American Pickers (2010–…): Season 3, Episode 5 - Too Hot to Handle - full transcript
This time on American Pickers... In Upstate New York, the guys stop in at a sprawling treasure-laden farm where the barn doors are wide open, and where 14 jam-packed trailers beckon. Later, an eccentric mother-daughter duo is selling their extraordinary 1856 home and everything in it. And finally, the guys visit an old cheese factory that's been boarded up for years, and it takes the local fire department to break down the doors to get to the hot items.
MIKE: Dive on in!
Look Frankie, it's
some kind of Enduro.
It says Yankee on the motor.
FRANK: It's a twin
cylinder, two stroke,
500cc motorcycle.
Very, very rare.
MIKE: Alright. Do you
care how people get in here?
AL: Whatever you
have to do to get in.
MIKE: We're gonna get in
this place no matter what.
[siren]
[chainsaw sound]
MIKE: This house is
shaped like an octagon.
JULIA: This house was used
as part of underground railroad.
MIKE: All of a sudden,
we're crawlin' through
this space that escaped
slaves crawled though
during the civil war.
It's never somethin'
you get to see first-hand.
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 are in upstate
New York, and we are
rollin' large, man.
Frankie and I are
freestylin', and we're
lookin' for a place
to rock up on.
FRANK: Yeah. We're
checkin' up a lotta little towns,
there's a lot of big hills.
MIKE: In New York, with
the ups and downs of these
long driveways and
stuff, it's really difficult for
us to see some of these
properties down the road.
Keep your eyes peeled, man.
FRANK: I'm keepin' 'em. Look
at this place, whip over here.
Oh yeah, this looks
good, he might have
something in the back.
He knows about the
[inaudible] I'm sure.
This looks old.
MIKE: Yeah. Hey, how you doin'?
Hey, we're pickers,
and uh, this is a list of
stuff that we're lookin' to buy.
FRANK: Yeah, we
were kind of lookin' at that
Airstream, it
looks like it's, like-
MAN: Ah hell, I don't
want none of that stuff,
you get the hell off
my property right now!
FRANK: In this game, you
know, you've gotta have some thick
skin, I mean, you've gotta
be able to take rejection.
Man, that guy was rough.
MIKE: Frankie honed
his rejection skills in high
school with the ladies,
and now that has carried
on for him to make a living.
[tires screeching]
When you're out here
freestylin', you'd better have
the skills to pay the bills
or you're not gonna make it.
MIKE: Oh, look at this
place, look at this place!
FRANK: Oh, this
place looks good.
MIKE: Looks good, man,
look at all those buildings.
FRANK: It's got a For Sale sign.
Let's look in here, ask
about the truck, and ask
about the other stuff.
First of all, they got
cars for sale out there,
that's a good sign,
they're already sellin' stuff.
As we pull in, I mean,
this place just keeps
goin' on and on and on.
MIKE: Hey, how you doin'?
CATHY: Good, good.
MIKE: I saw your old trucks from
the road and thought we'd stop.
I'm Mike.
CATHY: I'm Cathy.
FRANK: My name's
Frank. CATHY: Hi Frank.
FRANK: We're pickers,
we're always out buyin'
and sellin' stuff, and
uh, that just give you, like,
a little guideline, some of
the stuff we're lookin' for.
You know, bicycles, motorcycles-
MIKE: Advertising signs.
FRANK: A little
bit of everything.
CATHY: Okay. I've got it here.
14 trailers back
there, I can show you.
MIKE: I can see that,
I can see all this stuff.
When I cast my eyes over and
saw everything that was here,
I was like, thank
you, pickin' gods.
I see you got a load here, what
are you doin', scrappin' stuff?
CATHY: I'm scrapping
metal. Tin, things like that.
MIKE: Prices are up.
CATHY: Well, they
could go higher.
MIKE: Well, they can always
go higher, that'd be nice.
FRANK: Better than just
throwin' it away, you know
what I mean?
MIKE: So why are you
scrappin' stuff out here?
CATHY: Um, well, we
wanna try to keep the farm, and
um, you know, my dad
passed in September.
MIKE: Oh, I'm sorry.
CATHY: Yeah, and he
was a collector/hoarder his
whole life, so we're
just cleaning it up.
He didn't never
cleaned anything up.
He saved everything.
MIKE: She inherited
this place from her father
Jeremiah, and he had a
wide variety of interests,
so when we walked in the
barn, it was pretty overwhelming.
Wow.
She's got, like, the
whole laundry list.
FRANK: Wow, you do have a lot.
MIKE: Have you found
anything in here that's
just kind of blown your
mind when you saw it?
