American Pickers (2010–…): Season 1, Episode 6 - Mole Man - full transcript

wentEOR into like the rabbit hole

on Alice in Wonderland.

It was so freaky.

MIKE: Did you see that
old ice box over there?

FRANK: I think if you
were to take it out, the whole

place would crunch down.

MIKE: We're standing
at the door and you're like

game on.

FRANK: It's called
speed picking.

MIKE: I know,
the clock is ticking.

There went the nuts.



MIKE: We'll make a bet.

Whoever loses
has to clean the van

from top to bottom.

FRANK: I'm not taking the bet.

MIKE: Take the bet.

MIKE: What's this
here? Oh my god.

MIKE: This is the piece
I've been looking for all day,

all week, all month.

MIKE: You're cooked,
you're done, you're roached.

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: We're freestyling
out in Pennsylvania.

With freestyling you never
know what you're gonna find.

MIKE: One of the reasons
that you're not as good

at freestyle picking
as me is because...

FRANK: In your
mind, in your mind.

MIKE: I, I am more relaxed
when I go to the door.

Here's the deal, though.

Why don't we do this?

We'll make a bet that
whoever does the biggest

pick on this trip, whoever
loses has to clean the van

from top to bottom.

FRANK: Just the inside?

MIKE: No, the van, the van.

I'm talking friggin'
toothbrush in the tire treads.

FRANK: I don't
want to go that far.

MIKE: So are you
taking this bet?

FRANK: I'm not taking the bet.

MIKE: Take the bet!

FRANK: I'm not taking it!

MIKE: All right, no tire treads.

No outside. Just inside.

It's like we're living
in this friggin' van.

It stinks in here, dude.

MIKE: Look at this place.

FRANK: Like an
old building here.

MIKE: Hey puppy.

Hey pupsters.

How ya doing?

BRIAN: Good. How you doing?

MIKE: Good. I'm Mike.

BRIAN: I'm Brian.

MIKE: Nice to meet ya.

FRANK: Brian, I'm Frank.

MIKE: We're picking.

Do you know what pickers are?

BRIAN: No.

MIKE: Kind of junkers,
uh looking across, uh,

America, back roads
for old, funky stuff.

FRANK: We seen you
had the old building here,

looked like it's been
here for quite some time.

Looked like you had
some stuff in there.

BRIAN: I have no clue
what's - yeah there's

a bunch of stuff around.

FRANK: Right away when
we got there, Brian told us

that it was his dad's
stuff and that he had

to leave in an hour
so we had to kick it up

and get things going.

MIKE: I never get tired
of that first experience

when they're like okay,
you can look around

and we're standing at the
door and the guy cracks it open

and you're like...

FRANK: Here we go.

MIKE: Game on.

MIKE: Wow. You do
got some accumulation.

FRANK: Wow.

BRIAN: Amazing, isn't it?

MIKE: You guys
definitely got a lot of stuff.

So what's going on here?

Is your dad a collector too?

BRIAN: This is just the
old washing machines

out of the Laundromat
that he used to have,

waiting for the price
of junk to go back up.

MIKE: When we
walked into the building,

we were on the primary search,

which the primary
search is just large items.

MIKE: What's this?

That's a piece of furniture.

FRANK: That change
machine's kinda cool.

I don't know what
you'd do with it though.

MIKE: The first thing
that caught my eye

was weight and fate.

MIKE: Oh the lens
is busted on the top.

MIKE: I was like
okay, this is cool.

Weight and fate.

What the hell is that, you know?

So I walk over there
and see it's a scale.

MIKE: Deposit coin in
slot opposite of month born.

FRANK: First thing that
caught my eye when I got there,

being an oil can guy
was I seen an oil can.

MIKE: Better pop on that.

FRANK: It's about a forties.

It's made by a
company named Whiz.

Um they make all kinds of cans.

They made tire
tack, tire repair kits.

MIKE: Their stuff's hot.

Their stuff's good.

FRANK: They're kinda good.

There's some, there's
specialized Whiz collectors.

MIKE: I got a bird's eye
view from up here Franky.

FRANK: What are you seeing?

MIKE: There's a
wicker chair up here.

I don't even want to
go through the effort

of trying to dig that
sucker out of here.

MIKE: After that
then we go boom.

We're in secondary.

We change gears and
then we're starting to dig

through boxes of stuff.

FRANK: Parts for
the washing machine.

MIKE: A Listerine bottle.

There's old couches
and stuff like that.

BRIAN: Some coffin boxes.

FRANK: So is
this stuff for sale?

BRIAN: If the price is
right, anything's for sale.

FRANK: Okay. We like that.

MIKE: I'm just concerned is
all we have is an hour here.

FRANK: We got
thirty-two more minutes left.

MIKE: I know the
clock is ticking.

FRANK: The clock
is ticking, brother.

MIKE: I know. I know.

FRANK: It's called
speed picking.

MIKE: The only way to
get back there, you can get

back there but you have
to crawl over those washers.

Whoa. There went
the nuts and bolts.

BRIAN: There's
stuff in every corner.

MIKE: I see.

This is awesome.

MIKE: When I actually
dove back in there,

I turned around and there's
another scale behind me.

I'm like all
right, this is cool.

See where, see where
we can go with this.

MIKE: Yeah there's
a couple scales here.

FRANK: I can't see anything.

MIKE: Let me see.

Accurate weight.

FRANK: Thirteen minutes left.

MIKE: All right.

Any of you guys
used to play guitar?

BRIAN: No.

MIKE: It's called a
buckeye guitar, Franky.

FRANK: On them scales,
who would we ask, your father?

BRIAN: Yeah. I
think he's outside.

FRANK: Well let's
ask the boss here.

MIKE: Yeah, let's
ask him about that stuff

and see what he says, you know.

FRANK: I like him. He's...

MIKE: He's cute man.

FRANK: I got, I got a cat.

