American Pickers (2010–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Big Bear - full transcript

MIKE: Well, we stopped
by 'cause we saw your sign.

DAN: Which one?
I've got so many.

[laughter]

FRANK: Wow, this
thing is really cool.

MIKE: Where'd you acquire this?

LELAND: In Japan.

MIKE: During World
War II? Oh look at this.

BEAR: That's a Ferris Wheel.

FRANK What would you
want for something like this?

BEAR: About ten grand.

MIKE: Later Frank!



[laughter]

MIKE: I'm Mike Wolfe.

FRANK: And I'm Frank Fritz.

MIKE: And we're pickers.

FRANK: We travel the back
roads of America looking

for rusty gold.

We're looking for amazing
things buried in people's

garages and barns.

MIKE: What most people see
as junk, we see as dollar signs.

FRANK: We'll buy anything
we think we can make a buck on.

MIKE: Each item we pick
has a history all its own

and the people we meet, well,
they're a breed all their own.

We make a living telling
the history of America one

piece at a time.



[♪]

MIKE: Picking to me, it's
like a day to day treasure hunt.

[♪]

MIKE: Oh wow.

FRANK: We are the people
that supply the antique dealers.

We're the people
in the trenches.

We're the people that are
out searching, finding this stuff.

MIKE: I'm not just
looking for antiques.

MIKE: Oh Frank!

MIKE: I'm looking for
the rusty stuff, I'm looking

for the dirty stuff,
the sun baked stuff.

FRANK: Yeeeeah!

MIKE: I'm looking for the
unusual and impossible.

MIKE: This has been
sitting in here since I

was four years old.

FRANK: It's not an easy job.

It's hard finding stuff.

MIKE: Story of
my life. Not open.

FRANK: Wow, I don't
think we're going to get a call

back, do you?

MIKE: We hit the road. We
do a lot of windshield time.

FRANK: It's back roads.
It's people's homes.

It's barns. It's
dumpster diving.

That's what it's all about.

It's putting yourself out
there and find things.

MIKE: Today is one of the
days that I love about my job.

I love freestyling.

FRANK: Turn,
turn, turn, turn, turn.

MIKE: I love being able to
take a left when where I want to.

I love being able to
stop when we want to.

I love the adventure.

FRANK: We're looking
for people that don't have

brand new trucks.

FRANK: Ooh, see
a Chrysler in there?

FRANK: People that
don't have satellite dish.

MIKE: She had an old
grill and a dishwasher.

FRANK: We're not looking
for that, we're looking

for older homes, people that
have collections, or hoarders.

FRANK: Oh look at
that place right there.

MIKE: Look at that place.

FRANK: Nobody even paints
their houses around here.

That's a good sign, you know?

FRANK: And then boom,
bang, we go from there.

MIKE: Oh my god,
look at this place.

FRANK: Whoa.

MIKE: Bam! It's like
a moth to a flame.

We see the Philip
Morris dude sitting there.

FRANK: All the signs.

MIKE: It was crazy.

MIKE: Oh my god,
that thing is smoking.

Do you know who that is?

FRANK: That's Philip Morris.

MIKE: He's such
an iconic figure.

MIKE: Johnny Roventini
was discovered by the Philip

Morris company and after
that he basically was the

first living trademark.

The guy lived the rest
of his life representing

Philip Morris Company.

The real Johnny would
have made Frank look like

Wilt Chamberlain.

The dude was
only four feet tall.

MIKE: Could have been on
top of a hotel or something.

I mean obviously it's
something that was near a

roadside, waving at ya and
then he's like hey come in

here and buy some cancer sticks.

FRANK: You can see
how the, look at the foot.

It's got two sides so either
side you're on, it don't matter.

See his foot's on that
side and his foot's on

this side, yeah so
it's double sided.

MIKE: This thing is huge
and it's weird, it's unusual.

See if the guy wants to sell it.

FRANK: Yeah let's see about...

[knock on door]

DAN: Can I do something for ya?

MIKE: Well we stopped
by 'cause we saw your sign.

DAN: Which one?
I've got so many.

MIKE: Oh sorry.

The big, the guy with the
big hand going like this.

DAN: Oh little Johnny,
the Philip Morris guy.

FRANK: Yeah.

MIKE: Okay yeah, yeah.

FRANK: My name's Frank.

MIKE: I'm Mike.

DAN: And you're Mike.

MIKE: Nice to meet you.

FRANK: And what's your name?

DAN: I'm Dan, Dan Slaughter.

FRANK: Dan, nice to meet you.

MIKE: Nice to meet you Dan.

DAN: You bet.

MIKE: So let me
ask you this Dan.

How uh yeah how, how in
love are you with that thing?

DAN: Well uh I bought that
from an old lady way over

in Wisconsin.

Originally I think it
came from New York.

It works real nice. His
arm waves up and down.

MIKE: Oh it actually works?

DAN: Oh sure.

MIKE: Oh wow.

DAN: I had it restored,
but it's been standing

there for uh three
or four years.

It needs touched
up a little, not much.

MIKE: What are you thinking?

DAN: Well uh I don't know.

Uh I wanted quite
a little bit for him.

Of course then I don't know
what you call quite a little bit.

MIKE: Yeah that's all,
everybody has a different

idea what that is, you know?

MIKE: Picking 101. Always let
them suggest a price because

once they lay the number
out, nobody wants to lay

the number out first.

FRANK: That's the game, yeah.

MIKE: They never
want.. [laughing]

FRANK: Nobody wants to
lay the number out because you

don't want to be in at
three hundred when they're

thinking a hundred but
then you don't want to be

at a hundred when they're
thinking three hundred so

it's a slippery slope.

MIKE: Or we'll say, we'll say
what do you think it's worth.

DAN: I'd like to get eight,
nine hundred out of him.

What do you want?

MIKE: I would consider
that quite a little bit myself.

Yeah.

DAN: Yeah, yeah,
that's what I always say.

When I went out for
supper, I always thought

it was quite a little bit.

MIKE: How about seven fifty?

DAN: Well I'll tell ya what.

It's gonna make me
feel real bad but it's a cold

day and I'm freezing to death.

