Where'd you find it at?
20:30Do you know anything about the history? I don't know. It's all about subject matter with any kind of military
20:35image
20:35You look for uniforms insignias weapons metals the more unusual the better this image had everything going for it
20:43It was a confederate soldier. He had the pistol stuffed in his pants
20:46He had the big bowie knifed in his hands and the rifle in his other hand, but what I found
20:50with a lot of them
20:51They start to flake like I bought one before got it home and it's half gone
20:56Yeah condition is everything back then it wasn't just about the image
21:00It was all about the presentation most of these pieces came in a wooden case wrapped in leather very detailed
21:06with brass edging around the corners
21:08Do you have the top to this or no you have any other soldiers I don't have any more soldiers.
21:13It's missing the lid
21:14But I don't care if the image is powerful
21:16Yeah, that's me
21:28What do you value this at judge in the neighborhood of a hundred dollars, so would you take a hundred
21:34dollars for this probably would all right?
21:37I'll take for a hundred dollars, okay
21:39I love it
21:40It's a nice desk got some damage on top, but
21:43Oh, that's cool ball and chain is it a real one? Oh, yeah, I drove over a hundred miles just
21:50to get that ball
21:51That's the chain gang Frank when they called them the chain gang. That was no joke
21:55They literally had these guys shackled to balls and chains so they couldn't run off to escape the punishment. What
22:01era would you say?
22:01This is from early 1900 1900s if you look at this thing
22:05It's really medieval and it wasn't so long ago. They were still using them
22:09Georgia was the last state to abandon the ball and chain in the mid-1950s kind of slow you down
22:14a little bit you feel it?
22:16Yeah
22:17Oh my god back in the day prisoners used to get gangrene ulcers and serious infections from wearing one of
22:23these things
22:24But thanks to movies like Shawshank Redemption cool hand Luke and a brother where are thou prison life has been
22:30romanticized?
22:31So I think you could have Jimmy that I could take a rock
22:34Yeah, you could like file out with a popsicle stick if you're gonna have this off
22:37You're gonna have to have a shank because after you're free
22:41There you go shank it. Yeah, a shank is a homemade device designed by prisoners used for conflict resolution
22:48How much for the ball and chain and the shank? I don't know. What would you feel comfortable selling it
22:53at?
22:54I don't know
22:57Sometimes in a situation like this it helps to just throw out a number. What are you thinking?
23:02I don't know 60 bucks. Oh, no
23:06Exactly how rare is it? It's the holy grail of the Lionel set, but this definitely is not in me
23:14condition
23:15What are you thinking? I don't know 60 bucks. Oh, no
23:22How about 125?
23:25All right, I'll pick my battles, okay
23:28125 all right I
23:30I tell everybody that I'm selling all this stuff because my wife wants a Corvette
23:37And that's all a bunch of malarkey. We're gonna all leave this world and why should I leave all this
23:42stuff behind?
23:43I need to sell it and spend the money
23:47Man, man, you gotta pack up in here furniture
23:55That sure is pretty judge. Yeah, what you gotta have for this piano stool piece of it broken off right
24:02here
24:02Oh, this piece is really cool. It's ornate. It's got red velvet upholstery
24:07It looks like it came out of an old Western bordello probably dates back to the turn of the century.
24:11What do you think?
24:1360 bucks
24:16How about save me well to me perfection is boring, okay, but to other people it's not see that big
24:25chunk out of there there, okay?
24:27How about 65
24:2965 it is okay. Thank you my friend. Thank you the judge has some amazing stuff here
24:34Let's see if we can lighten his load. Yeah, this is cool. Open this up. What do you got after
24:39this?
24:39This thing's called an antique exploding picture box. It's like Victorian origami. What do you think?