There was two scales that
looked like they came out

of the washer...

MIKE: Washer and
drier business you had.

FRANK: Washer and drier
business... And there was

one little can I seen in there.

I'm a can guy.

I like little cans and
the guitar right here.

MIKE: I'd pay
fifty bucks for that.

MIKE: Is it a two hundred
and fifty dollar guitar?

It's a buckeye.
It was off brand.

BRIAN: I don't think Mike
and Frank ever probably

ran into anyone
like my father before.

MIKE: All right
so no go on that.

MIKE: All right.

What about the
scale for a hundred?

BRIAN: He likes
to wheel and deal.

FRANK: Well I tell you
what, there was another one

that wasn't quite as nice.

Maybe seventy-five on that one.

Does that do anything for ya?

FRANK: Sounds a little cheap?

FRANK: Well...

MIKE: Maynard was tough, man.

Maynard was working us
over, you know, and I like

to get worked a little bit
but we weren't letting up.

FRANK: How about ten dollars?

FRANK: How about
I was at seventy-five

on the other little scale.

How about a hundred for
the scale and the little can?

MIKE: Yes, sir.

MIKE: And an oil can.

FRANK: Let me see.

Well I'm running out,
I'm running out here.

MIKE: We were so far apart.

MIKE: We'll forget
about that for a while.

MIKE: I mean we
were at two hundred.

He was at five hundred.

MIKE: There was absolutely
no way that was gonna happen.

BRIAN: When it
comes to negotiating,

he's right on top of things.

FRANK: You were at
twenty on the can, right?

Let's just do that right now
and get something going.

Okay?

There's, there's the can.

Let's get something going.

FRANK: Usually a tactic
that we use is, you know,

get the deal going,
get the money out,

get the money in their hands.

That's a tactic
that usually works.

This time it wasn't working.

MIKE: We're not
even contemplating

five hundred bucks.

I mean that's, that's not even
in our vocabulary right now.

You got that wicker
chair up there.

It's got some green in it.

The seat's completely
gone out of it.

You know what I'm talking about?

I'm thinking fifty
bucks on that.

I know. I'm getting
crazy, aren't I?

MIKE: Oh man.

I don't even want to
pull it out of there if you're

not gonna - you said you
remembered what it looked like.

MIKE: All right.

Well we tried.

MIKE: We were at a
stalemate there for a while.

FRANK: It was cut
and dry. I'm leaving.

FRANK: You guys
make me an offer.

FRANK: You're either
taking it or leaving it.

FRANK: Mike, we only
got seven minutes left!

MAYNARD: I gotta go.

FRANK: All right.

FRANK: We danced all
the way to the very end.

MIKE: We had to just walk away.

You have to know your limits.

MIKE: I'm thinking
about popping on the dog

for five hundred.

FRANK: I know. I
like the dog. He's cute.

MIKE: In the last five
minutes, it was like

all right, later guys.

Have a nice trip.

Nice to know ya and then boom.

MIKE: Hey.

FRANK: Change of venue?

MIKE: He had a good left hook.

MIKE: You know, I came
at him with an upper cut.

MIKE: I'm over the guitar.

How about fifty bucks
for the chair and a hundred

a piece for the scales?

MIKE: And then Franky
came off the third rope - boom!

FRANK: Cash. No debit.

MIKE: Two fifty and here we are.

FRANK: All right.
We'll deal with Brian?

FRANK: All right.

FRANK: See ya later.

MIKE: Man, he's rough. Wow.

MIKE: I think we did
the impossible today.

We bought something
from Maynard.

MIKE: Man, we just
got our butt kicked

by a sixty-seven year
old guy from Pennsylvania.

FRANK: I know.

My back hurts already
and we haven't even started

lifting the scales out.

MIKE: He's like give me
the two fifty and boom.

Me and Franky are
off like a prom dress.

FRANK: And he, yeah.

He went one way.

We grabbed the stuff from
his son, Brian, paid him

and we're off the other way.

MIKE: I like the green.

It's got a neat look to it.

I'm, I'm really happy with it.

MIKE: Well I think
if I get the cushion

re-covered, it's easily
worth two hundred bucks.

FRANK: Got her?

MIKE: Okay. All right.

FRANK: Yours was a little
bit more elaborate than mine.

MIKE: It says weight and
then read your fortune here.

FRANK: Yours just has
a character reading on it

where mine just
says how fat you are.

MIKE: Here's where
I'm thinking we are

with this bet, okay?

We both got scales.

FRANK: Yeah, even.

MIKE: Yeah but mine's better
because it's weight and fate.

FRANK: Mine, yours
doesn't work. Mine does.

MIKE: It's yellow and red.

I got the rattan chair.

FRANK: I got the oil
can, which is really killer.

It's Whiz.

It's early teens.

MIKE: It's worth twenty.

FRANK: I got - I paid
twenty so it's worth fifty.

The day's not over with.

MIKE: You're
right. It's not over.

FRANK: I mean
nothing's over with yet.

MIKE: Man, I tell ya what.

There's so much
stuff in these hills

in Pennsylvania.

There's so many
cool little towns.

There's so many
awesome big barns.

FRANK: Older
country too, you know?

I mean it's just older.

They were founded a
lot earlier and there's a lot

of older stuff here.

MIKE: You can't see a lot
of the houses from the road.

The driveways are so long.

FRANK: Wow. Check it out.

MIKE: What the hell is that?

FRANK: He's got a lot -
that does look pretty wild

down there.

Wow.

MIKE: This looks like
picker's Disneyland.

FRANK: Looks like a Planet
of the Apes type atmosphere.

MIKE: How do you get down there?

FRANK: I'd say you
go right, go to the end of

this street and go right.

There's a house down there too.

MIKE: Yeah let's check it out.

FRANK: This place was wild.

This was brand new territory.

There was no way
that we wasn't going in.