I'll go with it.

Tell you what, I'll send my
grandson here out with me.

FRANK: Mike, do you want
to plug it, see if it works?

MIKE: Yeah. That's awesome.

[laughter]

FRANK: That is awesome.
Wow! This thing is really cool.

MIKE: All right let's do it.

FRANK: All right hold up
here. Hold up here. Hold up.

MIKE: This is probably one
of the most unusual things

we've ever bought.

FRANK: Yeah. All right.
Okay get it up. Come on down.

MIKE: That's what I'm saying.

Oh no, no, no! You're
smashing his leg.

Pick this side up.

All right.

'Cause remember he said
we bought him. He's ours now.

FRANK: There we go.

MIKE: I think we scared
little Philip Morris too

much though man.

He started a little
tinkling in his pants.

FRANK: Yeah.

FRANK: Is he going
to the bathroom? Wow.

MIKE: I think he is.

FRANK: I think he's
going to the bathroom.

MIKE: I think he's
relieving himself here.

FRANK: He got scared too.

MIKE: Sorry buddy.

MIKE: The only thing I was
worried about was actually

fitting it in the van.

I didn't think there was
any way we were gonna fit

that sucker in the van.

MIKE: And see
here, let me show ya.

I'm the guy. I'm Philip
Morris. I'm going like this.

I'm in here but look.
My arm is stuck.

FRANK: Uh let's just put him
in feet first and then we'll see.

MIKE: Okay. Here we go.

FRANK: Hold up.

MIKE: Oh no, no, no.
Not his leg. Oh yeah.

FRANK: He's in. He's in.

MIKE: He's in. Yeah!

FRANK: Wait, wait, wait.

See? We work good as a team.

MIKE: Let's go say
goodbye to Dan.

FRANK: All right.

DAN: What do you want now?

MIKE: We fit it in the van.

DAN: You must have
shrunk wrapped it.

FRANK: We wanted
to let you know we got it.

We wanted to tell you
thanks for selling it to us.

MIKE: Yeah really.

DAN: Well the way I look at
it now I can go out for supper.

Otherwise I wasn't gonna
be able to eat tonight.

FRANK: Oh.

MIKE: Yeah.

MIKE: How many times have
we bought something from

somebody and everybody's
like how did you buy that?

What did you do?

We've been trying to buy
that forever and you know

what we say? We asked.

FRANK: We asked.

[♪]

DANIELLE: I have
a really cool lead.

I think you're gonna like it.

MIKE: What's important
about Danielle is she is

the first contact to us.

DANIELLE: Okay, sounds good.

MIKE: She is the one
who's finding us leads when

we're away from home.

She's running ads, she's
getting on the internet,

she's searching blogs,
she's doing anything that

she can to help us
have a better trip.

MIKE: Wait till you
see what we got.

DANIELLE: Oh show me.
I want to see. I want to see.

MIKE: You're gonna
freak out. Close your eyes.

DANIELLE: All
right. Closed. Closed.

MIKE: Put your hands over your,
put your hands over your eyes.

DANIELLE: Come on!

MIKE: Check it.

DANIELLE: What the
hell is that? Oh no way!

MIKE: This whole thing,
this whole huge thing is

actually a sign.

DANIELLE: Oh I love it!

MIKE: Let me know if
you're all right, Frankie.

FRANK: I'm fine. Hold up.

MIKE: You all right?

FRANK: Come on. Go for it.

MIKE: All right. I want
to put it back there

where the tool box is.

MIKE: Okay.

FRANK: I got it.

I'm all right.

DANIELLE: Oh so cool.

MIKE: I'm thinking if we got
him against the railing there.

FRANK: Hold up. Hold up.

MIKE: Okay.

FRANK: My arm's hurting now.

DANIELLE: All right so I've
been talking to this carnie.

His name's Bear.
He's got a lot of stuff.

He has carnival rides, signs.

MIKE: Are you kidding me?

A guy named Bear
that has carnie stuff?

Yeah we're totally
interested, yeah.

[♪]

I think he's gonna
be like a buck fifty.

He's gonna be like urban
cowboy meets Lee Marvin

'cause he's all
weathered and stuff.

Yeah he's looking all cool.

He's looking kind of Marlboro.

FRANK: I see a big guy
with just like a roadmap

of stories in his face,
you know what I mean?

Just the weather.

MIKE: Oh yeah,
like every wrinkle.

This is gonna be really cool.

FRANK: Yeah this
guy is gonna be cool.

Wow. This is it. Look at it.

MIKE: There it is.

Look at that tilt-a-whirl.

What is that, a slide
coming out of his house?

FRANK: Yeah it looks like a
slide coming out of his house.

[laughter]

[♪]

MIKE: Hey you Bear?

BEAR: Yep.

T uh you had some old

carnival stuff and you
used to own a carnival.

FRANK: How ya doing?

BEAR: Yes, yes.

MIKE: He looks the part, man.

Either he's a pirate
or a carnival guy.

FRANK: I had him like
this big bear arrr type dude,

you know, like this, like that.

MIKE: How long you been
in the carnival business?

BEAR: Thirty-three,
thirty-four years.

FRANK: Silver dollar, crest out?

MIKE: No look at
this. Carnie power.

BEAR: That's the very
first Ferris wheel at the

Chicago World's Fair.

MIKE: That's killer.

MIKE: You know,
I saw that thing.

I was like oh my
god, it's turquoise.

It was polished up
and it said carnie power.

I was like I gotta
have that thing.

MIKE: I'll give you
three hundred bucks.

BEAR: Oh my.

MIKE: I'll give you three
hundred bucks for it.

BEAR: It's hand hammered silver.

MIKE: It's cool man. I like it.

BEAR: I'd lose my pants.

MIKE: Frank, give him your belt.

FRANK: He'd have
never sold that in a lifetime.

That's like his, that's
like his penis, man.

I mean he's never, he
ain't gonna let that thing go.

That thing is on, you know?

MIKE: When we started
looking around the yard,

this guy's life was
in those weeds.

MIKE: What year was
something like this made?

