American Pickers (2010–…): Season 1, Episode 10 - Know When to Fold - full transcript

MIKE: I'd be interested
in this for three thousand.

SALLY: These are
all like my children.

FRANK: You know what's really
eating away at me right now?

Is your mother saying
she's never even been

upstairs before.

CORY: Yeah, I've never either.

It's an antique building.

MIKE: Hey Cory, what was
the name of that dude that

did the Orphan Annie cartoons?

CORY: Harold Gray?

MIKE: If I take them all,
the broken ones, the ones



that aren't broken, the
ones with chips, no chips,

I'd do a thousand bucks.

There could be a piece
in there that's worth a

thousand dollars. I don't know.

That what I'm banking
on, that's what I'm rolling

the dice on. Putting it all
on black, doubling down.

It's like I'll take it
all. Here's a grand.

MAC: Uh...

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 if
we think we can make a buck on it.

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: We're not making
any money down here.

If we don't find something
pretty soon, we're going

to be sleeping in this
van, I can tell you that.

Picking in the south
is extremely tough.

The pressure is on
more than usual today.

FRANK: Our cash is running out.

We need to have a good pick.

MIKE: There might be
some stuff around here.

FRANK: I'm looking.

MIKE: I know, I'm
looking too man.

You take the right,
I'll take the left.

FRANK: Hey, look at
this. Bunch of old cars.

Let's look what we got here.

Let's swing in this place.

MIKE: We're driving down
the road and we see this

really old junkyard.

These old junkyards are
almost impossible to find.

They're disappearing
from America.

FRANK: This is the kind of
place that we need to score at.

MIKE: Man, look at this
flea market thing though.

FRANK: Couple old cars.

MIKE: Hey, how you doing?

FRANK: How's it going?

MAC: Alright. How about y'all?

MIKE: Doing good.

FRANK: We just seen your
place here, we were driving by.

My name is Frank.

MAC: Mac.

FRANK: Nice to meet you.

MIKE: Who's this little guy?

MAC: That's
Sparkplug. He's a .

FRANK: This gives you
a little general guideline

of some of the stuff we buy.

MAC: What about
just the whole place?

FRANK: The whole place?
I don't think it'd fit in the van.

MIKE: I think Sparkplug's
saying, pops, let them

look around.

MAC: I'll spend a
little time with you.

FRANK: Alright.
We appreciate that.

MAC: This property has
been in the family since

nineteen eighteen.

This is the house I was
born in, nineteen thirty eight.

When it was open, it was
a flea market and junkyard

but my daddy ten years
ago passed away and so

everything's closed.

MIKE: When we first
got there, and we see all

that killer stuff.

I mean, you dream
of places like this.

You're all jacked up and
then wham, all of a sudden

you're in one.

MAC: All of these have
got some stuff in them.

Most of this is parts.

The fifty four tied
them in the grill.

FRANK: Did they spin
when you're going on a ride?

MAC: Uh-huh.

FRANK: Oh, that's cool.

MAC: It's a cannonball
from Vicksburg.

[♪]

FRANK: You must've been into...

MIKE: Still got some
price tags on stuff.

MAC: That's an old
cigarette case and a lighter.

That was my daddy's.

FRANK: He had a nice
real art-deco lighter that was

his father's and wanted
to keep it but some lighters

can really go up to the
hundreds, up to thousands

of dollars for the right one.

MIKE: What do
you thinkin' on that?

MAC: I don't know about
that. I want to keep it.

FRANK: If we show interest
in a piece than it must be

good 'cause for us to
look at all that stuff in there

and only pick out one or
two items, obviously those

must be the good items.

MAC: Uhhh

FRANK: How 'bout thirty five?

MIKE: I'll do
twenty five on this.

MAC: I better hold on to that.

MIKE: Here's the hardcore
reality of this whole situation.

This guy was born
on this property.

He's second or third
generation he's talking

about, and all this stuff is
here because he doesn't

sell anything.

MIKE: Busted pocket
watches and skeleton keys.