FRANK: Hello.

MIKE: Hey. How ya doing?

My name is Mike.
Nice to meet you.

FRANK: My name's Frank.

How ya doing?

MIKE: My first impression of
Ron when we walked up there,

he had this purple hoodie on.

It was all tight on his face.

He looked really unusual,
as unusual as his place.

MIKE: We drove on
that back road up there

and we were
looking down the hill

and we saw your fence

and all the stuff and
we, you got our curiosity.

We thought we'd stop by.

Hey, I didn't catch your name.

RONALD: Ronald.

MIKE: Ronald?
Okay. Nice to meet ya.

FRANK: Ronald? Frank.

MIKE: And what's yours?

JOHN: John.

MIKE: John? Nice
to meet ya. Hello.

If you'd let us look
around, we'd be,

jacked up because
it looks like you got

a lot of stuff here.

MIKE: Ron and John
are picking partners,

just like Frank and I.

They're big salvagers.

RONALD: This way.

MIKE: This looks dangerous.

RONALD: Through the
woods to grandma's house.

FRANK: Yes, through the
woods to grandma's house.

FRANK: They hunt through
abandoned buildings.

They pick through 'em.

Sometimes Ron even
brings home the abandoned

buildings with 'em.

MIKE: Where we at now?

RONALD: Behind the schoolhouse.

MIKE: Oh behind the schoolhouse.

We're behind the schoolhouse.

RONALD: Brought the
schoolhouse home on

a flat bed truck
during the night.

FRANK: What possesses you
to bring the schoolhouse home?

RONALD: Well one, the
schoolhouse is history.

FRANK: Okay.

MIKE: When we meet
somebody like him,

it's like picking folklore.

RONALD: Now don't
touch the two by twelves.

MIKE: Don't touch
this two by twelve.

It's balancing that.

RONALD: It's two
tons of books in those.

FRANK: Two tons of books.

MIKE: Oh lord.

MIKE: I thought the
above ground tour was wild

but then Ron let us
into his underground lair.

MIKE: All right.

This is, we're going in Franky.

MIKE: It's like we went
into like the rabbit hole

on Alice and Wonderland.

It was so freaky.

RONALD: Now
grab this angle down,

don't bump the wires.

MIKE: Alright.

RONALD: Don't knock ground down.

MIKE: Don't knock ground down?

Alright.

RONALD: Just watch the
boards and that and watch

the light bulb behind you.

MIKE: You know, we start
walking down through these

doors and through these tunnels

that were like this big.

FRANK: It felt like once you
got in you couldn't back up.

So I started
getting just a little bit

claustrophobic in there.

Then I started feeling
like am I gonna be able to

get through this?

FRANK: Oh my god.

MIKE: You shouldn't have had
that extra bagel this morning.

Where did he go?

Which way did he go?

FRANK: I don't know.

MIKE: There's a lot
of times we'd get to a T

and we didn't know
which way he went.

He was moving so fast.

MIKE: I think he went down here.

FRANK: All right.

MIKE: There you are. Hey.

JOHN: He started building
this place when he was a kid

and he's loved it ever
since and I mean that's,

it's his whole
life is this place.

He's just really unique.

I bring people through
here all the time.

Everybody wants to see it.

We bring 'em back
and it's, Ron loves it.

MIKE: So how old were
you when you started all this?

RONALD: Fourteen.

MIKE: Wow.

RONALD: Dug this
out and light it up

in about two months' time.

MIKE: Wow.

FRANK: Where'd
you get all the wood?

MIKE: Oh so Christmas
came along and you're like

I want some cement blocks.

RONALD: Yeah.

FRANK: Ron had built
a maze underground

consisting of different
tunnels throughout his property.

It was like twenty-six
different cellar rooms.

MIKE: So where is, where
is this uh walkway leading to?

RONALD: To a coal mine.

MIKE: To a coal mine?

FRANK: Is that where
you got some stuff in there?

RONALD: Yeah.

FRANK: Oh all right. Lead on.

MIKE: You game?

FRANK: Lead on.

As long as I, as long
as I don't get too fat.

FRANK: I would hate to
have, you know, Mike find

some really good stuff
and I couldn't fit through,

that would be the reason.

You know, I'd feel
terrible about it.

I'd have to go on
a diet immediately.

MIKE: So Ron, how many feet?

RONALD: Twenty-three.

MIKE: Twenty-three feet.

FRANK: Underground already?

RONALD: Yeah.

MIKE: He says we're
twenty-three feet under the ground.

We didn't realize we
were walking down

as we were going in.

FRANK: And we're both
kind of looking at each other

going okay.

MIKE: Where are we at right now?

What's uh what's this room?

MIKE: That's a, you know what?

I could, I could see
where you got the title.

I like, I like that.

It's simple and direct.

How did you go
about digging all this?

What'd you use?

RONALD: Just a hand shovel.

I'd dig nine feet
down, wall it up, roof it

and dig on.

MIKE: So you dug
all of this by hand?

RONALD: In six weeks.

MIKE: Wow.

MIKE: He started at
fourteen and he's still going.

He's still digging.

RONALD: This tunnel
is the west tunnel.

That's the new one I'm digging.

MIKE: This is the new addition?

RONALD: Yeah.

Don't go down here.

FRANK: I see that, thank you.

I have to tell the same
thing to my friends when

they come to my house.

RONALD: Walk this way in
case you don't have good balance.

FRANK: All right. I'm good.

MIKE: We weave our
way throughout there

and then I see
the oak refrigerator.

MIKE: Did you see that
old icebox right there?

FRANK: I seen it.

You think you could get it out?

MIKE: I think it's, I
think it's part of the wall.

I don't think we can
get that out of there.

FRANK: I think if you
were to take it out this whole

place would crunch down
so don't touch anything.

Let's keep on moving.

MIKE: Yeah let's see some stuff.