24:45$25. No, okay
24:47Tell me how much is this lamp? It was an oil lamp to begin with and it's been electrified
24:52$20. So there was two old-time mousetraps there 25 throw the mousetraps in okay
24:56I found this old album that said music on about this music scrapbook
25:01I opened it up and it was from an avid opera fan from the early 1900s
25:05I want you to own it. You want me to own that? Yeah, but I need a little walking around
25:09Money you probably cover the whole town. What about four or five blocks? Yeah, about ten bucks. You bought it
25:14All right, that's a little bit of walking around money to me, too
25:17I kind of like this chair over here
25:20It's kind of cool. It's got a little little damage to its crack. It's got some carved handles on it
25:24It's got a nice look and it's old
25:27What do you have to have for that?
25:29I'm gonna be hard to deal with I go judge come on over he goes. Oh, Frank
25:33I'm gonna be rough on this one. What are you thinking not gonna be cheap. I like that, but
25:39You'd you'd let it go. I would how much you thinking gonna be more than $50. I like it at
25:4565
25:46I'm not gonna sell it to that this dance is gonna be rough. I like it at 69. I'm still
25:52not gonna sell it
25:53I like it at 75
25:54I like it at 80
25:58I get a pause
26:02I just don't really want to sell it 82 50
26:06No 83
26:0785 I really don't care about selling it. I really really want this 90. No, I'm not good. I'm tapped
26:14out at 90
26:15I'm not gonna sell it 95
26:18I get the big pause
26:23Yeah, I just don't want to sell it. There's certain things that I have that I don't want to sell
26:27you like it
26:28You better get it out of this house and take it to your other house. I probably will so I
26:32understand
26:3395 sort of now. All right, if I offered you 400 for it, you'd break up, right?
26:40I would probably sell it thin. Yeah
26:46It was a great piece, but we just couldn't come to terms. I couldn't buy it. That's the story of
26:51a picker's life
26:52What do you think of this Frankie? I like it. That's pretty cool, isn't it? The piano stool cost me
26:5765 dollars
26:58I'm gonna ask 175. I bought that little wind-up toy for $35. I think I should be able to
27:03at least double my money
27:05The ball and chain cost me 125. We sold it for 250
27:10Hey, thank you my friend. We had a good time. Thanks. Let's look at us
27:12Take care of that chair upstairs. Okay better get it out there and enjoy it
27:16Frank might have been disappointed because he didn't get the chair
27:21But that's just part of the game
27:29Frank bought this really cool early lionel train set. He sent it back to the shop to have it appraised.
27:34I knew just the guy to call
27:37Hey, John. How you doing? My name is John Speck. I've been collecting and dealing in trains for over 25
27:42years now
27:42This is it, huh? Yeah, this is it. Wow beautiful beautiful
27:47Love it when Daniel called me. I thought wow cool. This would be a great opportunity
27:51It's a standard gauge train. That's the size of the track. Okay high high high quality
27:57This is all put together by hand
27:59They actually sat at a bench and put them together. They weren't on assembly lines
28:03They were all put together by individuals
28:05Isn't that neat to think that somebody actually sat and put this together? Yeah
28:10And what's cool is how beautiful this is when you open it up. There's lights there seats
28:15There's little stained glass windows. It's a pretty beautiful piece of american history right there
28:20They made this train in green and brown for every thousand green ones. They made one brown. This is a
28:27very rare color
28:27I'm very impressed that frank found this. This is the train set that everybody wants. It's a very rare train
28:32Okay, I hear rare a lot exactly. How rare is it? It's probably the holy grail of the lionel set
28:39This is the holy grail. Yeah, it's that special
28:42There's 12 known to exist and personally, I know of three counting this one mint in the box. This is
28:4830,000 plus
28:49Are you serious serious? Oh wow
28:55But this definitely is not in mint condition
29:00The first thing I look for in condition on these trains is whether or not it's been restored. That's the
29:05key. There's a few things wrong
29:06We've got a ding here new paint here
29:09It never even crossed my mind that it had been repainted until you look at it under the light and
29:14then you see the subtle differences
29:16I see the paints not the same
29:18And the ant, yeah, is that one correct this top has also been restored restoration hurts these
29:24Drastically a couple dings. There's a ding here and a ding here. I'm looking for dense scratches replaced parts missing
29:31parts
29:31It's missing the handrail here. There's one wheel that's been replaced here. I see and then on top of that
29:38There's all these missing parts. There's little handrails that are missing. There's little window boxes that are missing
29:44This is missing the towers the cupolas whatever you want to call it at that point. I kind of figured
29:49we were sunk
29:50All right, so how bad is it?