What do you think?

MAC: I might...

MIKE: Fifty bones.

MAC: Alright.

MIKE: He was
loosening up a little bit.

We got him to put a
few numbers on things.

MAC: I'll do fifty.
I'll do thirty five.

MIKE: At the end of the
day, it's like, you know what?

We're here, we got cash,
we have a pulse, and we

want to buy.

MIKE: Is this near
and dear to you?

MAC: That's a good piece.

MIKE: That's a good one?

MAC: Yep, it's
got the clock in it.

MIKE: Yeah. It says the
Statue of Liberty, New York.

[♪]

Thirty?

MAC: Uh...

MIKE: It was actually a
souvenir that was sold at

the base of the Statue of
Liberty back in the twenties.

I mean, I've seen these
things go for about a

hundred and twenty
five bucks before.

It's just a really neat piece.

MAC: It's a lot of...

MIKE: Alright, thirty five!

[♪]

MIKE: We're hoping that
right now, since the cash

is rolling he's going to
show us around to some

other cool spots.

Hopefully there's something
that's going to top that.

MIKE: Where's the
oldest stuff you got?

MAC: This barn has
been closed for thirty years.

MIKE: Can we open this up?

MAC: Alright.

MIKE: Believe me, our
heart is racing every time

we get into a building.

Whoa, Franky.

MAC: It's getting old.

MIKE: But when we get into
a building that he says hasn't

been opened for thirty
years, I mean, I'm like, boom!

FRANK: Wow. Yeah, you do
have a bunch of stuff in here.

MIKE: I look off to
the left, I saw all of the

pottery in there.

It was incredible to see
that much of it in one area.

MIKE: Are all these
jugs local to this area?

MAC: Yeah.

MIKE: When you see a
piece of pottery, it speaks

history, it speaks
craftsmanship, it speaks art.

[♪]

MIKE: If I bought all
of the ones that weren't

broken, you know, would
you do uh, forty bucks a piece?

MAC: Uh, I don't...

MIKE: How about
fifty bucks a piece?

I'd step up to the
plate at fifty a piece.

And you know I'm not kicking
you in the shorts on that.

MIKE: There could be
a piece in there that's

worth a thousand
dollars, I don't know.

That's what I'm banking on.

That's what I'm
rolling the dice on.

Putting it all on
black. Doubling down.

It's like, I'll take it
all, here's a grand.

MIKE: If I take them all,
the broken ones, the ones

that aren't broken, the
ones with chips, no chips,

I'd do a thousand bucks.

MAC: Uh...

MIKE: We don't have ten
minutes to go call an appraiser.

We are the appraiser.

We've got the cash,
we got to lay it down.

MAC: I'd probably work
with you on a thousand.

MIKE: Alright.

Sparkplug just woke up.

MAC: Here Sparkplug.

MIKE: Hit me Plug.

FRANK: Here, load me up.

[♪]

MIKE: Alright, awesome!
They look good man.

I threw a g-note at him.

We're hoping that there
will be some incredible find.

And for us to take that
chance, we'll do it all

day long, you know,
because that embodies

everything that
keeps us on the road.

FRANK: These are great man.

MIKE: Hopefully those will
make it back to Iowa in one piece.

Thank you so much
for showing us around.

FRANK: Thanks so much
for showing us around.

MAC: If you've got
something to sell you'd

like to pick your
customers and they just

seemed my kind of people.

MIKE: We almost closed
up shop here in Georgia and

headed back but now
there's some light at the

end of the tunnel,
we've scored here.

FRANK: Southern pottery
is usually collected by

southern people, you
know, they like to keep it in

their backyard.

We're not going to be
able to sell this when we get

back home, so we need
to get Danielle on the phone

and get her working for once.

We're all fired up. We
found some pottery.

We took a gamble on
it. We think it's good.

MIKE: What we need is
somebody that's going to

appraise this stuff
but also is interested in

buying the stuff.

DANIELLE: Alright, I'm
looking it up right now.