Where's the stuff?

FRANK: I like being
on top of it now.

MIKE: We just walked
into a door and then boom,

I'm in his house.

FRANK: Wow.

Ron, this is amazing.

RONALD: And you
want to go in there.

MIKE: It's just the gift
that keeps on giving.

FRANK: Come on in
here, Mike. Check this.

MIKE: All right.

FRANK: There's, this is the.

MIKE: Ron, what's up
with all these plungers?

RONALD: One from each place.

FRANK: Each place
that you cleaned out?

They always left the plunger?

RONALD: Yeah.

MIKE: What'd you get out
of there besides the plunger?

Do you remember?

MIKE: What's this here?
I like this. Does this work?

RONALD: Yeah.

MIKE: Oh wow.

RONALD: That
makes a lot of heat.

MIKE: That's awesome.

Yeah it does make a lot of heat.

That's incredible.

I love that!

RONALD: I have a lot
more to put together.

MIKE: He's very artistic
with the Christmas tree

bulb thing going on.

MIKE: What do you want for that?

RONALD: Not for sale yet.

FRANK: Not for sale.

How about this little
Jefferson Street sign?

RONALD: Naw, I'm
gonna keep both of them.

FRANK: Not for sale?

RONALD: No.

FRANK: This little mirror
thing with this guy here?

RONALD: That's my uncle's.

FRANK: Oh okay. Not for sale?

RONALD: No.

MIKE: Now what's this room Ron?

This is like you crawled
around back in there?

RONALD: Yes. Two rooms
back there, hidden rooms.

MIKE: Okay.

So you go up underneath there?

RONALD: Yeah, yeah
and go up the slide.

FRANK: What's that made of?

RONALD: Six
thousand two by fours.

FRANK: Six thousand,
six thousand two by fours.

RONALD: All painted
with two coats of oil base.

FRANK: All painted.

MIKE: Are you sure
there's not five thousand,

nine hundred and ninety-nine?

RONALD: No, six
thousand exactly.

FRANK: Six thousand exactly.

MIKE: That's awesome.

MIKE: I mean we have an anthem.

Livin', pickin',
junkin', diggin'.

Ron has taken that
to the next level.

He has set the bar
for little Franky and I.

MIKE: Wow.

FRANK: Oh my gosh.

Look at all these little
cool boxes you got.

I like the way
you did your room.

FRANK: Oh that was neat
Ron, how you did that with

the yardsticks.

MIKE: I mean he
bought some good stuff.

He got some great furniture.

He got some great advertising.

He was into gas and oil stuff.

He had some great signs.

MIKE: What does this
sign right here say?

Oakland sales service Pontiac.

Now is this something
that you'd sell?

RONALD: If I got the
right price, I would.

MIKE: What, what's
the right price?

What are you thinking
on something like that?

RONALD: Well being
not rusty like that,

at least fifty.

MIKE: It was a great sign.

It was an advertising
piece for a car dealership.

MIKE: I tell ya what, I'd
give you fifty bucks for that.

Can I buy that?

RONALD: Yeah.

MIKE: All right, I'll take it.

So we broke the ice here.

We got some money exchanged.

MIKE: We got a
good rapport going.

Hopefully you got some
other stuff you can sell me.

RONALD: Okay.

MIKE: All right, cool.

MIKE: As far as like
him sifting through junk

trying to separate
good junk from bad junk

when he's digging through
these houses, he had the skills

to pay the bills when
it came to that stuff.

He really, really did.

MIKE: You got a really
good eye for everything

that you've bought.

You've got, you've got
some good interests.

MIKE: I see it's
all balanced man.

FRANK: Everything
is strategically placed.

One thing gets moved
and it's like a Jenga.

The whole thing
was just falling.

FRANK: Hey Ron,
what about this mailbox

thermometer back here?

RONALD: No, no, no.

FRANK: Okay. All right.

RONALD: I'm keeping that one.

FRANK: This one right here?

RONALD: Yeah.

FRANK: That's a nice one.

RONALD: I have a
telephone booth for it, yeah.

FRANK: Where'd you get this at?

RONALD: Barbershop.

FRANK: Ladies and children's.

MIKE: So a haircut was
called a bobbing back then?

RONALD: Back then
it would have been.

FRANK: Would that be
something you would sell?

RONALD: I'll probably
keep that for a while yet.

FRANK: You want
to keep that one?

FRANK: Thanks Ron.

We're gonna get
out of your hair here.

All righty.

FRANK: Meeting Ron
was the pick today.

That was the pick.

I will never forget
ever being in the hills

of Pennsylvania and
meeting Ron, ever.

JOHN: Since you guys
didn't find much here

that, you know, you could buy

I have a guy that's downtown.

His name is Jim.

You might find something
pretty good there.

FRANK: Thanks Ron!

MIKE: All right Ron.

JOHN: I think they were
impressed with the place.

RONALD: More or less.

JOHN: They seemed
to like it, I thought.

RONALD: Well like the song goes,

you aint seen nothing yet.

MIKE: Ron's didn't get
us anything really big

but I know for sure I'm gonna
spanspank you out on this be.

FRANK: Right now
you're looking good

but it's not
over till it's over.

MIKEFRANK: We
were able to get a lead

of a guy named Jim
down the road here.

MIKE: Yeah, he used
to have, like, a shop

and now he's just kind of
got everything packed away.

FRANK: So we're going
to go check this guy out.

MIKE: I mean, this
Jim guy could be good.

John and Ron, you know,
it didn't work out too well

buying stuff from
them, but, uh, you know,

they threw us a bone.

Maybe it'll have
some meat on it.

FRANK: Right. Hopefully.

This looks like
it's it right here.

MIKE: There it is,
this building right here.

MIKE: Look at this sign.

After sixty-six years of
selling, it's time to quit.

FRANK: Time to quit. Good sign.

MIKE: That's perfect for us.