29:55In my opinion i'm i'm guessing this to be seven to seventy five hundred
30:01Seven thousand to seventy five hundred. That's it. That's it. Oh my gosh. You're kidding. No
30:06Frank paid eight thousand for it
30:09I think he might have got excited because it's such a rare piece and at the heat of the moment
30:14like mike and frank are in
30:15They got to buy it
30:17Or leave it we have another option
30:19I have a friend who has a train auction every year and I believe that's where I would send it
30:25if it was mine
30:25Why there may be a bidding war?
30:28Oh, I don't know it could bring five thousand it could bring ten thousand
30:33That's up to the auction a bidding war would not be a bad thing with this train at the very
30:38least
30:38There's a possibility we can break even and maybe hopefully make some money
30:43What about this racing piece when I saw this photo collage? I knew it was really good
30:47It's got a lot of racing programs. You know, I was feeling the glass here. It's beveled. So that gives
30:52a little age
30:52What do you got on this two hundred dollars? I could do one thirty ready
30:58tails
31:01So I got the okay from frank and we're gonna take the train to auction
31:05Let it ride. It's a big risk
31:07It could be a big reward in the meantime me and mike are freestyling in Kentucky
31:12Check this place out swing in here for a minute. His name's lion lee. What I see is a ton
31:16of signs
31:17I'm thinking you know what if this guy buys this much stuff who knows what he might have here
31:22How you doing Mike nice to meet you like how you doing? Frank friends. How you doing my friend? We
31:28walk inside
31:28Here's the guy sitting here. His name is Marty. We're uh, we're pickers. Okay. That's the kind of stuff we
31:33look for
31:33I don't see anything on there. I don't have at least one of them really right
31:37Looks like you've been collecting for quite some time, too
31:39I mean, we've seen all the signs here all the different cars. I started real early, maybe as early as
31:44five years old
31:45I was hunting these hills here digging bottles and cans and take them to the flea market
31:49I've been here more head all my life and all these hills around here are just like home to me
31:54and I've picked the whole mountains
31:56So how old were you when you set up at the flea market 12 13 years old selling bottles? I'm
32:00making money now
32:01Did you have a mentor? Lion Lee was the original collector my father
32:05Lion Lee got me into this
32:07He'd say you can't pay too much for antiques
32:10Well sooner or later it'll catch up and be worth more than you pay for it
32:13You got any place we can look around at all sure just any way you want to go
32:17I get a lot of people wants to buy things and usually I don't price but it's come the time
32:22that I am going to turn some stuff loose my wife
32:26Poor girl. She bagged me all time to get rid of some of it, and I won't hardly turn it
32:30loose. I like it
32:32But she said please sell some stuff
32:36We've got quite a bit of junk here
32:38That doesn't look like junk to me obviously your passion's cars. I have loved cars
32:42Kentucky has been good for Frankie first a toy pick now a car pick this guy is rolling all right
32:48I got a room full of junk over here. I like the way that sounds if you can get in
32:53It's packed boom. He says I've got the room for you. We walk into this room. You can barely even
32:59move
32:59What do you got on this just for oh about a hundred dollars?
33:02I'm gonna keep it mine. Okay. I mean this is the kind of room that I want to just stay
33:07all day long. Whoa
33:10Got that Fram thing too. Lee what would you have to have for this?
33:14Here's a Fram thermometer. I mean these are great pieces advertising has always been good for me
33:19That's kind of a nice one. Well, this looks like the stuff you don't have displayed. So it's not too
33:23bad
33:24I mean the one that's the real good ones ones got the bus on it. That's the good one
33:28Probably how about about a hundred dollars? He goes well
33:33I'm thinking about a hundred so like a hundred like a hundred on this one little did I know
33:38This is gonna set the pace for the rest of the pick. Yeah, about a hundred dollars. How about this
33:43pyro antifreeze one?
