- 19 hours ago
American Pickers - Season 27 - Episode 02: Field of Finds
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TVTranscript
00:00I don't know much about baseball cards,
00:02but I know this is a big money one if it's a mint.
00:04Oh, yeah, yeah.
00:04This is millions, right, if it's mint?
00:06Millions.
00:06Oh, yeah, a 10.
00:07There's one of them.
00:08There's $20 million.
00:09This is my good stuff that I'm starting to unload.
00:12That one's the first appearance of Supergirl.
00:14About $10,000.
00:15All right, I'm excited about these.
00:21It's a mic.
00:22Oh, my gosh.
00:25We're doing it.
00:26I'm excited.
00:27I know.
00:28I'm excited, too.
00:28When you own your own business, you got to be creative.
00:32It's really innovate or die.
00:34So today, I'm doing a baseball card pick.
00:37There's a few rules that we need to go over.
00:39OK.
00:39See the Nutter Butters?
00:40Yeah.
00:41And there's Fig Newtons in there.
00:42OK.
00:43I like the Fig Newtons.
00:44OK, I like Nutter Butters.
00:45Fig Newtons are for old people.
00:49I'll take it.
00:50I'll take it.
00:51Well, that's one of the reasons you're here.
00:53Yeah.
00:53Is because you're a young guy.
00:54You're into baseball cards.
00:56I don't really know much about them.
00:58Mike and Robbie are very predictable creatures.
01:01You know what they like.
01:02They're easy to buy Christmas gifts for.
01:04They don't know anything about baseball cards.
01:06I'm from the era of sticking the baseball card in the spokes with a clothespin.
01:10Yeah.
01:10So this is my chance to actually do something I love and maybe teach them a little bit.
01:15You have been filling my brain with the idea of, hey, we need to buy some baseball cards sometime.
01:21See, I didn't even know you pay attention when I talk about this stuff.
01:23Of course I do.
01:24I see your eyes glazed over.
01:26Man, I've been working for Mike over 13 years.
01:28I mean, you name it, I've probably done it.
01:30This is the first time that Mike has actually been like, hey, you're in my navigator seat and you get
01:36to go with the master.
01:37So this guy's collected for, I mean, almost 70 years.
01:41Really?
01:41He's collected baseball cards.
01:43So, I mean, through collecting and going to shows, like, I've known this guy's name for a long time.
01:47Okay.
01:47I think as he's getting older, he's just kind of ready to let loose to some of the collection.
01:51So we're going to be like some of the first guys in.
01:53Pretty much, I think we are the first guys in.
01:56Really?
01:56Yeah.
01:57This old dog is going to learn a few new tricks.
02:02All right.
02:03Look at this.
02:04Oh, pliers are in there.
02:08Hey.
02:09How you doing?
02:10I'm good, how are you?
02:11Hey, I'm Mike.
02:12Nice to meet you.
02:13Hey, Al.
02:13This is my buddy Dave.
02:14How are you?
02:15Yeah, check this out.
02:16Mike might want something on this list, too.
02:18Yeah, look at that.
02:19Baseball cards.
02:20I don't see baseball cards.
02:21Right there.
02:21Number seven.
02:22Oh.
02:23Yeah, there you go.
02:24Baseball cards and comic books.
02:26Yeah, there you go.
02:27My passion is baseball cards and comic books.
02:30It all started out from my parents, my grandparents, my aunts, my uncles.
02:35They all collected something.
02:37They'd give me all their old TV guides.
02:39At one time, I had 2,000 different TV guides back from the 50s and stuff.
02:43And I went on from there.
02:45I'm at a point in my life where I'm old.
02:47Yeah.
02:48And I've got health problems.
02:49Well, I feel pretty good, but I do have health problems, so I want to start unloading.
02:54I've got over four and a half million baseball cards and 20...
02:56Get out of here.
02:57...20,000 comic books and...
02:59Four and a half million cards?
03:01Yeah.
03:01Yeah.
03:02I mean, the nature of collecting, like, baseball cards or small things, nobody has one.
03:06People have 100 or 1,000.
03:08But, like, four million or something?
03:11I don't even know where to start.
03:13Show us around a little bit.
03:14What do you got going on?
03:14You can start in here if you want.
03:16From the back up, I guess you can start.
03:18Oh, wow.
03:19So you're just into ephemera in general, like magazines, all this stuff?
03:24Yeah.
03:24Look at these, Dave.
03:25Here's some baseball cards.
03:26Oh, yeah.
03:26But see, they're, like, all mixed in, so it's, like, all different stuff.
03:29So are these collectible?
03:31The Garbage Pail Kids?
03:32Oh, yeah.
03:32Garbage Pail Kids were kind of like the anti-Cabbage Patch Kids, which were really cute,
03:37really sweet, and beautiful dolls.
03:39And Garbage Pail Kids were just, like, these gross little maniac babies.
03:43What's this worth, then?
03:44In that condition, 10 bucks.
03:46Okay.
03:46But are there cards, this is dated 87?
03:48Yeah.
03:49Right.
03:49Like you said, okay.
03:50So was 84 the first series?
03:51Is that what it was, or 85?
03:52No, I think it was 84.
03:54I mean, there's all kinds of stuff.
03:55Like, these are old cards right here.
03:56See these in this box?
03:57Yeah.
03:57Like, that's the Richie Ashburn on top.
03:59Was that 59 tops back there?
04:01Yeah.
04:01Now I know what it's like for someone to listen to me in Jersey talk about carburetors and
04:07magnetos on 1910 Indian motorcycles.
04:10So these are pretty much commons.
04:12Yeah.
04:12I mean, 60's cards, and I usually give them away cheap, you know, to kids at card shows.
04:19Sure.
04:19But you know, like, a lot of these, too, if the corners are really nice.
04:21Oh, yeah.
04:22And, you know, nobody might be looking for this card specifically unless they're building
04:26a set.
04:26Yep.
04:27You know, so you need those commons sometimes are harder to find.
04:29That's right.
04:30That's how I built my sets, card by card, and it took 30, 40 years to fill up my sets.
04:36Yeah.
04:36That's the hardest way to do it.
04:37But it's fun.
04:39So if you're collecting, you know, say baseball stuff and you like particular players, you
04:43know, that's one thing.