FRANK: What do [♪]

MIKE: So what's the
lowdown with this dude?

FRANK: This is Danielle
that turned us on to this.

FRANK: It was
his father's place.

His father passed away
about a year ago, he

inherited the collection.

MIKE: This guy's driveway
is like three miles long.

FRANK: Check out the donkey.

MIKE: It's like a
little sawed off one.

FRANK: Yeah. Cute.

FRANK: Hey, how's it
goin'? My name is Frank.

SAM: Frank, I'm Sam.

MIKE: I'm Mike, nice to
meet you. How you doing?

SAM: Pretty good.

SALLY: I'm Sally.

MIKE: Hi, nice to
meet you. I'm Mike. Hi.

SALLY: My husband and
I bought our first antique

car back in nineteen
seventy eight and just

fell in love with
everything automotive so

we've got a lot of old
car stuff, engine parts,

advertising, any
kind of automobilia.

This car was used to carry
Lyndon Johnson when he was

vice president.

MIKE: That's pretty cool.

SAM: This is the Marmon sixteen.

Uh, they've made three hundred
and ninety two of them ever.

SALLY: They used to take
these and run them around

the speedway in Indianapolis.

There's an old certificate
that says this car was...

FRANK: Indy tested?

SALLY: This is our family,
these cars and if you're not

nuts over something like we
are, you'll never understand it.

SAM: This is one of three
in the world known to exist.

MIKE: Touch it Frank.

FRANK: Three in the world?

SAM: It's a nineteen
forty nine Keller.

FRANK: Wow.

SAM: There's two other
ones. One of them is for sale.

I think the last we heard
from him is he wanted it

for a quarter million dollars.

[♪]

FRANK: This is cool.

MIKE: This is beautiful.

FRANK: I'm loving this.
SAM: This is a twenty seven.

FRANK: I'm having a heyday here.

I'm having a great,
fantastic time.

They were wonderful people.

Very, very passionate
about their collection.

Had a lot of amazing stuff here.

MIKE: This is really high
quality, high test stuff.

SAM: That's a nineteen
twenty one Marmon model

thirty four B.

FRANK: Is this going to
be one of those things that

we're going back
to three in the world?

That I need to touch?

SALLY: I think
they're about five.

I know of a Cadillac the
same gauge and the same

quarter scale and it
went for fifty thousand.

MIKE: Wow. We want to learn,
and we can appreciate this stuff,

but at the end of the day,
you know, we're fourteen

hundred miles from home
and we've got to make a living.

This is a Merkel bicycle
that's just an aftermarket

bicycle with a
Merkel motor on it.

The Merkel company made
this accessory piece that

made any bicycle a
motorized bicycle back then.

A lot of them didn't
survive, they were

extremely expensive back
then so that makes them

extremely rare.

[♪]

Can I at least make
you an offer on it?

SALLY: Sure.

MIKE: I'd be interested
in this for three thousand.

SALLY: These are
all like my children.

MIKE: She called it one
of her children, you know,

and it's like, who would
ever accept an offer for

one of their children, you know?

SALLY: Technically,
nothing's for sale because

we never sold anything.

MIKE: It's so hard for us
because we can't buy it,

you know, and that's...

FRANK: We offered
them a very, very fair price.

So you keep moving on
to things maybe, possibly

that aren't quite as
endearing to them.

MIKE: Right here. This one.

SAM: Poor thing's
not even hung up.

MIKE: Yeah, but I think
it was a flange 'cause it's

double sided.

Whiz products are really
rare if you're collecting

gas and oil related things.

Whiz is like the Cadillac
of that so even though the

sign is, in our terms,
roached, I think if we put a

little bit of oil on it, the
colors will come back out of it.

I'd be interested in
this for a hundred.

SAM: I can probably
do that for you.

MIKE: I paid a
hundred dollars for it.

To the right guy, it might be
worth a couple hundred bucks.

You know, some Whiz-head,
crazy collector that's got

to have that piece.

He's got to have everything
Whiz except for that sign.