FRANK: Hey, Jim?

JIM: Yeah.

FRANK: Mike and Frank.

JIM: Hey. How you doing?

MIKE: Yeah we
got sent over here.

You know a guy named Ron?

JIM: Yeah.

FRANK: Ron and John.

JIM: Yeah.

MIKE: They said
that you got the stash.

FRANK: It's like
a treasure hunt.

One place leads
to another place.

You always feel more
confident because you've

already got an in
with the other guy.

JIM: Yeah.

MIKE: Wow.

Look at this place. Wow.

FRANK: The guy had imagination.

He had a ton of things up there.

FRANK: What does
your son do now?

JIM: He's uh he's
going to college

and he was into lighting,

he was doing light shows.

FRANK: Imagine that.

JIM: Yeah.

FRANK: Imagine that.

JIM: We just wanted to
leave it this way because

we thought it was kinda neat.

MIKE: Oh man, look at this old.

This is, these
are hot right now.

This stuff is so collectible.

A lot of these guys
that were your son's age.

They skated this stuff and
just roached the bottom of it

out grinding on
it and everything.

This is a brand new
board from back then.

This was an expensive
board back then.

This board was probably
seventy-five bucks.

FRANK: That room will be a
goldmine thirty years from now,

you know, because that's
all that baby boomer stuff.

You know, people, that's
gonna be coming back

around thirty year
intervals, you know?

MIKE: I'm gonna write it
on my calendar to give you

a buzz then, all right?

JIM: Alright, give me a call.

FRANK: Thirty years from now.

Is that a plunger?

MIKE: You know what?

You know who's gonna want that?

JIM: Ronald.

JIM: If that's a...

MIKE: Yeah, man,
thank you so much...

FRANK: He said you
guys into furniture?

It's like not too
much, it's big stuff

and then he said well
are you into smalls?

And we said yeah,
we love smalls.

MIKE: Yeah you do
have lots of smalls.

You weren't kidding.

MIKE: You'd be surprised
that you can buy something

like this big for fifty
bucks and it could be

fifteen hundred bucks.

MIKE: Is this all stuff
that you collected?

JIM: Yeah.

MIKE: That was
like his collection.

It was his own space.

And we were really
fortunate to get down there.

MIKE: How about this bad boy?

JIM: Just that itself?

MIKE: Yeah.

JIM: What is it?

I don't even know.

MIKE: This, you know, it
went on a, went on a dome

light on a motorcycle,
like I use them

on old motorcycles.

MIKE: You look at old
motorcycles all the time

or old cars but it's the
accessories that make them

cool, that make them different.

JIM: Probably like five dollars.

MIKE: No, it's
worth more than that.

I'd, I'd give you
twenty bucks for it.

JIM: You would?

MIKE: Yeah.

I'll give you
twenty bucks for it.

I'll be straight with ya.

JIM: Wow. Okay.

If you want to buy
it for twenty dollars.

MIKE: All right.

So we got this guy and that.

MIKE: It's like a
fifty dollar item.

When he said five
bucks, I'm like hey,

this is really cool.

I'm gonna use this for myself.

I'll give you twenty and
he was happy with that.

MIKE: Is that robot old?

JIM: That's Robert the robot.

Yeah I got the box
for it and everything.

MIKE: So you remember
getting this when you were a kid?

JIM: Oh yeah.

I got it for a
Christmas present.

MIKE: Nineteen
fifty-six Christmas.

Maybe every other kid
in America had that toy

under the tree, you know, so
it wasn't, I was a good piece

I mean we had to buy it.

JIM: That would be like
I'm just guessing maybe

like fifty bucks,
for the whole outfit.

FRANK: What do
you want for that?

JIM: Actually I don't
want to sell that.

The two lighters I
want to hold on to.

FRANK: Okay.

JIM: I really do.

That one and the black one
but this lighter is neat and.

MIKE: It's like a makeup
case that's a lighter.

JIM: That's what
I thought it was.

And if you get
interested it would be like

seventy-five bucks.

Keep it in mind.

FRANK: It's a neat piece.

MIKE: What's this here?

Oh my god.

MIKE: When I saw the
Guntherman tin toy under

the glass dome in amazing
condition, I was looking

at it.

I was like okay, this
is the piece I've been

looking for all day,
all week, all month.

This was gonna be my bet winner.

MIKE: What can you
tell me about this?

JIM: That was my aunt's.

I bought that from my aunt
and I've had it a long time.

She had it basically
her whole lifetime also.

MIKE: It was hand
painted in Germany.

It was made by a company
called Guntherman.

It has an extremely
sensitive tiny little

windup mechanism in it.

Everything was there.

I mean, whoever had
this toy, cherished it,

and took really good care of it.

JIM: When I have
something that long it's kind of

hard to part with.

MIKE: I didn't know if we
could buy it, but I had to ask.

MIKE: What would
you want for that?

I'd like to have him.

JIM: I wouldn't sell that for
under six hundred dollars.

MIKE: Really?

JIM: Yeah.

It means more to me, you know.

MIKE: It's got like
sentimental value.

JIM: Yeah.

JIM: It's like one of
my prized possessions.

It really is.

MIKE: I could see he was
getting a little bit choked up.

I mean really he had it
in his family that long and

he realized how important
it was as far as the value

of it and stuff.

JIM: I was told that
that's in excellent condition

What's your opinion on it?

I'm serious.

MIKE: I think the
paint's nice on it.

Yeah, I've had some
German toys in the past too.

JIM: That's what I've been told.

JIM: Is that right?

MIKE: Yeah.

JIM: It was nice to, to see
somebody come down here

and uh think I had something

that was worth looking at.

MIKE: Would you do
five and a half on him?

MIKE: Jim was really
attached to this toy

but when he saw that
I had real respect for it,

I knew that I was
gonna be able to buy it.

JIM: I'd sell it to you.