04:44But if you're trying to complete a set, like say you were born in 55 and you want to complete
04:49a 55 Bowman baseball set, it will take you a long time to get every single card for that
04:55set.
04:55And here's the thing, too.
04:56Like, I might obsess about this card and I look for it.
04:59I look for it.
05:00I look for it.
05:00I get it.
05:01Yeah.
05:01I look at it.
05:02I'm like, oh, this is cool.
05:03And it goes in the box.
05:04And then I start looking for the next one.
05:06You know, you're never done.
05:07We just started small talk about cards.
05:10And I knew within a couple of minutes, he knew what he was talking about.
05:14In 68 is tough, too, because, you know, they're just the borders.
05:18And he had the passion like I had the passion.
05:20As soon as we started talking for two minutes, we hit it off and we know each other's thoughts
05:25and feelings on the cards.
05:28Okay, Lord.
05:29Wow.
05:29We have all of this.
05:30Then we have all of that.
05:31So what is this stuff, Al?
05:32Is this, so obviously you're going beyond collecting.
05:35This is just a mixture.
05:35You're going beyond collecting the cards.
05:37Oh, yeah.
05:37It looks like.
05:38So I see you have, like, you have this old magazine right here.
05:41The artwork on these is obviously what draws you in.
05:44I mean, the condition of this isn't great.
05:46Right.
05:47It's got tape on it and there's some chips and everything.
05:49But man, the artwork is still incredible.
05:51Yeah.
05:52You know.
05:52And that's an early scouting, 1927.
05:53I see that in 1927.
05:55Equipment.
05:56Early scouting stuff has always been extremely collectible.
06:00I've been buying patches and equipment for a number of years because I had dealers that
06:05wanted this stuff.
06:06These are the catalogs where someone would order all the items that I've been looking
06:10for for all of these years.
06:12There's watches.
06:13There's tents.
06:15Neckerchiefs.
06:16Backpacks.
06:17This is pretty cool.
06:18Yeah.
06:18Everything is listed.
06:20The price is there.
06:21Millie's got a Native American, Daniel Boone, 1927.
06:26What are you thinking on that?
06:2850 bucks.
06:2950 bucks?
06:29Too much.
06:30How about 25?
06:31You got it.
06:32All right.
06:32Very cool.
06:33I love it.
06:34I love the cover itself.
06:35That's why I purchased it.
06:37And as soon as Mike explained his like for it, I knew it had to belong to him.
06:41So, what's the rarest comic book you have that's not in the greatest condition?
06:49I have a number four Spider-Man not in great condition.
06:53Really?
06:53Yeah.
06:54So, if that number four Spider-Man was in mint condition, what would it be worth?
06:57It would be probably worth $20,000, $30,000.
06:59Okay.
07:00Now, what's it worth in the condition you got?
07:01$1,000 to $1,500.
07:03Yeah.
07:04But see, I think that's cool because for me, like a guy that just likes Spider-Man
07:08and grew up around comic books, to have that book and then just frame it.
07:12So, basically, I'm like, I'm channeling my younger self here.
07:15When I started collecting comic books, I didn't care about the condition.
07:18I wanted the early stuff, you know?
07:20And that's kind of like my view on it now.
07:22I mean, to own something that's worth $30,000 for $1,000 just because it's scripted, torn,
07:28and faded, and it's missing a staple, I'll do that all day long.
07:32And I feel there's a lot of guys out there that feel the same way.
07:35So, what do you got here?
07:36You got, oh, the DD Bouton trike Lambretta.
07:40We've had these actually before.
07:41Yeah, these World on Wheels are very collectible.
07:43Those are cool.
07:44The World on Wheels auto cars, they were from 1954 and 55.
07:48They put them out for two years, and they were highly popular.
07:52Oh, there's a Hoffman Vespa.
07:53Very rare scoot.
07:55They're of unusual vehicles.
07:57They're highly collectible, and they're just beautiful.
07:59What do you want for all of these?
08:00Because I think we can move these.
08:01A lot of these are European cars too, Dave.
08:04Yeah.
08:04World on Wheels cars.
08:05There's probably 50 or 60 of them there.
08:07Book value maybe around 250 to 300.
08:10Really?
08:11100 bucks takes them all.
08:13100 bucks for all of them?
08:14You'll get three to five bucks each on them.
08:16I might be your age by the time I get done selling them.
08:18That's how I'll be in the same situation you're in.
08:20I might be.
08:21I got too many cards.
08:22Yeah, that's right.
08:23Well, let me look at them.
08:24Yeah.
08:25I've spent plenty of time behind the counter at this shop,
08:27and I know what people are looking for, and I know what they want to buy.
08:29Big neon signs are cool for the spectacle of it, but not everybody's going to be able to buy that
08:34to get home with them.
08:35A kid might come with five bucks from what his grandma gave him to go on the trip.
08:39He wants to buy something old, so this allows them to do that.
08:42I don't know. How about 75 bucks?
08:44Sounds good.
08:45Okay.
08:45You can have them.
08:46Let's do it.
08:46Cool.
08:46You can have them.
08:47Yeah.
08:48All right, cool.
08:48The cool thing about Al is that he wants us to make money on this stuff.
08:52He realizes he has so much volume for him to set up at shows and sell a piece there, a
08:57piece here.
08:58He still wouldn't even scratch the surface of everything he has.
09:02Oh, yeah.
09:02Look at that.
09:03Yeah, this is cool.
09:04That's a 41 Cadillac.
09:05Oh, wow.
09:06There's a eye level right here on the left.
09:08See where I'm shining?
09:09That beard tap handle?
09:10Yeah, okay.
09:11Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:11That's a good one.
09:12So, yeah, we'll use these for motorcycles, and that's the right thread for it.
09:17Yep.
09:1820 bucks.
09:1925.
09:21Okay, I'll do it.
09:22You got it.
09:22Very cool.
09:23What do you want to do about this?
09:24I was thinking around 100, maybe a little more.
09:26Guys will beat me up about the pitting and everything.
09:29I'd say 75 bucks.
09:31I want to show Mike that, you know, I could be down here in the trenches, and I'm pretty shrewd
09:35with my negotiations.
09:37Okay, sounds good.
09:38Thanks.
09:39Mike, down by your knee here, there's a rat thing poster, or a Ed Roth poster there.
09:43Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:43What is it?
09:44Here, it's 92, man.
09:45I've had that Big Daddy Roth rat thing probably for 30 years, and I just loved it.