33:44It's a pyro. It's really great condition. It's got nice colors to it
33:49Pyro, you know, I mean that was antifreeze back in the day, right, you know
33:52It's got some age to it. They make the cans. I like it
33:54100 bucks a piece probably we're back to that a hundred dollar piece got good color don't about 165 for
34:00both
34:01Got more than that in them got more than that in them. I like to make a little bit
34:05This guy's throwing out all the used car salesman expressions. I got a feeling today's gonna be some tough negotiating
34:10How about 175 for both of them?
34:13All right, I could do that 175
34:15Thank you. Thank you. I bought something. He knows I'm a buyer. We get it going. All right, what's next?
34:21All right
34:23This is uh, this is door number B
34:26We go inside the room. I look around the first thing I see is this coca-cola ad. What do
34:31you got on the coca-cola sign?
34:32About a hundred bucks. That is his favorite phrase. I'm thinking around a hundred. How about 75 dollars?
34:38My wife's gonna be so proud of you. All right. How much is this?
34:41Porcelain about a hundred dollars. Once again, we're back to I'm thinking about a hundred dollars
34:4630 40 5 45 35 all right 35. What about the double cola?
34:53Why guys, it's gotta be worth about a hundred bucks. It's clear that he's trying to brainwash me with this
34:58hundred dollar thing
34:58I mean, he thinks I'll break but I won't I've been doing this way too long
35:03I'm at 35
35:1170. 35
35:15I thought you're supposed to go up. Come on. I think I could get maybe 65 bucks worth. Okay, good
35:22deal
35:22What about this racing piece you like that don't you? I like that. It's a racing garage
35:27You know life of all the pictures from the racers from 1947. It's all different guys. Here's web
35:33spiderweb robinson this guy's name here was clay
35:3847 it's dated the photographs in this piece are period and authentic you know
35:43I was feeling the glass here. It's beveled plug gives a little age
35:46Yeah, and the framing job is just as old as they are this was framed like this when you found
35:52it
35:53That was a cool piece. I thought I bought it at an estate sale in Indiana
36:12What do you got on this probably
36:17How about two hundred dollars
36:19I thought we were in the hundred dollars building price went up price went up
36:25Let's make a deal here comes some of those famous used car salesman techniques
36:29120 is the most I can do on it probably each pitcher bring that
36:34Yeah, you can do better. No, I can't 155 bucks. I could do 130 or what 25 bucks apart
36:42What you guys are so close
36:46Coin time coin time. I'll flip it 130 150. All right, 130 150. You flip it. You got that one
36:53coin
36:54All right, he's calling it. It's your property. You call it. Okay, ready
37:00tails
37:04Well
37:05150
37:08It seems like I always lose the coin toss, but it doesn't matter 150 bucks for this piece is awesome
37:14Let's get going on the state set here today is the auction day for the train
37:19Starting it off at thousand 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
37:25These guys are really going after this thing
37:28Cutting some deals here
37:30This is like a party room. Yeah, what's the story on the Evermood sign? All of a sudden I look
37:35up and here's this Evermood sign come out of a
37:38whole boat factory
37:39Evan Root is an outboard motor company that was founded in milwaukee in 1907
37:44They built motors for the military in world war ii and are still a very recognized name in the boating
37:49industry today
37:50It still had the paper on it. This is a mint shape
37:54I've had it probably six years. He's mr
37:57gas and oil he's mr
37:59Car is he mr
38:00Boat no, this is the first boat item i've seen we live right on the river
38:04So we kind of buy a little bit of the outboard motor stuff
38:16Oh
38:19Well, can I make you an offer on it? Yeah, I thought you know what he says he might sell
38:23it i'm gonna throw out a number i'd offer you $500
38:30I got more than in it, okay
38:32750 i'll take it down being the haggler that he is of course he's gonna go up i'd offer you
38:37550 and i'll take it down
38:39Oh, I traded an awful good shot down to that
38:43650
38:46We're right in the middle i'm at 550 you're at 650 you know what my next offer is 625 let's
38:51split it down the middle at 600
38:54That's cash you on it you got it thanks that's a great sign