JIM: I don't know what
made me let it go but he

made me feel good.

He liked the stuff that I liked

and that's kind of
nice, you know?

FRANK: Jim, thanks a lot.

JIM: That's all right.

I appreciate you coming in.

It was really nice
seeing you guys.

FRANK: Yeah,
very nice to meet ya.

FRANK: It was a great stop.

It was a great lead from Ron.

We were very happy.

JIM: Stop back sometime.

MIKE: Whoa.

BARTENDER: Yeah.

FRANK: You're gonna
drink that whole thing?

BARTENDER: Oh my
goodness, look at that.

MIKE: Well you're
driving, aren't ya?

FRANK: I'll have to, after that.

MIKE: All right.

MIKE: Don't concern
yourself about what I'm doing.

MIKE: I would be more
concerned in regards to

turtle wax and Armourall.

FRANK: What do you mean by that?

MIKE: I'm up on our bet.

I'm up on the pick.

I'm up financially on the pick.

FRANK: Yeah, righght. Today.

MIKE: Well.

FRANK: Today you are.

What, the pick's all over with?

We're not, we're
not back home yet.

MIKE: But no but
today is today dude.

Tomorrow is tomorrow.

You don't even want to
go anywhe near that van.

We've been living in
that van for the last five

months at least.

FRANK: I'm not worried.

I'm not worried.

MIKE: I'd be
worried if I was you.

MIKE: Danielle is gonna
freak when she sees this thing.

She's never seen
anything like this.

FRANK: I know.

I see a piece of paint
flaking off the back right now.

There. It's gone.
Probably thirty bucks.

MIKE: Got 'em.

FRANK: Cool.

MIKE: All right.
I'll email these out.

MIKE: In our business
we rely on experts in

different fields to help us
put values on certain items.

In this case, on the
toy it's our guy Bill.

He's amazing.

He knows everything about toys.

He's gonna help us
put a value on this item

so we feel
comfortable selling it.

MIKE: Hey Bill Hill.
This is Mike Wolfe.

MIKE: Nothing.

Hey, the reason I called
is uh, you know, I just

sent you those pictures of
that Guntherman black toy.

I'm wondering what your
honest opinion on that thing is,

you know, the
value of it overall.

MIKE: Oh that's good.

MIKE: I will.

MIKE: All right man, thanks.

FRANK: See ya Bill.

MIKE: Well that's cool.

I'd be happy to get that for it.

FRANK: When we're
on the road, it's important

for us to check
in with Danielle.

DANIELLE: Hey. How
are you guy's doing?

DANIELLE: So I have a lead.

FRANK: She keeps us in check,

let's us know what's going on.

MIKE: Danielle gave
us a lead for this trip.

MIKE: So this
lady's a professional

barn scavenger, man.

She's been digging stuff up.

She's been finding
some old things.

FRANK: It might be good

because maybe she's uh
not a dealer, not a seller.

This looks all right.

MIKE: This is it.

FRANK: Looks all right.

MIKE: It looked like
a really old property

and that's what we like to see.

I mean it would be
different we rolled up there

and it was like an old
Morton building or something.

MIKE: Mr. Wolfe.

LORI: Lori.

FRANK: My name's Frank.

LORI: Lori.

FRANK: Nice to meet you, Lori.

LORI: Nice to meet you.

LORI: Everyone
calls me the junk lady.

MIKE: So give us the
scoop on this place.

What have you been doing?

LORI: Uh well I've been
taking barns down and I

stopped and asked the
owner since I saw the

damage on the sides what
he was doing with his barn

and he said he'd like
to get rid of it but he

needed to get rid of
all the stuff inside first.

We've taken, you know,
some of the scrap out and

stuff and taken it to
the scrap yard and then

brought some of the stuff
home, which is what we do

is just bring it home to resell.

MIKE: Antiques?

LORI: Yeah.

FRANK: And resell?

So that's how you make money.

You give them a lump
sum for the building,

for all the contents
and everything.

LORI: Sometimes it's free.

MIKE: She was finding the
barns, you know, she was

cutting the deals on them,
she was digging everything

out of them.

You know, she was
dismantling the barn

with her boyfriend.

I mean they are really,
really hard workers.

FRANK: How long does it
take you to do something

like this?

LORI: We could come in
and probably clean a barn out

in just like three or four days.

MIKE: To us, we're picking
barns and we're looking

around and we might
buy the contents out of

something but to actually,
it's hard for me to get my

mind around buying the
contents out of a barn and

then buying the barn too.

MIKE: You're doing the
same thing we're doing,

except you're taking it
like so many steps farther.

Like as far as dismantling
it, selling all the wood

and all that stuff.

LORI: I like live for it.

It's like a new treasure
hunt every day.

MIKE: Yeah. That's
what I think too.

MIKE: Finding anything Franky?

FRANK: Uh just
some dolls, pictures.

That's something different.

MIKE: This is early.

I mean it's iron and
it's kinda, it's uh it's arts

and crafts looking.

What about something like this?

LORI: Uh I don't know.

Probably forty bucks.

MIKE: Would ya do twenty bucks?

LORI: Sure.

MIKE: Okay.

MIKE: Smokin'.

How much for the horn?

LORI: What do you
want to give me for it?

MIKE: You stepped up on
the, on forty bucks on the light.

I thought I was at, I
thought I was on antiques

road show there for a second.

LORI: Ten bucks?

MIKE: All right. I'll do
that. Now I'm excited.

I found something I like.

FRANK: I asked Lori do
you have anything else you

could show us around here
and she said why don't you

look in my car?

LORI: This is the farm-mobile.

FRANK: Okay.

FRANK: I've
picked pickup trucks.

I've picked flat beds.

I've picked dumpsters.

I've picked a lot of stuff
but that's the first time

I've ever picked
a Mercury Sable.

FRANK: This is
different for us, Lori.