09:5125 bucks.
09:52I'll take it.
09:53I want you to be happy.
09:55Yeah.
09:55All right, man.
09:55I appreciate it.
09:56I want you to be happy.
09:57Look at this.
09:57Oh, okay.
09:59That's me.
09:59Which one's you?
10:00A Blinken.
10:01Whoa.
10:02That's your old lady?
10:03No, that's my sister.
10:04Okay.
10:05They only made 500 of them, and they're collector's items now in all record stores.
10:09What kind of music is it?
10:11Rock.
10:11He's got a sense of humor.
10:13I mean, the album, like Psych Rock, dressed like Lincoln, I mean, that's pretty cool.
10:18So were you dressed up as Abe Lincoln when you were playing?
10:20I was an Abe Lincoln look-alike for about 15 years.
10:24Okay.
10:24I used to get $500 an hour to be him.
10:27Wow.
10:27I won 13 contests out of him.
10:28What, like insurance conventions or something?
10:30Yep.
10:30Getting pictures with old ladies and stuff like that.
10:33Daniel Day-Lewis ain't got nothing on Al.
10:35I mean, he was playing the gig way before him.
10:39And we were on that band.
10:40We made the number 37 selling album in California in 1987.
10:45Really?
10:46Okay, here we go.
10:46Like a Zombie.
10:47Do that one.
10:47Like a Zombie.
10:48Lost in the snow.
10:49Like a zombie.
10:50He's got nowhere to go.
10:52This sounds like stuff he makes me listen to in the van.
10:54I'll tell you what, you listen to that, it's going to be one of your favorite albums.
10:57Really?
10:58Yep.
10:58All right.
10:59What do you want for these?
11:00I would sell them for $25 each.
11:01You can take the two of them for $25.
11:03Will you sign it for us?
11:04I'll sign them.
11:05All right, dude.
11:05Let's get both of these.
11:07All right, let's get those.
11:14What up, Danny?
11:15Hey, what's up?
11:16How you feeling today?
11:17What do you got for us?
11:18So I'm going to send you guys to meet Mitch.
11:20Yeah?
11:21Mitch's collection has gotten so out of control that he had to start storing it in the house
11:25next door.
11:26I like his style already, man.
11:28Yeah.
11:28This is very important.
11:30Mitch is a retired teacher.
11:31Oh, man, man.
11:32So he has spent his entire life dealing with boys like you.
11:36Holy cow.
11:37Yeah, so he was...
11:38We might be in big trouble.
11:39And it's perfect because he was a junior high teacher and that's exactly your maturity level.
11:43All right, send us the coordinates.
11:45Love ya.
11:46Don't embarrass me.
11:47Please.
11:55This is it.
11:56This is it.
11:56There's a house.
11:57It's got a lot of stuff out there.
11:58Oh, yeah.
11:58All kinds.
11:59Right here.
11:59Yep.
11:59Cool.
12:04How you doing?
12:05You talking to Danielle?
12:06Good.
12:06I'm John.
12:07Good to meet you.
12:08Nice to meet you.
12:09Danielle, we'll talk to you.
12:10You got stuff like this going on here?
12:11Man, yeah.
12:12I got a few things like that.
12:14You got any old tools?
12:14Well, I like all kinds of rusty stuff, cast iron stuff.
12:18I collect old school stuff.
12:20Old signs, thermometers, especially things made in the United States.
12:24I like that people during that time had good jobs.
12:28They took pride in what they made.
12:29And I'd like to see us come back to that, you know, if we can.
12:32Which room do you want to start in?
12:34Wow, man.
12:34I don't even know where to begin.
12:35Hold on.
12:36This is wonderful.
12:37I really enjoy it.
12:38I've had a lot of fun with it.
12:39Man, you packed this thing full.
12:40Got a house full.
12:48What's with these counters?
12:49Well, those were in the general store in town.
12:51The cash drawer, it's got some levers under it.
12:55And you had to know, the owner would know which ones to make the drawer come open.
13:01Yeah.
13:01Oh, that was like a lock?
13:03It was like a combination lock?
13:04That's right.
13:04And that would open it up.
13:05Yeah, yeah.
13:06So you put your fingers in the drawer, in the holes in the drawer.
13:09And by the combinations of whatever, one and two or three and five, you know,
13:14you can unlock the drawer just with the combination of fingers.
13:17Pretty impressive because this thing's a hundred years old.
13:20Here's a...
13:20Oh, wow, it opens like that.
13:21Yeah, here's a rope.
13:22And then here's the lock for it.
13:23The second thing that's really unique about it, it's got these clamshell tops,
13:26which you can easily access from the back of the cabinet.
13:29I mean, this is cool for the flea markets, too, you know?
13:31Yeah.
13:31How heavy is it?
13:32It's pretty heavy.
13:33Made out of oak.
13:34Needs a little bit of work, you know, just to make it functional.
13:37Any type of business that's got merchandise to sell,
13:39they need some way to display their items attractively.
13:42And that's exactly what this oak piece does.
13:45Two and a quarter.
13:46I was thinking 500.
13:48Yeah.
13:49300 bucks.
13:51Yeah.
13:52All right.
13:53Cool.
13:57Okay.
13:57Come on in, Dave.
13:58You've earned your right to enter my treasure trove room here.
14:01I like...
14:02I passed the test.
14:03Oh, my God.
14:05You passed the test to come in.
14:06Wow.
14:08I started collecting in 1955.
14:10I've got every single set over there from 1954 to 2000, every card made.
14:16Are you kidding me?
14:17Wow.
14:17And I've got about 4 million cards, and this is only the tip of the iceberg.
14:21This is the only section that's off limits.
14:23This is my...
14:24This is the cream of my crop.
14:26This is complete sets from the year 1954 to the year 2000, every card made by Topps.
14:32You have everything.
14:33Yeah.
14:34This is basically everything that exists, and you did it by hand.
14:36That's why it's special to me.
14:38Is that an uncut sheet of Garbage Pail Kids?
14:40Yes, it is.
14:40And they are very hot right now.
14:42Can I look at those here?
14:43Yep.
14:43A complete uncut sheet is before they cut them into individual cards and put them into a
14:49pack.
14:49So that had to come from a factory.
14:52I think it's the second series, if I'm not mistaken.
14:54Either the second or third.