[♪]

MIKE: We very
much appreciate it.

We were honored to look
through it, we really are.

FRANK: Anytime someone
lets us onto the property

like this and with all the
amazing stuff you guys

have got, I mean,
it's incredible.

We feel touched.

SAM: I'm jealous. Their
job seems fantastic.

To see all the people
and see all the things they

get to see would be
almost a dream job.

That was fun.

SALLY: It was. Neat guys.

MIKE: Right now, for
me, today's not a bust.

We still got plenty
of day left, you know?

We just need to do some
free range picking, or

otherwise known as freestyle.

FRANK: And I like
the area we're in.

Around the corner, there's
going to Believe me. g better.

MIKE: I'm just glad we're
on the road together dude,

you know what I mean?

In the words of the
famous Charlie Feathers,

me got what me
want when me got you.

FRANK: Wow that was really good.

[♪]

Oh, look at that. Nobody
lives there though.

Whoa - whoa whoa whoa!

MIKE: That's totally you.

FRANK: We go by this
place and there's just stuff all

over the place.

MIKE: You think
somebody lives here dude?

FRANK: Hey, there's a gate over.

MIKE: It's a freaking
swamp, man.

When we actually found
our way up to the front door,

I thought there was going
to be some like rickety

old man answering the door,
what the hell do you want?

WOMAN: Hello?

FRANK: Hello!

MIKE: Hey, how you doing?

That wasn't the kind of
face I was thinking was

going to be behind that door.

WOMAN: My husband
died five years ago.

MIKE: Uh-huh.

WOMAN: And I really don't
know what's in the buildings.

It was all his stuff. This is
my son Cory. I'll let him...

MIKE: Hi Cory, I'm Mike.

FRANK: Hi Cory, my name
is Frank. Nice to meet you.

CORY: You sure
you're all ready for this?

It's kind of dangerous in here.

FRANK: Yeah, we're
ready for anything man.

MIKE: No one has really
been in these buildings

since he passed
away other than Cory.

WOMAN: It's not going to
be easy to get around in here.

CORY: There is a big hole
in the floor that somebody

fell into.

FRANK: Okay. We eat, sleep,
and breathe this kind of stuff.

This is us.

You keep thinking, if I
move one more box, there's

going to be something...

MIKE: Open one more
drawer, look underneath

one more bench, look
behind one more piece of

wood that's fallen
off the wall... there

could be something anywhere
in here that's valuable.

Did this used to be a store?

CORY: It was about
sixteen, seventeen years ago.

Dad had it opened for
many years, this is kind of

what he did.

He would buy anything
that he felt like he could turn

a profit on.

He would get it and sell
it, and he did constantly.

WOMAN: You could see
the sparkle in his eye and just

the joy in his face when
he would sell something.

MIKE: For you, when you
were watching him do all

this stuff, did you have
a strong interest in it?

CORY: Yeah, definitely.
I really enjoyed doing it.

FRANK: You know, Cory's unique.

I really respect him
because in the collecting

world these days, if we
don't get young people

interested in that aspect,
it's not going to be around.

FRANK: You know what's really
eating away at me right now?

Is your mother saying
she's never even been

upstairs before.

CORY: Yeah, I've never either.

It's an antique building.

FRANK: This is one
of those things, they're

mental marathons.

MIKE: You're thinking, there's
got to be something in here.

FRANK: How about this Cory?

Is this something you'd sell?

CORY: What's that?

FRANK: This umbrella here.

CORY: Oh, definitely.

FRANK: Ten dollars?

CORY: Yeah, that'll do.

FRANK: Alrighty.

[♪]

I.H. International Harvester,
they made tractors, they

made all kinds of
farm implement stuff.

MIKE: Somebody that's
got the tractor, that's

restored that piece, boom,
there's the cherry on top

of the sundae because
that's exactly what that was.

That was an umbrella that
went on top on a bracket

so when they guy was
driving down the road,

he's not getting
cooked out in the sun.

FRANK: Yep. Great piece.