BEAR: Oh it was
made back in the fifties.

I closed everything down
'cause arthritis got to me

and I can't work
and lift stuff anymore.

I stopped about
six, eight years ago.

FRANK: When do you ever
meet a second generation

carnie that still has his
stuff and his gear from

the forties and fifties?

I mean unless you're out
picking like we are, you

don't meet people like that.

FRANK: What would you
want for something like this?

BEAR: About ten grand.

MIKE: Really?

FRANK: That's good money.

MIKE: Is this something
that like you would

separate, like sell a car or?

BEAR: I'd rather
sell everything.

MIKE: Well maybe we
can walk around a little bit.

Maybe I'll stew on it and
make you an offer or something.

FRANK: So how did
you get the name Bear?

BEAR: 'Cause I bought a bear.

I even wrestled with him.

He weighed six hundred and
fifty pounds, stood six foot six.

FRANK: I'll be darned.

BEAR: He rode in a semi with me.

He'd sleep in the back.

MIKE: Oh in the back
in the sleeper cabin?

BEAR: Oh yeah.
Blow people's mind.

They'd look in the
back of that and.

FRANK: Six hundred pounds, huh?

BEAR: Yeah.

FRANK: That's a big boy.

BEAR: Oh yeah.

MIKE: What's this here?

BEAR: It's an Eli-five
built in the thirties.

FRANK: It's a game, right?

BEAR: No. It's a Ferris wheel.

FRANK: It's a ride? Ride? Okay.

MIKE: So it's all here.

BEAR: Yes.

MIKE: I mean you
got the whole thing.

BEAR: Oh yeah. Every nut,
bolt and screw and cotter key and

everything's in there.

FRANK: Wow.

MIKE: Look at the
graphics on these things.

FRANK: I know. They're so cool.

MIKE: Big E, Big Eli.

FRANK: Was there a lot
of makers back in the 30s of

these, or was this
pretty specialized?

I mean, I see the other was
from Fairbonk, Minnesota.

I mean, there wasn't a
whole bunch of people

making carnival rides, you know.

BEAR: No.

FRANK: I mean that's kind
of a specialized industry.

BEAR: Right.

FRANK: What would you
want for something like this?

BEAR: About ten grand.

FRANK: Ten thousand dollars?

BEAR: Yeah.

FRANK: The whole trailer
and everything or just?

BEAR: Everything.

FRANK: Everything.
Hook up and take.

BEAR: Right.

FRANK: I gotcha.

MIKE: That price
includes delivery?

BEAR: No.

MIKE: Those cars look
like they're from like at least

the fifties.

BEAR: Yeah they're replicas
of like Nashes and Hudsons.

FRANK: This is a
contained ride right here.

BEAR: Yeah.

MIKE: So these just, you
just pull up, you drop these.

BEAR: Thirteen minutes
you can have it running.

FRANK: How many cars?

MIKE: There's five cars.

FRANK: Five cars?

MIKE: When's the
last time this thing ran?

BEAR: Oh probably ninety-two.

MIKE: You think
all this is here?

BEAR: Oh yeah,
everything's there.

It takes a long time
for iron to rot away.

MIKE: Yeah well these cars
look like they're aluminum.

BEAR: They are.

MIKE: They are?

BEAR: They weigh a hundred
and eighty pounds a piece.

FRANK: Wow.

MIKE: Everything is heavy
here Frank. It's scaring me.

FRANK: It was a self
contained unit which was

easy to set up.

It was flop down. You
put the five cars out.

You're ready to go.

MIKE: What would you
want for something like this?

BEAR: I really don't know.

MIKE: How about uh how
about fifteen hundred bucks?

BEAR: I don't know.
I'd have to think on it.

MIKE: How long do you
have to think about it?

[laughter]

MIKE: I think sometimes
when people are attached

to stuff, you know, and
then they go home and they

sit around and they're
like thinking about that

fifteen hundred and the
fifteen hundred, the price

never leaves their mind.

MIKE: Hey I'm standing tall.

I didn't come over and go
hey I'll give ya a hundred bucks.

I'm stepping, I'm
stepping up to the plate.

BEAR: I know, I know.

MIKE: So they're doing
their dishes, they're

thinking about
the fifteen hundred.

You know, the guy's
putting his pants on, he's

thinking about fifteen
hundred, you know?

He's driving down the
road, he's thinking about

the fifteen hundred, okay?

FRANK: But would
you sell us one of those

tilt-a-whirl things?

MIKE: How about
five hundred for one?

A decent one five hundred.

BEAR: They cost more than that.

MIKE: They do?

BEAR: Yeah.

MIKE: Will you think about
our offer on the car ride?

BEAR: Oh yeah. I'll
toss it around in my head.

MIKE: Okay. I mean seriously
I got cash. No, seriously.

MIKE: I was completely
frustrated by the fact

that we couldn't
buy anything there.

You know, it was
a really cool lead.

You know, it sounded
awesome and it was awesome.

It was amazing. It was really
cool to meet somebody like that.

FRANK: All right.

MIKE: Thanks
Bear. I appreciate it.

MIKE: I think at some
point in time, if we make

the call at the right
time, we're there.

FRANK: Right.

DANIELLE: Hey, what's up?

MIKE: Nothing. Hey we just
left that Bear guy's house man.

It was really cool.

FRANK: It was rad.

DANIELLE: Well I'll get him
up on the chalkboard then and.

MIKE: His name is
going on the chalkboard.

We're always gonna
be reminded of it.

We're gonna work this lead.

FRANK: But once it's on
the chalkboard we walk by

that chalkboard every week
and we're like hey let's call him.

Hey let's call him.

Until he tells us don't
ever call me back ever

again, he's gonna
be on the list.

MIKE: I mean seriously
I love this thing.

I want it.

You know, even if we
don't sell it we'll set it up in

the front of the business
man and frickin' charge a

buck fifty a head or something.

FRANK: Yeah it's cool.

DANIELLE: Awesome. Awesome.

FRANK: So put it on the board.

MIKE: All right. Thanks.

FRANK: See ya.

MIKE: This is Mike Wolfe
with Antique Archeology.