14:55Yeah, yeah.
14:56Or two or something like that.
14:57When I was a kid, these came out, and we had like a newspaper you'd get in elementary school,
15:00and there was an article about how parents should keep you away from these because they
15:04were so dangerous.
15:05Oh, absolutely.
15:06Garbage Pail Kids were put out in the 1980s, and they were actually held off for a while
15:11because of the parent backlash.
15:13They did not want their kids to collect these cards.
15:15They were grotesque, of course, and kids loved that.
15:18Right after school, we went to John's Grocery.
15:21Absolutely.
15:21And we tried to find them.
15:22That's why they're so collectible.
15:23Anything that was taken off the market or afraid of parents and stuff?
15:28This is like the first thing I remember being like taboo, or like black market stuff for
15:33kids, for Garbage Pail Kids.
15:35Would you part with this?
15:36Yeah, I would.
15:37$200, I think, would be fair.
15:39Al asking $200 on this sheet?
15:40I think he's coming in at retail.
15:42I could do $100 on it.
15:44Maybe $120?
15:45If you could give me a deal on a mantle later down the road, maybe I could.
15:48I might be able to do that.
15:50Okay, let's do that then.
15:51$120?
15:51$20 credit towards a mantle, right?
15:53Okay.
15:54You got it.
15:54I like that.
15:55That's awesome.
15:55Since you've been such a good collector friend of mine.
15:58Were you hiding cards?
16:00I got cards all over.
16:01I thought you might appreciate some of these big cards here.
16:05Oh, what?
16:06Oh, yeah.
16:07Yeah.
16:07I appreciate a couple of big cards.
16:09Oh, my good.
16:10Just seeing a mantle card of this caliber, if you see it now at a show, I mean, it's
16:15got a velvet rope around it.
16:16It's got spotlights on it.
16:18I mean, post-war, I'd say that's the most important baseball card.
16:20Exactly.
16:21The Mickey Mantle rookie card, I always wanted it because I wanted to be a great collector.
16:26And every great collector has to have the top-of-the-line card in his collection.
16:31He was probably the greatest baseball player of the 1950s.
16:34He won the Triple Crown and three MVPs.
16:37Oh, yeah.
16:38That's his rookie card.
16:39And the reason it's rare is because it's in the last series of baseball cards in 1952.
16:45Sure.
16:46The ones they dumped in the ocean, right?
16:47The ones they dumped in the ocean.
16:48The Mantle rookie card was in a set that was released late in the year.
16:53So kind of after baseball season, interest had kind of already passed for baseball.
16:57They had so many extra ones, they dumped them in the ocean.
17:00So that's where the majority of Mickey Mantle rookie cards ended up was in the bottom of the ocean.
17:05It was difficult for me to get it because nobody wanted to give that card up when this
17:10was back in the 70s when I got it.
17:12I went to this one convention, and I met a New York dealer, and we settled on $1,300.
17:18I brought it home to my wife, who I've only had two dates with, with a lot of pride saying,
17:23Look at this, I got a Mickey Mantle rookie card, and I only paid $1,300 for it.
17:27And she said, How much did you pay for it?
17:28I said, $1,300.
17:29She says, I don't think I can date you anymore.
17:31Somebody that spends $1,300 for a baseball card, you're not all there.
17:36How much were you making a year when you paid $1,300 for this?
17:39$6,000.
17:40Gee.
17:41We got married, and she's got all this junk all around her.
17:44Now it's worth $40,000, $50,000, $60,000.
17:47Sure, sure.
17:48We got this, this.
17:50That's it.
17:51That's a Ty Cobb bat on the shoulder.
17:53What I'll show me is a T206 Ty Cobb card.
17:57When you're a kid and you start collecting, you might look through books of legends and baseball cards.
18:01This card, this Ty Cobb card, is the actual card that I've looked at since I was eight years old
18:08and been like, that's one of the gold standards.
18:10What do you know about the history of that one in particular when you bought it?
18:13Oh, when I bought it.
18:14I bought that probably in the 80s somewhere, and I bought a whole box full of all sporting stuff, and
18:19that was at the bottom.
18:20There was another Ty Cobb at the bottom also.
18:22I can still pick up good finds at flea markets.
18:25Could be a box of all kinds of sporting equipment in there, and I don't even know what's in there.
18:29But if you purchase a box for 10 bucks, you find a lot of stuff in there.
18:32That's a Mickey Mantle rookie.
18:34Look at that.
18:3452 tops.
18:35I mean, I don't know much about baseball cards, but I know this is a big money one if it's
18:38mint.
18:39That's a big one.
18:39This is millions, right?
18:40If it's mint?
18:41Millions.
18:41Oh, yeah.
18:42Out of the millions and millions of collectors, they all want that Mantle rookie.
18:46Cards have a lot of money right now.
18:48Obviously, the market's changed so much if somebody can afford to pay that kind of money for a card.
18:52It's all big time investors, especially Saudi Arabia is big into this stuff.
18:56They would rather put their money into baseball cards than oil stocks.
18:59Oh, really?
19:00So they're playing collectibles like they would the market, the stock market.
19:03Exactly.
19:03And sometimes they buy something in one month at an auction, say, for $1.2 million.
19:09They'll put it in the next month's auction and make $1.5 million in one month.
19:13It removes the passion of it, and it starts to become more strategic.
19:17But it does create a buzz in the media to have people want to get into the game.
19:24So out of the two cards, I know this is on my price range.
19:27They're not available.
19:28So the Ty Cobb, is it available?
19:30I would sell that, but it's worth a lot of money.
19:33$10,000 or more if it goes into auction.
19:37Yeah, well, so that's what you'd want for it.
19:39Yes.
19:40Okay, yeah.
19:41I was like not prepared to be anywhere close to that for an ungraded card especially.
19:46So I really got a little work to do to see what I can get that card for.
19:50Dave, why don't you chew on that for a while?
19:52Yeah, yeah.
19:53Okay, I'm going to digest.
19:54See what I can find.
19:55There's a lot of other great cards in there and in this box.
19:59Okay, I'll get digging and then you guys get looking at comics, I guess, right?
20:02Yeah.
20:07I looked in here, there's boxes of comic books here.
20:11Yeah, yeah.
20:11Those aren't good ones.
20:12Every once in a while there's a couple older ones.
20:14Yeah, they're not good ones.