CORY: Hey mom, what are
those drawings that we have?

WOMAN: Uh, Harold
Gray, the creator of little

Orphan Annie, we
have his sketchbook.

MIKE: Who knows what
the hell those are worth, but

they sound cool. I
want to see them.

[♪]

Do you guys care if I
climb up this wall here

and look at what
these pictures are?

CORY: Go ahead.

MIKE: I just want
to slide one over.

WOMAN: Go right ahead.

MIKE: What drew my
attention to the rafters

was I saw some of
these frames, and once I

actually got up there...

MIKE: This is all
just junk. Cheap-o art.

MIKE: Then I start peeling
back the frames and then boom.

MIKE: Hey, what was that
guy's name that you guys

were talking about?

CORY: Harold Gray?

MIKE: When I saw the
Harold Gray stuff, my mind

was ticking immediately.

MIKE: Check it.
Harold Gray in frame.

CORY: Oh boy. Got more
to add to the collection, mom.

WOMAN: Your dad didn't
remember that one was up

there because he would've
never let it stay up there.

MIKE: I'm glad I
climbed up here.

CORY: Definitely.

I'm almost jealous because
you're finding it before me.

MIKE: Here you go.

Is that Harold Gray?

CORY: Yeah. It's
signed at the bottom.

March tenth, forty one.

MIKE: I can't believe we
found more of those pictures.

MIKE: This really could be it.

I was really up
there. I was here.

The Harold Gray, boom I
was here. Is that a piece too?

WOMAN: Yes. That one is signed.

MIKE: Harold Gray...

CORY: This is one
of his advertisements.

This is Harold Gray and
actually on the back, he

drew something or other.

FRANK: Nineteen forties.

MIKE: Tell you what, if
you do find something

rare, something unusual,
you better have the cash

to back it up.

If we offered you enough
money, is it something

that you would consider selling?

WOMAN: Sure.

MIKE: Alright, then I tell
you what, I'd like to make

a phone call because I
want to make you somewhat

of an educated offer.

WOMAN: Okay.

MIKE: We have to be
really confident to throw this

kind of cash down.

FRANK: Especially when
we're this far away from

home and we're already
pinching pennies as it is.

MIKE: Alright, I'm going
to take some pictures

here, I'm going to send
these out to Danielle,

make sure I get a picture
of this guy's signature.

The sketchbook that
they have, they have his

original sketchbook has
nudes in it, you know?

So that might be a lot of
stuff that obviously some

people don't think of
him for but a lot of stuff

that no one's ever seen before.

MIKE: Hey David?

DAVID: Yes?

MIKE: Hey, my name's Mike Wolfe.

We had Danielle give
you a buzz in regards to a

couple pieces, we
emailed you some pictures.

What can you tell me about it?

DAVID: Well, I really
don't think this is the

famous Harold Gray of
Little Orphan Annie fame

and there's a couple of
things to uh clue you in

to the fact that this may
not be the same artist.

Harold Gray was a
self-taught artist for one

thing, and he has a crude style.

And another thing is the
signature looks different to me.

So it's tough to say because
no one's ever seen this art.

Maybe we're talking about
two different artists with

the same name.

MIKE: Alright David.
Thank you so much.

If I have any more
questions I'll give you a call.

Thank you.

MIKE: We talked to
the expert and he really

wasn't confident that
this was the Harold Gray.

The thing is who the
hell knows? It is what it is.

FRANK: It is what it is.

It look's good and it's
detailed but we have to be

for sure before we pull the
trigger on something like this.

MIKE: I have a problem
with buying stuff that's

completely out
of our realm, okay.

So we try to educate
ourselves on the fly here.

We can only work
with what we're given.

MIKE: This stuff is
cool man. It really is.

It's just not jiving and
you know, as far as what

we can make you an offer
on because we only talked

to one guy.

FRANK: He couldn't give
us enough information.

MIKE: We think that
you guys should probably

research it a little more
yourselves. So who knows?