Yeah the antique guy, yeah.

You spoke with Danielle?

It says here you've got
some like old oil lamps.

How old do you think that
is? It's been refinished?

FRANK: No, no.

MIKE: Hello Steve? Nothing.

Hey Cheryl, my
name's Mike Wolfe.

Am I catching you at
a bad time? Bu-bye.

Well none of this
stuff sounds that great.

I was looking through some
of these leads you gave us

and uh there's nothing
outstanding there so I think

our time is better spent
doing a little freestyling.

[♪]

FRANK: When you
get up here let's go right.

MIKE: Look at the
junkyard over there.

Have you ever been there?

FRANK: Uh-uh.

MIKE: Looks nice
newer cars though.

FRANK: White springs.

Hey Mike, I think we should,
uh, that place back there?

It looked like a good spot.

Flip it around, I
want to flip around.

MIKE: Wait a second, just wait.

FRANK: Well, I don't want
to wait. Just flip around.

[♪]

FRANK: Nice to meet
you. My name's Frank.

LELAND: Leland.

FRANK: Leland? Nice
to meet ya. This is Mike.

Old signs, old bicycles.

Got any of that
kind of stuff around?

LELAND: Yes.

FRANK: Would it be okay if
we looked around a little bit?

LELAND: Sure.

FRANK: How long you been here?

LELAND: About forever.

FRANK: Forever?
Forever is a long time eh?

FRANK: Oh boy looks like
you got a little build up in here.

MIKE: We love looking in
places like this. This is great.

[♪]

MIKE: Cast iron, ornate stuff.

FRANK: Fuel gauges.

MIKE: You got some old
pieces of copper up here.

FRANK: Alternators, compressors.

Whoa. Sorry about that.

MIKE: This old cow bell.
This is kinda neat. I like that.

MIKE: It's just like
complete abstract items,

you know, there's so
many things here that it's like

you just don't
know where to look.

MIKE: What are you doing Frank?

You see anything
cool? Cactus juice can.

FRANK: That's right.

Would that be something
that you would sell?

LELAND: Yeah.

FRANK: Okay.

MIKE: Yeah I keep telling
him. He keeps buying the cans.

I keep trying to
tell him not to.

MIKE: Frank's got
a thing for cans.

He's had it since he was a kid.

He's got, like, 300
of them or something.

He puts them all on a
shelf and he looks at them.

And I'm like, 'what
are you doing?'

He's like, 'I don't
have this one in green'.

FRANK: Ready? Ooh.

MIKE: That's awesome.

FRANK: This farm uses
zero T-20 vacuum milk tank.

FRANK: We have to be
able to decide what is good

stuff and what's bad stuff.

A lot of time rusty stuff
that we know is good stuff

other people would just
look at it and just, you

know, that's just junk.

MIKE: All right um
would you do five?

LELAND: Yeah.

FRANK: All right. I
think you made a deal.

MIKE: All right.

FRANK: I hope I can
make it to eighty-eight.

If I don't stop eating so
much, I might not make it.

MIKE: That's what
I tell him Leland.

He don't listen to me though.

[♪]

FRANK: Oh I see. Little dirt
bike thing there huh? Okay.

Did you have an idea
what you'd let it go for?

LELAND: Yeah.
How about fifty bucks?

FRANK: I think we got
room in the van for this.

Well I'll take that for fifty.

FRANK: That item I
bought there, it's just a very

uncommon bike.

They were in business
for a long time, the early

70s, and then they went
out. A great old piece.

It could go to a
motorcycle collector, it

could go to an
interior designer.

It could be a
decorative item for a bar.

It's got a vast array
of interest in it and I

thought it was a great purchase.

FRANK: Cool.

MIKE: It's your size too.

FRANK: Yeah, I can actually...

MIKE: You can touch the ground.

FRANK: I can touch the ground.

MIKE: Now what about
these old saddles over here?

What can you tell
me about these?

I mean are these,
like how old are those?

LELAND: Got those
sixty years ago.

MIKE: Oh sixty years ago. It
looks like it's in good shape.

You've taken good care of it.

I like all the tooling and
everything and it's got

some little silver
conchos on there and stuff.

How about, how
about seventy-five on it?

LELAND: Yeah.

MIKE: Thanks.

MIKE: You know what?

I've never bought a saddle
before, but when I go into

a place like that and
there's so much stuff, I

start thinking out
of the box a little bit.

MIKE: What can you
tell me about this?

Where'd you acquire this?

LELAND: In Japan. I was
in the occupation force.

MIKE: During World War Two?

LELAND: Yeah.

MIKE: Okay.

LELAND: I was just
there after the attack.

FRANK: After the attack.

LELAND: Yeah.

MIKE: So you were actually
there after the bomb was

dropped and saw everything?

LELAND: Yeah.

FRANK: Flat.

LELAND: Flat. But once in
a while there'd be a chimney

standing up.

MIKE: You know, he said
that he was involved with

the first platoon that hit
the ground after the bomb

was dropped on Hiroshima.

I mean for him to
experience that and to be

able to talk to somebody
that's still alive that

did that, you know,
because that's something

I'll ne - we'll never
forget, you know?

FRANK: Just on a cold
call it's amazing you know.

MIKE: What would you have
to have for something like this?

LELAND: I don't know.
A couple hundred.

MIKE: Couple hundred
dollars? Okay great.

I think this is really neat.

I'm excited about it.
Thank you. I appreciate it.

FRANK: Let's get
this stuff loaded up.

You get in, I'll
lift, I'll bust a nut.

MIKE: Knocking the exhaust off.

FRANK: Hey, thanks
for helping me load that.

MIKE: Yeah. Did I have a choice?

FRANK: Not really.

FRANK: Thank you ever
so much for your hospitality

and I'm a get that -
when I get that motorcycle

riding, I'll be thinking
about you. All right?

MIKE: Leland. Thank you.

FRANK: See ya Leland!

MIKE: See ya later.

MIKE: Man that was so cool.

FRANK: It keeps us going.

You know, it shows ya that
those places are out there.

You can't find it unless
you're out there like we are.

We're out there hunting it.