20:15You know what I mean?
20:15These are junk ones down here.
20:16What kind of age does this have?
20:18I don't know, but I've had it for at least 25 or 30 years.
20:22So this would be 90s.
20:23The market has changed dramatically over the last five years on vintage t-shirts.
20:28It's a good investment.
20:30Fruit of the loom.
20:30Fruit of the loom.
20:31Made in America, 100% cotton.
20:33The ones I've seen that bring more money in the past, there's no blue sky.
20:37The resolution's a little bit more defined.
20:39There you go.
20:40You can still wear this, man.
20:42I don't want to wear it.
20:42What are you talking about?
20:43I want to sell it.
20:4325 bucks.
20:44You got it.
20:45I appreciate it.
20:46Yeah, I appreciate it.
20:47Do you got any other old t-shirts?
20:49Yeah, I got my father's t-shirt.
20:51The Gamolka's Auto Body shirt right there.
20:53My father, Al Gamolka Sr., owned an auto body shop for over 50 years.
20:58How old is that?
20:59You see that wrecker?
21:00That's 1951.
21:01He bought it when I was born.
21:03That wrecker was in more parades and everybody wanted it.
21:07It was a bumblebee yellow and black.
21:10Okay.
21:11And it was known throughout the state, Gamolka's Auto Body.
21:14Really?
21:14So this is a business you grew up around.
21:16Yeah, I worked there for three years and I hated it.
21:19So what year is that shirt from?
21:21He made them probably in the late 80s.
21:23Do you have any more of these?
21:25Yeah, I have one that's new that's never been worn,
21:27but I'd be interested in selling the old one.
21:29When I first started buying vintage t-shirts and vintage clothing,
21:33it was all basically transportation related.
21:36But now, 90s pop culture stuff is starting to command a lot of money.
21:41You can't believe how many people wanted that.
21:44And he only made a very few for family and friends and stuff.
21:47Oh, my God.
21:48Every auto body in the state of New Jersey wanted one of them.
21:52It's exciting to see what's happening because the people that are buying most of this stuff
21:57are younger collectors and they're wearing it.
22:00Yeah, that's sick, man.
22:0260 bucks.
22:03Oh, it's meaningful to me.
22:05What do you think?
22:05What are you thinking on it?
22:06Can you go 75 maybe?
22:08I'll do 80.
22:0980?
22:09You got it, pal.
22:11All right, man.
22:11You got it.
22:13So as I'm in this back room of L's going through his cards,
22:16you know, I'm looking for certain players.
22:18I would love to have rookies.
22:20A lot of the Hall of Famers might be expensive rookies.
22:22So, you know, backup plan, second year card.
22:25If I can find a second year Hank Aaron, second year Willie Mays.
22:28I'm trying to make just a little collection of cards I can make a deal on.
22:32And I know from buying anything else, there's kind of power in the pile.
22:38Especially cards that are so valuable and so collectible.
22:41There are a lot of reproductions and a lot of reprints out there.
22:44So you got to have your magnifying lens.
22:46You got to be looking at the quality of the ink, the way the pixels are on the paper.
22:51We're getting into some real ephemera nerd stuff.
22:55I'm putting a lot of stuff in the pile and I know just percentage wise, I'm not going to get
23:00all of it.
23:00If I can put so much good stuff out there for him to see and he lets me get 10
23:06% of it, I'm perfectly happy with that.
23:08Wham page.
23:11Fighting army.
23:13Now we're starting to find some early comics, but all of this stuff is character or Western.
23:18You know, I know it has value, but I'm looking for the superhero stuff.
23:22Marvel in particular is really hot.
23:24Smokey the Bear, Thongor, Betty Page. Betty Page is really hot too.
23:29Young Love, this is from the 40s or 50s.
23:32Yeah.
23:32If you do have like golden age comic books that are like, you know, rough as a cob, I might
23:39be interested in it for the right money.
23:40I mean, if the cover is presentable, that's what I'm looking at.
23:44I'm looking at that.
23:45What are you guys doing?
23:46My eyes are bugging out of my head upstairs.
23:49I'm just, I'm so desensitized by so much awesome stuff.
23:52See that?
23:52I need a break.
23:53I told you.
23:53I'm trying to figure out the golden age comic books.
23:57Oh yeah, yeah.
23:58You've been chasing it all day.
23:59I'm going to go look in my bedroom.
24:01There might be some good ones in the bedroom.
24:02Okay.
24:05I got to ask about the John Deere sign here.
24:08Let's take a look at that thing.
24:09Yeah, it's a double sided.
24:11The word farm implement is completely gone.
24:14So they made a couple of different versions of this.
24:16This is a three legged deer.
24:17They actually made a four legged one.
24:20That's right.
24:20The John Deere three legged sign is one of the earliest signs.
24:23This is what we call a barn hanger, but it's a three legged barn hanger.
24:27So it makes it even rarer.
24:28800 bucks.
24:31I was, I'm on a thousand on it.
24:35I'll do 875.
24:38I don't care what the other side looks like.
24:40Well, I appreciate the offer.
24:43I'm going to stick to a thousand on it.
24:51Let's let me, let me revisit this.
24:53Okay.
24:54That's fine.
24:55You got tons of stuff in here.
24:57The house itself is very appealing to me.
25:01I like the whole house.
25:02This is so cool.
25:03I've had a lot of people that contacted me and said, can I go through and I love to carry
25:08them through there and show them things.
25:09You got your own museum, personal museum almost.
25:11Well, that's kind of a museum.
25:12It really is.
25:13They're not necessarily interested in buying anything.
25:16They just want to go through it and look at it.
25:18In a way, it's kind of like a museum.
25:20Mitch.
25:20Whoa.
25:21And this thing kind of caught my, my eye.
25:23Yeah.
25:23That was.
25:24It says telegraphic codes on here.
25:26They had a bunch of different things that the teacher used to teach the kids with.
25:30Yeah.
25:30Plus you could flip this over and they could use this as a chalkboard.
25:33So this is the blackboard?
25:34Yeah.
25:34This is maybe something that you would homeschool your kid with.
25:37Like when you're going across the country and, you know, the Conestoga wagon and you've got kids, you want to
25:41educate them.
25:42Look at the back.
25:43Oh, it's got a map.
25:44Half on the back.
25:44This thing was everything.