I mean, you know, you guys
might find something else

about it.

CORY: Mike and Frank
motivated me to get back

on top of things, to
sell things, and kind of

venture into it and
research it some more.

MIKE: Thank you so much.

WOMAN: Thank you.

FRANK: Hey, we had fun.
Thanks for letting us look around.

MIKE: Awesome to meet you.

FRANK: Whenever we can
get some young kid fired up

about collecting,
researching, selling,

we're more than happy.

FRANK: Did you fart?

[phone rings]

MIKE: No, why, did
you? Danielle's calling.

FRANK: Alright.

MIKE: Hey, what's up?

DANIELLE: I think I
might have found your guy.

There's a guy named
Peter who specializes in

southern pottery
specifically made in

Georgia and Alabama.

FRANK: That's the guy we need.

DANIELLE: I already sent
the information so check

your inbox.

MIKE: We very much
appreciate it. Talk to you soon.

DANIELLE: Bye.

FRANK: What we're hoping
to get out of the pottery

guy is some information
on what these are worth.

MIKE: We are so hoping
that this stuff is worth

more than a thousand dollars.

PETER: Hey Mike.

MIKE: How you
doing? This is Frank.

PETER: How you doing Frank?

MIKE: This is uh...

PETER: This is what
you brought, huh?

FRANK: Maybe we should
go on outside and you can

take a look at
our full collection.

PETER: I'd love to.

MIKE: Ok, cool.

FRANK; Alright.

MIKE: We bought the
pottery because we were

hoping that there'd be
some marking on one of

those pieces that would
make it some incredible find.

Five thousand, ten
thousand you know.

FRANK: We're
looking for good news.

We think we got enough
quantity that we should be

able to do okay.

MIKE: Look at that.

PETER: Now that's unique.

MIKE: That's called
a ring jug, right?

PETER: It is. Potters used
this to show off their skill

because this is very hard to do.

You'd probably get two
hundred out of it. Two fifty.

Pottery this decorated is
always better than pottery

that's not decorated.

I would say about
two fifty to three.

This jug is worth a couple
hundred bucks because of that.

Otherwise this jug
wouldn't be worth fifty bucks.

MIKE: What's something
like that, like these

worth with no handles on them?

PETER: Forty, fifty bucks.

MIKE: Okay.

FRANK: What do you think
our collection's worth here?

PETER: You got some
pieces that aren't really worth

twenty five bucks, you got
some pieces that are worth

four hundred bucks.

MIKE: We feel that we
can do really well with this,

but we have no idea.

PETER: Retail
about four thousand.

FRANK: 'Bout four thousand?

That's good. We
like that. Fired up.

We paid a thousand
dollars for it.

MIKE: For us to buy that
stuff in a dark barn, that

stuff is dirtier than
hell, there's pigeon crap

all over it, we did
great on this stuff.

MIKE: We know that at
four thousand bucks, that's

like the guy at the
end of the rainbow.

FRANK: Right,
that's full blown retail.

PETER: Yeah.

FRANK: Where are you at on it?

PETER: Uh, fifteen.

FRANK: Fifteen?
We couldn't do fifteen.

MIKE: Yeah, I can't do that.

FRANK: Um, could you do
sixteen? That's everything here.

MIKE: Sixteen hundred bucks.

FRANK: That's less
than forty a piece.

PETER: Twist my arm. I'll do it.

FRANK: You'll do it?
Alright. Sixteen hundred.

MIKE: Alright man, thank you.

MIKE: God bless him, I
hope he gets four thousand

bucks for it. But for us today?

This was a great price
for us, and it was important

for us to move it fast
because of the space in

the van, and he was
a perfect customer.

MIKE: You been working
for a real long time?

MAC: Ya it's been,
it's been a lot of years.

MIKE: Sparkplug looks
like he gets treated pretty

good around here.

MAC: Ya he's got it made.

FRANK: He should.

MAC: Sparkplug, he's my buddy.

He just goes everywhere
we meet, everybody likes him.

He just like to see people.