We usually don't pick
cars but we'll pick anything.

LORI: I'm sorry.

MIKE: Can we just dig in?

LORI: Go ahead.

FRANK: Dig on in here.

MIKE: Here's a beer can.

FRANK: Huh. Tokyo, Japan.

Need that for the
front of the car.

FRANK: A stop sign for ya.

It's plastic.

MIKE: I was wondering
why he handed me this.

FRANK: Bugsy.

Chicken feeders.

LORI: I have no
clue who that is.

FRANK: It's made of pot metal.

MIKE: Here, who is it?

What's that say?

FRANK: Don Cessa.

MIKE: I think it was sold
by the Ansonia Company.

It might have been used
as like a mantelpiece for a

clock of theirs.

MIKE: How about the
dude with the broken arm?

LORI: A broken,
one armed statue.

Who would want that?

LORI: Five bucks.

MIKE: All right.

I'll do five bucks on him.

MIKE: It was probably
eighteen nineties, you

know, it was right around
the turn of the century.

Five bucks.

Hey, I don't care if his
head was broken off.

I still would have
gave five bucks.

MIKE: See, we can work together.

See now me and Frank
and seriously because we pay

finder's fees so if you or
your boyfriend or there's

maybe like an old
motorcycle in a barn,

I mean sounds like you guys
are real plugged in around here.

You got your
finger on the pulse.

LORI: I would
certainly call them.

MIKE: I can drive Frank
nuts all the way home.

MIKE: I think the biggest
thing today was we really

got into somebody that
I think we're gonna do

business with.

FRANK: Eventually she's
gonna score and she's

gonna score big that she
might not have an outlet

for it and we
could be her outlet.

MIKE: What about that V MIKE:
It's important for us to check in with

Danielle constantly on the
road because you know what?

This is a business and she
has to be there, she's our

right hand when we're gone.

DANIELLE: There's a guy
in Illinois I just spoke with.

He has a closed down museum.

The signs I think could
be interesting to you.

I think it would be a good
idea to head out and just

kind of see what he's got.

And I don't know that he
sounds like he's too keen

on selling, to
tell you the truth.

So if you're not doing
anything today, if you're,

you know, if your schedule
is open it might be worth

taking a look at it.

FRANK: How did you get
the impression that he doesn't

want to sell?

MIKE: Did he say that?

DANIELLE: Well because
I asked him if he wanted to

sell and he said possibly.

It's fairly close and on
a fluke that it turns out to

be just incredible...

FRANK: All right.

We'll do it.

MIKE: Email us the contact
information with the uh

the address and we'll hit it.

DANIELLE: Okay.

MIKE: If she, if it sucks you're
gonna hear about it though.

FRANK: Yeah.

DANIELLE: I'm sure I will.

FRANK: What we should
do I think when we get there,

as soon as we see
something that you're, as

soon as you see something
that you're interested in,

let's ask right away.

MIKE: After you shake the
guy's hand, go how much is that?

FRANK: If I hear like
four I'm not sure if wanna,

then that will set the tone too.

MIKE: Okay.

FRANK: So like we do everything.

We'll be able to
figure this guy out.

MIKE: I'll be good
cop, you be bad cop.

FRANK: All right.

MIKE: Hey John.

FRANK: My name's Frank.

JOHN: Nice to meet ya, Frank.

FRANK: Pleasure.

MIKE: Hey. Mike.

JOHN: Nice to meet ya, Mike.

MIKE: Yeah you talked
to Danielle on the phone?

JOHN: Yes I did.

MIKE: Did she tell you
what great guys we were

and that we were
coming and everything?

JOHN: She told
me not to trust you.

FRANK: There you go.

She told you the truth.

MIKE: So what have
you got going on here?

Danielle said you had a
museum and you closed it?

JOHN: Yeah. I did close it.

The county said I needed
a permit and I didn't have

the permit and that
would be seven hundred

and fifty dollars.

MIKE: Changes in people's life

create opportunity for pickers.

JOHN: I told them I was
going to close the doors.

It wasn't worth it.

MIKE: And it was perfect for us.

MIKE: Can we look
around a little bit?

JOHN: Sure, sure.

Come on in.

MIKE: Oh my god.

JOHN: There's a
lot of stuff in here.

I can't tell you how
many thousands of articles

there is but it's a lot.

MIKE: How long you
been on this property?

JOHN: My grandfather
bought it in nineteen fourteen.

MIKE: Oh wow.

MIKE: We were fortunate
to be able to walk into an

area where he had
accumulated stuff,

not just him but his
father before him.

MIKE: What's up with
that coffin up there?

JOHN: The
skeleton's still in it.

MIKE: Is it the
papier-mache one?

JOHN: No.

MIKE: It's a real one?

JOHN: Yeah.

MIKE: You know, not
that I'm, you know, used to

dealing in body
parts or anything.

What would you have to
have for something like that?

JOHN: Oh I'm not
ready to give that up.

MIKE: Well especially now.

Halloween's right
around the corner.

JOHN: Oh yeah.

MIKE: Okay now what
about the double headed,

is that a lamb or a goat?

JOHN: That's a calf, a
Hereford calf but it's got

four eyes and two
mouths and two ears.

MIKE: Now do you think
that's something that a

taxidermist made?

JOHN: No.

MIKE: Wow.

FRANK: I see you got quite
a barbed wire collection here.

JOHN: I have collected
every one of those.

Four hundred and one
patterns and two hundred

and twenty-one modifications.

MIKE: Eighteen seventy-three.

That's the year of that, huh?

JOHN: Yeah, the barbed
wire industry started in

the eighteen seventies
and it got to be

a pretty wild industry.

This particular one here
is one of the very first

Glidden wires that was made.

FRANK: What about
that feed sign there?

MIKE: Is that something
that you'd sell?

JOHN: Probably not.