25:46So it was a multi-purpose teaching tool.
25:49Teaching tool, absolutely.
25:50It's got a lot of different things on the chart.
25:52How to do cursive writing.
25:54How to draw a face.
25:55You could scroll through it and teach your kids from how to draw a square and a circle and a
26:01cow.
26:01All purpose plus all purpose.
26:03And it goes all the way to Morse code.
26:05Plus the chalkboard.
26:05Plus the chalkboard.
26:06Yes.
26:0750 bucks.
26:09I'm thinking 100.
26:1275.
26:14Ah, go 75.
26:15Did you do 75?
26:16Cool.
26:23I have a bunch of comics here that I found up in the room and I think you'll be happy
26:28with these.
26:30I mean, you're talking.
26:31Yeah, this one says rare, a thousand.
26:32Yeah, there's a thousand to two thousand dollars each.
26:35Black Panther, man.
26:35So this is when they introduced the Black Panther?
26:37The introduction of Black Panther.
26:38And that is really big right now.
26:40The big dollar comics, the reason that we cost that much were because it's an introduction of a new character.
26:47This is the second part of the Black Panther.
26:5052 and 53.
26:5252 and 53.
26:53Okay.
26:53Yup.
26:53These are worth a lot right here.
26:55The Spider-Man with the Green Goblin.
26:57Oh yeah.
26:58This is the fly number one.
26:59Oh my gosh.
27:00Yeah.
27:00The fly number one.
27:02This one here is a very collectible comic.
27:06The Hulk versus The Thing.
27:07And even though these don't have covers, these would be if they were in really tip-top shape with covers
27:14about $10,000 each.
27:16Really?
27:16Even in that condition, they're worth hundreds.
27:19No way.
27:19Wow.
27:20That one's the first appearance of Supergirl.
27:22Here it is right here.
27:23Yeah.
27:23The Supergirl from Krypton.
27:24You get one of these in your hands, and you know, it's like the texture, the smell, the colors, and
27:31then just the nostalgia starts creeping in, man.
27:34This is the first book with Mr. Freeze in it.
27:37Yeah.
27:38A very popular character.
27:39Here it is.
27:40Ice Crimes.
27:41There it is.
27:41Mr. Zero.
27:43What do you think about framing some of these pages?
27:45You could just frame and map one page and it'd look cool.
27:48That's right.
27:48That's what I'm saying.
27:49You know what I mean?
27:50I don't know if that would be looked down upon, but if it's something in this condition.
27:53Every page of a comic book is art, and if they're in such bad shape, you know, why not frame
27:59it?
28:00You know, just an interesting piece, you know?
28:01It's like a trophy hanging on the wall.
28:03That's right.
28:03Framing a bunch of pages out of a $20,000 comic?
28:07I mean, do the math on that, you know?
28:09I mean, obviously the framing's gonna cost you something, and then, you know, if you can get maybe $150 to
28:14$200 per page, depending on the subject matter of the page and the condition of the page, I don't know.
28:20I'm starting to look at it that way because, you know, all of this stuff is so expensive.
28:26You know, what would you have to have for these?
28:28You know, and I'd be interested in them just because there's the guys that still want something rare, they want
28:34something interesting in their collection.
28:36If there's a Batman collector and they can't afford $15,000, they'll easily pay $200.
28:40For fans of these superstars, Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, they can get an appreciation that way.
28:46I thought it was a very clever idea.
28:48For you, I'd give them both for $200.
28:52All right, I'm doing it. I'm doing it.
28:54Well, I'm glad you like them.
28:55So these comics up here are very rare.
28:57The first edition of Black Panther goes up to $2,000 in that condition.
29:03This one ranges anywhere from $300 to $500, and this one's $500 to $1,000.
29:07So you're locked in at $2,000 for that?
29:10Well, simply because it's the first appearance of Black Panther and he's super, super hot.
29:14$2,000 for these three.
29:16You said $300 to $500 on this.
29:19Right.
29:19I'm going to just go with the three.
29:21$500 to $1,000.
29:21$500 to $1,000, there's $800.
29:23Right, and up to $2,000 on that one.
29:25I mean, that's just kind of pricing it at like best case scenario, you know what I mean?
29:29Well, for more common comics, I can see that, but for the rarer comics, people do pay up.
29:36$1,800 for these.
29:38$1,800?
29:38Okay, I'll take the $1,800.
29:40Okay, let's do that.
29:41I'm still looking for $500 for these three.
29:43I'd say $300 on those three, to be fair.
29:46I can appreciate this stuff.
29:47I love it.
29:48But there's absolutely no way that I would buy any of this stuff unless Dave was here.
29:54$300?
29:55Yeah.
29:56Okay, so that would be $2,100 for everything?
30:00Yeah.
30:01You got it.
30:01Thank you, buddy.
30:07What is going on with this thing, man?
30:09Well, this came out of that same general store here in town when I was a kid, and it was
30:13-
30:14It's a record keeping book.
30:14It was sophisticated in the fact that if you went in there and bought something on a credit, they'd have
30:19a numbering system, and they'd give you a copy of what you owed, and they'd store the other one.
30:24You'd come back to make your payment, they'd pull it out.
30:26Yeah.
30:26Like a bookkeeping or record keeping.
30:28That's right.
30:28That's right.
30:29Yeah.
30:31I'm not sure.
30:32The glass cleans up.
30:33Nice.
30:33And you can see the people, everybody who owes money.
30:36So, is this the place you got it from?
30:39SD Laws.
30:40Yeah.
30:41It's from this town.
30:42Right from this town here.
30:43To a certain degree, the fact that I have saved some of the items that were in some of these
30:49buildings is a positive thing.
30:52Although, to see the town change so much through the years, especially the original buildings being torn down, all that
31:00is very disappointing to me and actually depressing to me.
31:04This could be the start of a new adventure for somebody. Think about that.
31:07Absolutely.
31:07I could see this thing being repurposed in like a coffee shop or a liquor store or a bar or
31:12whatever, a small business.
31:14Not for another accounting system, but just a decoration.
31:17And this could be a centerpiece of their whole console with the registers on it and just make a really,
31:22really cool donut shop, coffee shop, whatever, man.
31:25Absolutely.
31:26It's business furniture and we're all still starting businesses and that's never going to go away.
31:31600 bucks.
31:33I'll take a chance on it. I mean, I don't know if I'm going to be able to sell it
31:36right away.