38:59Frank is our speed here yeah off the party room is a door to a wooden barn
39:06And it's filled with dusty dirty sun-baked junk just the way we like it
39:12What about this plastic boat here it's a texaco boat i didn't know that texaco even made boats you know
39:17i thought they made nothing but gas tankers i kind of like it because it's in the box
39:21I got that when i was just a kid this is made 1961 what do you got on this just
39:27for about a hundred bucks
39:29The repetition is really starting to get to me
39:34Everywhere i look hundred dollars hundred dollars hundred dollars hundred dollars
39:40Everything's a hundred the little guy's gonna crack i can feel it
39:45i'd do 40 bucks on it 60. i'm pretty much at 40. 50 bucks 45. all right in its original
39:52box
39:52it was a great buy sometimes the box can be worth more in the toy
39:56i noticed the mobile gas sign it's a little rough corners are missing there was a cicconi sign
40:02cicconi a standard oil company of new york and it was a mobile gas sign how much
40:07last horse it's nice horse got a little bit of really
40:11somebody took a little bite out of it there you know swiss cheese it was a little rough but a
40:16great entry-level sign i want to give you a special deal okay
40:24about a hundred dollars
40:30i'm gonna do it about a hundred dollars
40:34you got a fever oh my god frank paid full price for something you getting tired buddy i'm doing
40:39all right this guy did not get this collection by selling stuff he's a collector for him to be
40:45able to sell a few things it just doesn't get any better that's why i love being a picker this
40:50thing is cool man i hope we get back to iowa in one piece the racing collage cost me 150
40:54dollars i'm gonna ask 400. i shelled out 600 big ones for this emaroo side i'm thinking at least
41:011200 all right the coke sign i bought for 75 i think i can get at least 125. nice to
41:08meet you
41:08i'm really enjoying it appreciate it it's always nice to meet a brother and junk all right we are
41:14we got a brotherhood dart between us all pickers are like i figure i was a picker all my life
41:19and
41:19now they're getting started see you marty see you guys come back
41:27i have been on pins and needles all day because today is the auction day for the train
41:35i'm just gonna watch and see how this plays out on the live feed all right we have got a
41:40nice
41:40looking line down set set here in brown this is the biggest and most expensive set here starting it
41:45off at thousand eleven well i'm at twelve hundred now you want it at thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen
41:51seventeen eighteen nineteen these guys are really going after this thing two thousand twenty five three
42:01we really killed it on this kentucky trip but the icing on the cake would be selling that lionel
42:06train at auction mike and i are driving home and we're waiting to hear what happened from danny
42:12hello hey what up danny what's happening i have some good news and i have some bad news okay tell
42:21us
42:21what happened what the good news is that the train sold at auction yeah i like to hear that good
42:28job
42:28frankie sweet man how much
42:36thirty four hundred what thirty four hundred yeah danielle are you serious yeah danielle we paid eight
42:46thousand for that i kind of want to throw up
42:50why would you put something so expensive in an auction and not put a reserve on it i made a
42:56huge
42:56mistake i forgot the reserve is the minimum amount of money that you'll accept for an item our reserve
43:01should have been like 7 500 minimum can we talk about this later somebody just came in
43:12we just lost 4 600 bucks i guess forgetting the reserve was a mistake but we messed up too we
43:21always say
43:21condition condition and this time we didn't look close enough the restoration was so good that even
43:27cecil didn't notice it and he had it for 15 years hold on here i just got a text from
43:36danielle
43:37and it says sorry i can't really stay mad at danny i mean we ask a lot of her and
43:42she always comes
43:43through this was an honest mistake at the end of the day you probably shouldn't have bought the train
43:48just give me a day to calm down a little bit you know what we'll get through it we've been
43:54through
43:54tougher things we've been tougher times
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