MIKE: Dude that was
awesome. You picked it.

You did really good.

CRAIG: You know, if this
saddle could talk it would

be so interesting.

FRANK: I'd be a
lot of history, huh?

MIKE: Yeah. You have
any idea the value of it?

MIKE: So we're
on the road today.

I gave Danielle a call to
see if she could uh check

into a local saddle shop
or something or somebody

that was kind of an expert
on saddles to see whether

or not I got a good
deal on this thing.

MIKE: There's a lot of
things that we come across

that we might not know
obviously what it's worth.

I mean, we buy it because,
you know, we have a gut

reaction, but, you know,
I mean it's always nice to

be able to find somebody
that can tell us about that item.

So we're gonna head
on over to a placed called

Silver Spur Saddle Shop.

Guy named Craig.

And see if he knows
anything about this saddle.

CRAIG: This saddle was
built for a western stock

type horse, the horse
that was bred to do work is

what this saddle
was manufactured for.

Maker's marker typically
on the left side of the saddle.

Um a lot of times they're
hidden and we have a

numbered saddle but I do
not have the maker's mark.

FRANK: That's some
reference point then, right?

CRAIG: That's a good
reference point. You know,

if this saddle could talk,
it would be so interesting.

FRANK: It'd be a
lot of history, huh?

MIKE: Yeah. Do you have
any idea the value of it?

CRAIG: In the state of
Iowa, this saddle cleaned

and oiled would
conservatively go for

fifteen hundred dollars
in somebody's collection.

Um if you, if you went out
to Wyoming or California

or Colorado where there's
some very, very wealthy

collectors, you know, the
price could be significantly

higher, like up to
four or five thousand.

MIKE: That, that's awesome.

MIKE: When he said that
in some states it was like

four or five grand I
was like oh my god.

MIKE: Did you think I was
stupid to buy that thing?

Did you even look at it?

FRANK: Kinda, kinda.

MIKE: Did you notice it?

FRANK: I did a little bit.

MIKE: I don't think you did.

FRANK: I did a little bit.

FRANK: I called one of my guys.

I haven't been down to
see him. His name is Danny.

MIKE: Are you talking
about Danny Bean?

FRANK: That's who
I'm talking about.

MIKE: We've never
bought anything from him.

FRANK: I've bought stuff
from him and I feel like

going down there and seeing him.

FRANK: Danny Bean, he's a
hard nut to crack, you know,

I mean we've been trying
to get on him for a long time.

The strategy is to wear
this guy down, to keep in

his face, to always be letting
him know, I'm there to buy.

MIKE: This place drives
me crazy because I see all

this stuff I want to buy
and then I can't buy it.

FRANK: I'm thinking today
could be my day that he's

gonna sell and I can
prove Mike wrong.

FRANK: Hey Dan. Good to see ya.

MIKE: I know you remember him.

Do you remember me? I'm Mike.

I'm usually the guy that
travels with this crazy guy.

DANNY: I remember both of you.

MIKE: He's gonna try
to break the ice today.

He's gonna try to buy something.

FRANK: Can you show
us around a little bit?

DANNY: Yeah, I'll show you.

FRANK: You feel like maybe
letting loose of anything or...?

DANNY: It's kind of
hard to let loose anything.

FRANK: I know you
are. I know you are.

DANNY: They say the guy
that dies with the most toys wins.

FRANK: You're,
you're on a good start.

MIKE: Oh my god.

This looks like one big
old picker's jungle gym.

FRANK: This looks like
a picker's dream in here.

MIKE: Would you mind if I
climbed around on some of

this stuff and looked around?

DANNY: Sure, that's
all right. Go ahead.

FRANK: Careful.

DANNY: I've got twelve
or thirteen buildings with

car parts, there's tractor
parts, bicycles, motorcycles.

I guess a little bit of
everything in there.

FRANK: That's different.

DANNY: It starts out to
be a hobby but it just gets

to be a disease I think.

MIKE: What about this jeep
pedal car? Would you sell that?

DANNY: No.

FRANK: Something
you might sell Dan?

DANNY: Not really, no.

MIKE: No on bicycles?

DANNY: No on that.
I'd like to keep that.

FRANK: Okay. I'll put
it back where she's at.

DANNY: I'll sell you
some barbed wire.

FRANK: No. No barbed wire.

MIKE: This is the kind of
place that drives me crazy

or any picker crazy.

You climb through
everything and you're

looking at all
this amazing stuff.

This guy has a great collection
but you can't buy anything.

That's what's depressing.

FRANK: Mike needs to
realize these things take time.

You don't just come to
people's places like this

and walk in and walk out.

This took years and
years to collect all this stuff.

It's gonna take years
and years of rapport and

different times coming out
here to see this gentleman

before he might let
loose of this stuff.

DANNY: That's a beauty.

MIKE: Yeah it's pretty cool.

The bottom of it's wood.

DANNY: I tell you I don't
want to get rid of that, really.

FRANK: Okay.

How long have you had that?

I mean do you remember
when you got it or?

DANNY: Oh that's probably
been in there, let's see

that would have
been seventy-six.

MIKE: Seventy-six. No kidding.

FRANK: All I felt like I
was doing was finding

stuff for him that
he had forgot.

FRANK: How about
this old can here, Dan?

Is this something you'd
sell? I still like cans.

DANNY: No, I like cans too.

MIKE: He got excited about
when he bought it, he got

excited about
what he put in there.

All of sudden, you
know, we pull it out, we're

like, 'wow, this is cool.

He's like, 'well that is cool.

I forgot I had
that, you're right.

I want to keep that'.

FRANK: I can see that.

DANNY: I seen a barn once
when I was a kid that was

struck by lightning and
these was on it and you

could, where the cable
went down over the roof it

had singed all the
way to the ground.

FRANK: I'll be darned.
I'm glad I found it for you.

Maybe we can, now
you can keep her.

MIKE: I think he likes
showing his stuff to

people that appreciate it.

FRANK: Danny could
relate to us today, which I've

never seen that side of him.

He was in rare form today.

[♪]

MIKE: There's so much
stuff in those barns.