31:37I understand.
31:38Seven and a quarter.
31:39I like this piece of furniture a lot.
31:41Well, it's always impressed me.
31:43I mean, 700 bucks.
31:44Let's do it.
31:45All right, buddy.
31:46Thank you so much, man.
31:47Going for it.
31:53So let me set up my little area here to present to you.
31:56Well, look at him.
31:57Present to you what I want to buy.
32:00He's nesting.
32:00Okay, like.
32:02And I'll lay these out.
32:04Yeah.
32:04Certain iconic cards, like key cards, like in the comics.
32:07Yeah.
32:07You have key cards in a player's career.
32:09Yeah.
32:09Key cards to a set means the cards that most collectors want out of that set.
32:15So like that is a Ernie Banks rookie.
32:18Most important card.
32:19Usually a rookie card.
32:20They are the most money and they always go up in price.
32:23The other cards that are set don't matter.
32:25Those are the key cards.
32:26And Dave, of course, found them and he picked them out.
32:28So Al, I want you to kind of assess what you have here.
32:31And you give me like your best opinion on what you think this stuff is.
32:34Okay.
32:35Boy, he's going for the jugular here.
32:37He wants the best cards.
32:39Okay.
32:40These are really good condition.
32:42That's Hank Aaron's second year card.
32:44Yeah.
32:45This one's from the 54 set.
32:47These cards, I really don't want to sell.
32:49They're worth a ton of money.
32:51And I don't know if you have that much.
32:53Well, you have two.
32:54So I was thinking like, well, if you don't want to part with both, you could part with one of
32:58them.
32:58And because Al has taken all this time to build complete sets, he's going to want the best example of
33:03each card in that set.
33:05Now there might be duplicates or triplicates of that card.
33:08That might be the one I can get.
33:09This one, I definitely have to keep.
33:12This one's in a little lesser condition, but still the Aaron rookies are so sought after.
33:17Yeah.
33:17Mays just passed away.
33:19He's very hot right now.
33:20And you got the Mays, the Mantle, and the Ted Williams all from the same year.
33:24This is probably the most expensive.
33:26Yeah.
33:27That is in really good shape for being 115 years old or whatever.
33:31Yeah.
33:32I can see the whole thing coming apart for Dave a little bit here, because every time Al picks up
33:36a card, he talks about how rare it is, and then he sets it down in a different spot.
33:41If there's not going to be anything left, I'm going to be buying the table.
33:43Well, what's the price of that card?
33:45Well, if it was in better condition, you're talking $60,000 to $75,000.
33:49As Al's going through these cards, he's like, well, if this one were in better condition, it'd be worth X
33:54amount of dollars.
33:54But that's like saying if I'm 6'5", I'm in the NBA.
33:59Not reality.
34:00Well, in that condition.
34:02In this condition, I would probably say $2,000 maybe.
34:05Let's leave these two out for the time being, and I'll try to give you an amount.
34:09I didn't think he had enough money for the Aaron rookies, so I pretty much pulled them.
34:13But the other cards, he picked out the ones with the best condition, so he knew his stuff.
34:19You're going to do all this in your head?
34:20Yeah.
34:21These three right here, I figure a really good price for all of them would be $15,000.
34:26This one, I can take $200,000 on.
34:29That would be $17,000.
34:30This one in this shape, I have to get at least $500,000 or $600,000, so that's $22,000.
34:35This one, I've got to get $600,000 to $800,000, so that's almost $3,000,000.
34:40I can go $250,000 on this one, $3,250,000.
34:45I can go $250,000 on this one, that's $3,500,000.
34:49And the banks, I would like to get at least $800,000 on that.
34:53Let's take these guys out of the equation.
34:55Okay.
34:55Let's take this guy out of the equation.
34:58All right, so getting back to this.
35:00Yeah.
35:00I'll go $2,600 for all of them.
35:03Okay.
35:05None of the cards I'm looking at are graded, so I'm really just throwing a number out there,
35:10and we're hoping for the best, but I mean, if things don't come back, if I do have them graded,
35:15at numbers that he thinks they're worth, I could lose some money.
35:19You're at the high end.
35:20You're at the top of the roof right now, and I'm trying to get into the basement.
35:23Well, not for the banks.
35:24Yeah, no.
35:24The banks is a good price on the banks.
35:25So you're at $2,600 on this group here.
35:28Right, right.
35:28Okay.
35:30Um, I could do $2,000 bucks for those five cards.
35:35From $26,000 to $2,000.
35:37Make it $2,100.
35:38Um, I will come up $100,000 if you could toss the bobblehead in.
35:44Throughout this card deal, there was a bobblehead there that I also had interest in.
35:47I figured if I could work that into the deal, then I'd be happier spending that much money.
35:52All right, I'll toss the bobblehead in.
35:54Okay.
35:54I'll do that.
35:54That's a beautiful uniform bobblehead.
35:56Do you like how I had that kind of waiting in the way as I brought that out?
35:58Yeah, that was pretty good.
35:59That was pretty good.
36:04Looks like this is like the advertising.
36:06Yeah, you got it.
36:06This is the one.
36:07Yeah.
36:08Got all kinds of stuff.
36:11That's, uh, Lorico, Louisiana Oil Company.
36:13Oh, yeah.
36:14Yeah.
36:14As opposed to Texaco.
36:15I know you're familiar with them.
36:16This is a single-sided 42.
36:18Single-sided.
36:19Should be 42-inch.
36:20Right, 42.
36:21Yeah, 42.
36:22It's actually not bad.
36:23You know what?
36:23It's got good color on it.
36:24It's still got, you know, a couple little whammies on it, but it's still in good shape,
36:28actually dirty.
36:29What do you got to have out of this one?
36:30Oh, I got to hear you talking on it now.
36:32800.
36:331200.
36:35That's going to be my bottom dollar on that.
36:37Well, you were at $1,000 on the John Deere.
36:40Yeah.
36:42$1,000 for the John Deere, is what you said, and $1,000 on this.
36:47I heard you.
36:48And if you give me $2,200, you can take them with you.
36:52How about $21?
36:55I want to stick to $22.
36:56Getting tough on me.
36:58And I understand that.
36:59I get that.
37:00There's a lot more here to be seen.
37:02Yeah, I've got a, I believe that's 1918, that Shell sign right there.