A lot of this is a
partnership so some of the

stuff I can't sell and
some of it is mine, I can.

MIKE: He's like
that's my sister's.

This is an estate.

I don't know if I can sell this.

MIKE: How about
this store counter?

What's going on with that?

Is that something that you
own or your family owns?

JOHN: That's family owned.

FRANK: I started seeing
us going down that road and I

started getting a little
thing up here going

Danielle, Danielle.

MIKE: Is this
something you'd sell?

JOHN: I'd have to
ask my brother-in-law.

MIKE: Grr.

MIKE: I had to get
the ball rolling here.

FRANK: You got it rolling.

MIKE: Did you see how I
did the mega-ice breaker?

MIKE: I like this
auto races sign.

Is that yours?

JOHN: Yeah.

FRANK: You can see
the pigeon droppings on it.

JOHN: Yeah.

FRANK: It's kind of
neat but kind of rough.

JOHN: I found that
underneath the stage

in the old opera house in town.

MIKE: I'm like oh my god.

I'll give you a hundred
dollars for that ripped up

pigeon crap poster!

JOHN: Sounds good to me.

JOHN: I think I did pretty good.

FRANK: That's kinda neat.

FRANK: What about
that little Dick Tracy car

over there?

JOHN: I would take
three hundred for it.

FRANK: Oh.

MIKE: I notice you got some
motorcycle license plates.

You got one that's
nineteen fourteen and one

that's nineteen
fifteen, it looks like.

I'd do a hundred
a piece on those.

JOHN: That's good.

MIKE: Yeah.

For you, yeah.

JOHN: A nice lot of
money in my pocket.

MIKE: Sometimes we'll
pay retail to get the ball

rolling so we can get
farther in and get the

family price.

MIKE: I don't just
carry hundreds.

I also have fifties
and twenties.

Would you do fifty?

JOHN: I'll think about it.

MIKE: How about
seventy-five on the fan?

JOHN: I'll think about it.

MIKE: How about a
hundo on the fans?

That would be
four bills I owe ya.

JOHN: Sold.

MIKE: All right. Frank who?

FRANK: You were able to - I got.

JOHN: When are you
gonna buy something?

FRANK: I don't know.

I got thirty-five fans
in my basement.

I couldn't buy another
fan if you twisted my arm,

believe me.

MIKE: You know what?

Why I ended up pulling
the trigger on that fan?

It was like a big heavy
base, I leaned it over and

I saw insert a nickel here.

I was like oh my god, this is
like a fan vending machine.

That's like two categories.

It's like boom, coming
together. It was hot.

MIKE: What about your
fence signs over here?

Are those yours?

JOHN: Yep.

The one is a painted sign.

MIKE: Oh the one with
the picture of the fall trees?

JOHN: Yeah.

MIKE: I'd do four
hundred bucks for it.

JOHN: I'd consider that.

MIKE: That's standing tall.

MIKE: The lithograph
on that sign, it was a really

nice shape.

I'd say it was right around
the turn of the century.

JOHN: I'm hoping I
get a thousand dollar bill

out of ya so.

FRANK: You're almost there.

MIKE: John, help me help you.

JOHN: Meeting Mike and
Frank today has helped me

a lot because it's just
given me a little extra

money to go somewhere.

JOHN: I want to go
to Florida next month.

MIKE: Hey, I want
to help you get there.

FRANK: We hit John
right at the right time.

He wanted to go to Florida.

MIKE: What about
that Veedol sign?

Is that yours?

JOHN: Yeah.

I'd like a hundred and a half.

Those hundred dollar
bills always look nice.

MIKE: I know but when
you add the fifty to them,

I think it's just, they get too
crowded and it gets too busy.

How about just a hundred?

JOHN: I'll think about it.

MIKE: Whoa, look at this.

This is cool.

JOHN: That was a toy I
had when I was growing up.

MIKE: I like weird
stuff and that thing

it just speaks to me.

I gotta have that.

MIKE: When he said he
had that as a kid, I was like

oh my god, he's not
gonna sell it to me.

MIKE: If I do two hundred
on this, could I do a hund

on the Veedol sign so
it'd be three hundred?

JOHN: That sounds good.

MIKE: All right.

JOHN: I won't argue with you.

MIKE: Thank you.

MIKE: We came here
expecting to spend zero

and we ended up dropping
about fifteen hundred.

Everything that I bought
I feel like I got a good

enough deal to where I'm
gonna make some money.

FRANK: There's some meat
on the bone on everything.

MIKE: There's definitely
some meat on the bone.

FRANK: Definitely.

MIKE: I like the colours.

MIKE: Frank's always one
hand and I'm always two

hands, three hands, four hands.

MIKE: We'll put the
smaller signs behind the

big one, Franky.

MIKE: Out of everything
I bought from you, this is

my favourite.

It's so cool. I love it.

MIKE: Sweet victory.

I can smell it right now.

KE: Okay here's the deal, Frank.

You have the honour
and privilege to wash our

roving office on wheels.

You lost the bet.

FRANK: You know what?

MIKE: You're crispy. You're
cooked. You're done. Go ahead.

FRANK: Alright,
Mike, congratulations.

You won the bet.

Shake on it.

MIKE: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Woo!

MIKE: Drop me off at the hotel.

Don't even think about
taking this to a spray,

automatic car wash.

FRANK: Got it.

MIKE: All I can say is
Frank better not go to an

automatic car wash.

I'll know.

FRANK: Here we go.

This will work out just fine.

FRANK: Hey girls.

What we got going?

GIRL: You want to get your car
washed for a fundraiser today?

FRANK: For a fundraiser?
Yeah. Do you hand wash?

GIRL: Yes.

We do old fashioned
hand washing.

FRANK: Dig in deep now.

This is really working out good.

Don't forget the tires.

A little sweep.

Missed a spot.

Yeah it's gotta be real clean.

I like the hand wash part.

That's the best.