We haven't even begun to
scratch the surface of any of that.

I mean, I've been down
there before, but I've

never dug that far.

He's never felt
comfortable enough...

FRANK: Letting us climb around.

MIKE: Yeah. You can kind
of tell that when you're going

farther and farther, and
back into some of those barns,

the stuff gets better
and better and better.

FRANK: What would you
have to have on this though,

let that go?

DANNY: Uh I'll take forty bucks.

FRANK: Forty dollars?
How about thirty dollars cash?

It's kind of - look at
the, well look at the

bottom on it here.

DANNY: Says flip a
quarter and see who loses.

FRANK: Flip? I'll flip your
quarter. I'll do that deal.

DANNY: Heads.

FRANK: It's tails
so I'm at thirty.

Ka-ching!

DANNY: You sure
it aint got two tails?

FRANK: It's got head
and tails. All right.

I made a purchase.

I feel like I've broken
the ice. I feel good.

MIKE: We didn't just break
the ice. We fell through.

FRANK: What would you feel
comfortable on letting this go?

DANNY: A hundred
and fifty bucks.

FRANK: That sounds fair to me.

MIKE: What about this
seat? How about two bucks?

DANNY: Take it with ya. I'll
get even with ya sometime.

MIKE: Ooh. That
sounds dangerous.

DANNY: Don't say I
didn't get you nothing.

FRANK: Well that's heavy
duty, feel it too, I mean,

that's real steel there.

DANNY: They made
them, it's hard to get 'em...

MIKE: With the detail on it.

FRANK: Oh my gosh, I bet.

MIKE: Pulling
the trigger on that?

FRANK: No.

MIKE: No?

FRANK: But I like it though.

MIKE: How much you
want for that, Danny?

DANNY: Oh I don't
think I want to sell it.

It ain't no high
dollar item anyway.

MIKE: Yeah, yeah,
I mean it's cool.

MIKE: Sometimes there's
a fine line you have to walk.

If they say, 'well, you
know, I don't really want

to sell it'.

Sometimes I'll go, 'hey,
you know, what's a stupid

number on it, and,
and that makes them,

you know, 'well, hey
if you want to pay this

much, you can have it...'

FRANK: They have the upper hand.

MIKE: Yeah. What's
crazy money on it?

DANNY: Oh I would
say probably five bucks.

MIKE: All right, I'll take it.

FRANK: Yeah he was
gonna take it for crazy money.

MIKE: You have to know
when to be aggressive and

when not to.

MIKE: Why, why did
you pass on this, it's cool

it's got the decal, it's
cast iron, it's even got

the wick, it's got brass?

FRANK: I thought he was
going to say fifty dollars.

If I had known five bucks,
I would have picked it up.

MIKE: What about
at least this crank?

DANNY: Well that I want
to keep, that I want to keep

for now too.

MIKE: If I say hey do you
want to sell that and they

say no I don't.

To me, that's not the
end of the conversation.

MIKE: I will go to the
ends of the earth to find

the right part.

I mean I'm, I'd like to make
you an offer on that crank.

MIKE: That thing is really rare.

It's for a Harley
Davidson bicycle.

I was like a dog after a
piece of meat on that thing.

I had to have that.

MIKE: I'll give you
a hundred bucks.

DANNY: It's yours.

MIKE: I stepped up to the plate.

I mean, it's obviously
worth more than I paid,

you know, but...

FRANK: But he was happy,
he was comfortable with...

MIKE: He was very happy.

MIKE: This bicycle is
the bicycle I tried to buy off

you last time I was
here and here it still sits.

It's got a straight
bar frame so it's early

thirties, you know?

I mean with that brake
that's like the frosting

on the cake.

MIKE: Old boys bikes are
worth way more than girls

because girls took
care of their bikes.

Boys beat the heck
out of their bikes.

They were jumping off
curbs and taking them

apart and trying to
fix them and stuff.

So boys bikes are a
lot rarer than girls bikes.

DANNY: What are
you giving today?

MIKE: Would you do twenty?

[laughter]

DANNY: Bring your shotgun out.

FRANK: Get your
shotgun out here.

DANNY: Thirty-five
and it's yours.

MIKE: All right,
I'll do it. Thirty-five.

MIKE: This is my baby.

RICHARD: It's a Japanese
samurai and military mountings.

Originally this sword
was this distance longer.

MIKE: What do you think,
what do you think it's worth?

MIKE: I see you got
a Vespa over there.

That's an earlier one though.

It's got the handlebars on it.

It's kind of cool, you know?

I mean it's almost,
it's like, it's like, at this

point it's like a
sculpture, it's like a

piece of art here.

MIKE: We're not just
looking for antiques.

I mean, we're looking for
stuff that decorators can

use, you know, art
directors can use.

I mean, we have a lot
of different clients and it's

cool when you take
something that's like

rusty and dirty and sun
baked and you hang it in a

completely abstract area
and all of a sudden, it's

in somebody's home
and it makes that room...

FRANK: It takes
on a whole new life.

MIKE: What uh what would
you have to have for this?

DANNY: Oh thirty
dollars for that.

MIKE: Would you do twenty
and I'll haul it out of here?

DANNY: Oh god, I can't do that.

MIKE: All right,
I'll tell you what.

I'll pop thirty on this.

DANNY: Ok. I was
gonna tell you half.

MIKE: Bring it. Thirty.

DANNY: I was gonna
tell you we'd split it.

MIKE: Oh you were? Okay.

FRANK: Take his
money. Take his money.

MIKE: I think it's
got a beehive in it.

MIKE: I go and there's
bees everywhere.

FRANK: You were running
around like a little kid

when they started swarming.

MIKE: Whoa!

They're right underneath here.

Okay. They're underneath there.

FRANK: Close the lid
and you just bring it out.

DANNY: Push it back. Don't move.

MIKE: He's checking me
out. He's looking at me.

There's one.

MIKE: Danny just
comes over - boom!

He's like you've
been evicted son.

You know, he just
grabbed the whole thing.

I was like oh my
god, that's crazy.

[laughter]

MIKE: It's another
day of picking.