37:08Yeah, it's the bottom piece, and they're always, you always find them.
37:11And I have tried to find the top.
37:13Yeah.
37:13And you can, but they'll hit you hard if you do find the top.
37:17Shell has the greatest logo, I think, ever.
37:20The problem is, with these signs, they made them in two pieces.
37:24I've got the other piece.
37:25They will complete my project that I've been waiting to do for two years.
37:28Well, let me ask you this.
37:29What would you do for the three?
37:30John Deere, this and that.
37:32Well, I'm still wanting to deal on this one and John Deere.
37:36$2,200 on it.
37:37All right, I'm doing it.
37:40I'm paying your price.
37:41$2,200 on it.
37:42I'm paying your price.
37:43The John Deere and this.
37:44Cool.
37:45How much is the Shell?
37:47You've got to shoot at me on it.
37:49$900 on the gasoline.
37:50Let's go with it.
37:53See, that would have been a lot easier if we just bundled all three.
37:58Mitch is the kind of guy I want in my town.
38:00The guy who can talk about, like, how things work.
38:02Not a bad day.
38:03Not a bad day.
38:04All right.
38:05Laurie Cole.
38:05When I first started collecting, it was fun.
38:08It's still fun.
38:09But at my age, there's no need for me to keep hanging on to it.
38:13Mitch, thank you.
38:14Man, I appreciate it.
38:15Yeah, it's a real pleasure.
38:16I'm thinking that I'm going to try to keep selling, but I can't rule out that if I happen
38:21to spot something somewhere, I may go buy it if I can get it at the right price.
38:25You know?
38:26Y'all be careful.
38:27Thank you, buddy.
38:27Take care.
38:28You know, it's hard to get it out of your blood.
38:33Now, this one.
38:34Now, the big thing with the Ty Cobb, okay, like, you know, when I bought my first card
38:39that I paid money for, it was in a screw down.
38:41That was, like, the standard for everything.
38:44Now, everybody's getting stuff graded like that, and it's in a permanent slab.
38:47Screw downs are actually kind of dangerous for cards.
38:51So, this actually presses it.
38:53Back in the day, we all put them in screw down acrylic plastic holders.
38:58Now, they say, well, that's probably not great for them, because it puts a lot of pressure
39:01on that card as you screw it down into that holder.
39:04So, having it in there, I mean, sometimes can hurt the condition of a card, and I won't
39:09really know a lot until I take it out of there.
39:11Sweet Capital is, like, the second most common back on it.
39:16Second most common.
39:16If it had a, you know, more desirable back, it'd be more.
39:19It's a desirable card.
39:20It's got great color.
39:21If I was going to take a chance on it, I'd want to be at about a thousand bucks on
39:25it,
39:25because I think the value on it would be about eighteen hundred bucks.
39:28I just saw a poor, poor condition, a zero rating go for forty one hundred.
39:34Wow.
39:35For a poor.
39:35Man.
39:36So, I mean, that's so desirable.
39:38Yeah.
39:38You know, and I understand what you're saying with being in the plastic.
39:42Yeah, it's just like, you know, the thing is, like, everybody I deal with now, they have
39:46everything graded.
39:47Yep.
39:48My position on grading is I do not like it.
39:50It changed the whole world of collecting.
39:54Nowadays, everybody wants everything graded.
39:57In the old days, you used to look at it and make your own opinion of it.
40:01I do appreciate and realize how it's come to this, because if you own a business or a shop,
40:08you pretty much have to get them graded.
40:09But, me personally, I don't like the grading system.
40:13What is the lowest you would go on this, then?
40:15I have to get three thousand for it, and that's coming down a lot.
40:18How long has it been pressed in this?
40:19Probably from the 1980s.
40:21Yeah.
40:21Oh, wow.
40:22Yep.
40:22To really judge it, you got to get out of a screw down.
40:24You got to feel it.
40:25You got to smell them.
40:26Part of the offer on this is I'm paying for insurance in my mind, because I don't know
40:32exactly what I'm going to get for it.
40:35It is kind of a gamble.
40:36There's a lot more question marks, and as a buyer, you're always assuming the risk.
40:41I'm willing to step up, and if you would do 2,000 on it, I would do it.
40:48I will do that.
40:49And then we've got this stuff, too.
40:50Because you've bought all of that stuff, too, right?
40:52Okay.
40:52Excellent.
40:52Thank you very much.
40:53Thank you, Al.
40:53I appreciate that.
40:55Oh, man.
40:55I'm glad you like this stuff.
40:56I feel like a dad that just had a kid.
40:58I've never held a tie-cop card.
40:59You got one there.
41:00Well, you still haven't.
41:01It's in plastic.
41:02Yeah, I know.
41:02Well, my sweat won't get on it.
41:04This way it's better.
41:05$2,000 is the most money I've ever spent on any one card.
41:08I am a collector, but I'm not a high-end collector.
41:12So, at the same time that I'm excited, I'm like, oh, I hope everything checks out in this.
41:17It's a big jump.
41:18I know he's got the good stuff up front already.
41:20Oh, yeah.
41:21He broke my heart out.
41:22Did you see when I was rubbing it on the table?
41:23I know, I know.
41:24It's paper.
41:25Thank you very much.
41:26I love the way you're living, man.
41:27I appreciate you.
41:28It's a life's journey.
41:29Oh, my gosh.
41:29Are you kidding me?
41:30It's hard to let go because this is the first time that I even showed any of that, you
41:35know, I showed them to some personal friends and some collectors and stuff, but I never
41:39let them even try to buy them.
41:42So, this is my good stuff that I'm starting to unload.
41:45I'm sure you'll be hearing from him again.
41:47Yeah.
41:47I hope so.
41:47Unless you're a collector, you don't know that feeling, you know.
41:50If you're not a collector, you can't get it, but collectors get it.
41:53All right.
41:53God bless, my friend.
41:54God bless you guys.
41:56Collecting comics or baseball cards, you're triggering, like, a memory of being a kid
42:00and kind of that excitement of being a child.
42:03You know what I mean?
42:04Bye, Al.
42:05Take care, Dave.
42:06Godspeed.
42:08All right.
42:08See ya.
42:09Coming in, being able to buy, like, an iconic card like that Ty Cobb, I just think about
42:14eight-year-old me and how excited he would be for me.
42:18God bless America.
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