FRANK: I want to
say see, I told you so.

Hello? Okay.

MIKE: I'm sorry.
Were you talking?

[♪]

MIKE: Well I still got
that Vespa frame and I

still got that bicycle.

This is like two hundred dollars
worth of fun for thirty bucks.

[♪]

Nice.

FRANK: It'll sit nice,
flat on the floor there.

[♪]

Thanks for your hospitality.

DANNY: Stop back.

MIKE: You pushed me over
the hump and that was cool.

But let's not talk about
that anymore because.

FRANK: Let's not
talk when I was right.

Yeah let's get back to
when Mike was right.

[♪]

MIKE: Now we're going
to find out about that sword.

My friend Richard owns
a huge auction company.

One of the biggest in the world.

And they deal in firearms.

They deal in war relics.

If anybody would know
anything about this sword,

it would be him.

MIKE: You remember Franky?

RICHARD: Oh how
could I forget Frank?

Like I'd want to forget Frank.

MIKE: Exactly. Exactly.

RICHARD: You have to
spend time with this guy finding

all these rare things.

MIKE: This is my baby.

FRANK: It's all right. This
was our day right there.

RICHARD: Well it's a
Japanese samurai and

military mounting.

This was quite a common
happening, you know,

for the wars...

[♪]

and the way we will
remove the handle.

Originally this sword was
this distance longer but

the Japanese...

MIKE: Oh yeah it's
got a signature on it.

RICHARD: The signatures
of who made them.

FRANK: And that was cut off?

RICHARD: So that was
cut off in the process.

The world will never
know who made that sword.

[♪]

MIKE: What do
you think it's worth?

RICHARD: Between
four to six hundred dollars.

That's the value of the
sword at auction, private sale.

MIKE: What would it have
been worth if the blade

hadn't been cut off and
the signature was there?

RICHARD: Who knows. Who knows.

It depends on the
maker, the size,

but many thousands of dollars.

MIKE: Really?

FRANK: So this much cut you off.

[laughter]

MIKE: This was my first
Samurai sword purchase.

I paid two hundred bucks.

He said it's worth four
to six so the guy's an

amazing wealth of knowledge.

I think I did good. I'm happy.

DANIELLE: Hey. I was just
calling to let you guys know

that I did talk with Bear.

MIKE: We got a
call from Danielle.

Bear's off the chalkboard.

DANIELLE: Uh he did say
he was ready to sell on the

piece you were interested in.

MIKE: That's awesome.

So you talked him into it?

FRANK: That nine hundred
number charm you put on him?

DANIELLE: I think he
may or may not love me.

A little phone sex never
hurt a good ole country boy.

I told him that like, you
know, you guys could

definitely buy it
for fifteen hundred.

He did not give me a
definite but it sounded

like that could
be a possibility.

MIKE: All right thanks.
Thanks Danielle.

DANIELLE: Okay. Bye.

MIKE: All right, bye. Let's go!

[♪]

FRANK: Hello!

MIKE: Hey Bear. How ya doing?

BEAR: Warm.

FRANK: A little
nippy today, isn't it?

BEAR: Yes, yes. It is.

FRANK: So did you have
a chance to talk with your

family about the,
about the ride?

BEAR: Yeah. They're
not too up on the price.

They want, seem to think
that I ought to get more out of it.

They said iron
don't eat nothing.

FRANK: Yeah
you're right. It doesn't.

MIKE: But there's a
lot of stuff that eats iron.

BEAR: Yeah.

FRANK: Of course he
was, you know, wanted more

money out of it, everybody
wants more out of it, but

we were pretty
determined at our price.

MIKE: There's no way,
no way we were going to lay

down more than fifteen
hundred bucks for that thing.

FRANK: When we're buying
something, when it comes

to the price, that's
when we start the dance.

Who's gonna throw
the number out?

MIKE: Here's
what we're thinking.

We were out here last time.

We loved looking
around. You were great.

You had us sold then.

But we were at fifteen
hundred and then you had to

go talk to your family. Okay.

So the bad news is we're
still at fifteen hundred

but the good news is we're back.

FRANK: And the good news
is we're here today with cash.

BEAR: Okay if you got
hundred dollar bills, that's fine.

MIKE: I got
hundred dollar bills.

BEAR: Okay.

MIKE: All right. You
heard that Frankie.

Skin on skin. All right.
There we go. All right.

Now the biggest problem is
getting it the hell out of here.

[laughter]

FRANK: All right well I
think you better get on

the phone to your brother
'cause we need some help.

MIKE: All right. I'm
gonna go call him.

[♪]

MIKE: Robbie?

ROBBIE: Yeah.

MIKE: Hey. This is Mike.

Me and Frankie came across
this smoking carnival ride.

This thing is cool man.

It's got a two inch ball
hitch on it and I don't

have a two inch ball hitch.

ROBBIE: Yeah. So
what do you need me for?

MIKE: Well basically I'm
calling you because I need

your help and you're
my brother and I thought

since uh you probably
weren't doing anything like

you usually are that you'd
come out here and help me.

Listen. Listen, listen, listen.

Me and Frank will
babysit for a week.

FRANK: We'll babysit the kids.

ROBBIE: I will make
it happen, all right?

MIKE: My brother Robbie's
a year younger than me.

We shared a bedroom
until, like 10th grade.

We're really tight.

[♪]

FRANK: I think I see him coming.

You made it.

MIKE: Thanks.

ROBBIE: It seems like I'm
always taking care of him.

It's non-stop twenty-four
hours a day I'll get phone

calls from him.

It's like hey uh drop
everything and uh come and

help me out on this project.

He's supposed to be
taking care of his younger

brother and it's I'm
taking care of him.

ROBBIE: I don't think
these freakin' tires are

going anywhere dude.

They're freakin' gone.

MIKE: They got air in them.

ROBBIE: Are you kidding me?

MIKE: Don't pull that.

ROBBIE: But when you
get there it's like hey uh you

only have to drive twenty
feet to pick this up and

the next thing you know
you're down in a ditch.

ROBBIE: What the hell's
the matter with you guys?

That thing's like
down in the dirt.

MIKE: Let's remain
optimistic here.

Move her on round.

ROBBIE: I'll get the truck.

[♪]

I think this thing's gonna
sink in a hole in the ground.

FRANK: Oh no, no, no,
no. No negativity here.

MIKE: I thought you
were bringing a big truck!

[laughter]

[♪]

Straight back.

FRANK: Now turn it
towards me a little bit.

MIKE: Come on.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

That's it.

ROBBIE: Hey Bear. How
much for that snowplow?

BEAR: Well I don't know
which one you talking about?

There's three of them over here.

ROBBIE: How much are they?

BEAR: All depends.

MIKE: Robbie! Keep
your eye on the ball here.

FRANK: Robbie's picking.

MIKE: Robbie, stop
picking and get to work.

We need some help over here.

The thing's not
lifting up anymore.

ROBBIE: Up, up, up.

You're going down, man.

FRANK: See you just
had to put pressure on it.

ROBBIE: Looks like DOT's
gonna have a heyday with this.

MIKE: Listen, if you have
any problems Frank will

throw in an extra
week of babysitting.

ROBBIE: He's always
offered to babysit.

That's never gonna
happen in a million years.

He couldn't handle
it if he wanted to.

Uh it just wouldn't
happen. Frank, maybe.

FRANK: Here's the
maiden voyage, the titanic.

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. We're
moving. They're moving.

MIKE: Come to papa!

FRANK: Come to - oh yeah!

Yeah! Come on Robbie.
We're almost home.

[♪]

MIKE: Woo!

Later Frank!

[laughter]

Wooo!

ROBBIE: You guys
better follow it close 'cause

whatever falls off
you gotta pick up.

[♪]

ROBBIE: The tires are, uh,
they're completely dry rotted.

ROBBIE: Freaking rubber
burning or something.

MIKE: Let's just get,
hey, you know what?

Seriously, unless you see
sparks, just don't stop, man.

Seriously.

[♪]

FRANK: It's lucky that
we're following behind in

case something flies off or
comes off and within a minute.

MIKE: You jinxed us.

FRANK: A jack stand came
flying back at us, you know.

You were incredible
driving, incredible driving.

We could have had a
cracked windshield, could

have broke the jack stand,
we could have had a flat tire so.

MIKE: We avoided what
we call in our business a

style cramper.

[♪]

MIKE: You guys get this
baby rocking inside here.

I want to get it set up
over here so we can, we

can get some pictures of it.

Keep coming.

All right whoa. Whoa.

You did good brother.

MIKE: It was really cool
my brother came out there

because my brother's
life is run by five kids.

I mean from the morning
when he wakes up till the

evening when he goes
to bed, he's got one on this

leg, one on this hip
and one on this arm.

MIKE: You got five
kids. There's five cars.

Are you interested in it?

ROBBIE: No.

FRANK: Maybe? In the backyard?

ROBBIE: No.

FRANK: You were
gonna buy a pool.

Why not just get this?

MIKE: Listen. Don't - hey.

ROBBIE: What are you
gonna do with this thing?

FRANK: Each kid could
have their own car, could paint

their own things.

ROBBIE: Here, sell that to
my wife and yeah that'd work.

ROBBIE: Later guys.

MIKE: Let us know when
you want us to babysit.

ROBBIE: Yeah all right.

FRANK: Thanks Robbie.

MIKE: Thanks man.

FRANK: You were a lifesaver
dude. You took care of us.

Man that worked out good.

Let's get the jack
stands out first.

MIKE: Let's get this down.

FRANK: You don't want to
take, put it on the jack stand?

MIKE: No we will
once we get - whoa.

Danielle.

DANIELLE: Wow.

FRANK: What do
you think of this?

MIKE: What do you think?

FRANK: Danielle,
help us on this side.

DANIELLE: You're the strong men.

DANIELLE: So what'd you pay?

MIKE: We paid fifteen hundred.

DANIELLE: Awesome.

FRANK: All right.
Let's bust these cars off.

That thing is heavy.

MIKE: Whoa. Where
am I going with it?

FRANK: Back.

MIKE: Okay.

DANIELLE: So what
do we owe Robbie?

MIKE: Oh Frank said
he'd baby-sit for two weeks.

FRANK: You don't want to know
what we're gonna owe Robbie.

MIKE: My biggest
thing with it is uh -

there's Robbie.

ROBBIE: What's up brother?

FRANK: What's up Rob?

ROBBIE: I brought
you guys some presents.

KID: Hi uncle Mike.

MIKE: Hey honey.

ROBBIE: I gotta get going
'cause remember when I

picked the ride up?

Okay and you said we'll babysit?

FRANK: No, we said
we'd do you a favour.

ROBBIE: Yeah well
here's the favour.

FRANK: What?

ROBBIE: Hey, I forgot.
They haven't eaten dinner yet.

Can you feed them?

MIKE: Thank you so much.

MIKE: Once I realized
that my brother was serious

about leaving the kids
here, my mind was racing

as to what we could
possibly get them to do to

occupy their time.

MIKE: Would you guys like
to help us clean this up? No?

FRANK: I think things
worked out okay.

DANIELLE: So I found
this guy named Frank.

He knows all
about carnival rides.

Hopefully he can give
the guys more information.

FRANK (EXPERT): Hello.

MIKE: Hey, my name is Mike.

Danielle spoke with you
in regards to a carnival ride

that we have.

It's five cars. They're
really heavy cast aluminum.

They look like they're
probably from the early

fifties, mid fifties.

Can you give me a
general idea of what this, the

value of something like this.

FRANK (EXPERT): I
just bought one and I paid

thirty-five hundred dollars.

FRANK: Okay.

MIKE: That sounds good.

[♪]

KID1: I'm done.

KID2: I need some more spray.

FRANK: You're done? All right.

Keep rub, keep polishing.

DANIELLE: This is the
way they treat me here.

MIKE: Maybe we should
have Robbie drop the girls off

more often.

Work it.

Good job Sun-Sun.

All right.

FRANK: Hey can you
girls do some rewiring?

I wipe, you dry.
I wipe, you dry.

You dry.