CATHY: It kinda all
blows my mind, actually.
It's so overwhelming.
1942, my dad joined
the Army Air Corps.
Ended up flying the hump,
doing bombing missions.
He was hit over Tokyo bay
and his plane went down.
My dad was a prisoner
of war and he was only in
there for a month, but
they just endured some
awful, awful things that
you can't even imagine.
They took everything away
from him, you know, his
pride and everything else,
so, you know, he got out,
he was, uh, 19 years old
and down to 98 pounds, and
I think, ever since then,
he just saved everything.
FRANK: He started keeping
everything 'cause he was
bound to have nobody take
things away from him ever again.
MIKE: Well, we'd be
honored to look through
this stuff, I mean, really.
CATHY: Yeah, let's dig.
MIKE: Alright, she
said our favorite phrase.
Let's dig. I like your style.
FRANK: You don't
need to tell us twice.
CATHY: My dad had some
debts and we have expenses
to keep the farm going.
Every little bit helps.
MIKE: We may find
some stuff today that you
haven't even seen before.
CATHY: I'm sure of that.
Every day is a treasure hunt.
MIKE: It's like, you just
wonder what is under all that.
There could be, like,
a car under there.
The only way for me
to pick in that area over
there is basically
to climb Mt. Pick.
[♪]
When you get to the top
of that pile, then you can
look all over the barn.
Oh, there's some good
wooden bicycles over there.
When I look over
the space, I see a big,
huge pile of turn of
the century bicycles.
There's a bunch of 'em here,
they're all wadded together.
It's so hard to find one, I'm
lookin' at a whole pile of 'em.
CATHY: Bring 'em on out
now, we'll take a look at 'em.
MIKE: Alright, here's
some of the wood rims.
CATHY: What year do
you think these are from?
MIKE: You know, most
of this stuff here, these
frames, are 1890s.
[♪]
MIKE: These have wooden
rims on 'em, pneumatic
tires, very cool
stuff, cord grips.
MIKE: See, this was
called a race cycle, and their
claim to fame was this huge
crank, see how big this is?
Versus that.
CATHY: Right.
MIKE: So, on these bicycle
frames and all of this stuff,
I'd do 200 dollars.
CATHY: 1890s, right?
MIKE: 1890s, but
condition is everything.
See this? The
frame is broken here.
It's completely separated
from the casting.
How about 250?
CATHY: 250
sounds alright. Alright.
MIKE: Alright, so
we can do it? Alright.
I appreciate you workin'
with me 'cause, uh, I can
take some of this stuff
and actually put it to use,
put it back on the road.
For the pile of
bicycles, I paid $250.
I think I can put one of them
together out of all that stuff.
That leaves me with a
lot of parts to mess with.
FRANK: We're in there
five minutes and he's already
found bicycles stuff that early.
I'm like, here we go.
Mike goes one way, I
go the other way, we're
checkin' with each other
like, hey, findin' anything?
What are you finding?
MIKE: I found some old
oil bottles like you like.
FRANK: Okay. Look
at this, a mailbox.
CATHY: Oh, nice!
MIKE: The great thing
about Cathy was she was so
receptive to us.
FRANK: All of a sudden,
her husband shows up.
BILL: Hey, how you doin'?
What are you guys doin'?
MIKE: Pretty good,
we're diggin'! I'm Mike.
BILL: I'm Bill.
FRANK: I'm Frank, how you doin'?
Uh, that could be a
bad sign, he could be the
decision maker and then
go, hey, I don't wanna get
rid of this stuff,
that's blah blah blah,
sometimes that can
really put a cramp on us.
MIKE: So if we find
somethin' we like, should
we ask him about it?
CATHY: No, that'd be me
BILL: The queen.
FRANK: Luckily,
today, Cathy said, I'm the
decision maker here,
and Bill doesn't really care
what we get rid of.
MIKE: Dive on in.
FRANK: Alrighty.
MIKE: Look at this, Frankie.
Some kind of Enduro. It
says Yankee on the motor.
FRANK: Yeah,
that is interesting.
It's a twin cylinder, two
stroke, 500cc motorcycle.
Very, very rare.
This is the old school,
uh, dirtbikes, but oddball
stuff is always good.
It's missin' both the side
plates, the seat's not original-
CATHY: How do you know that?
FRANK: How do I know
that? Well, c'mere, I'll show ya.
Somebody's recovered
this at one time or another
with the brown thing.
BILL: I did some
investigating just to find
out what these were all
about, Yankee bikes, and
it's pretty rare.
There's actually clubs
all around the country that,
you know, collect 'em.
BILL: It turns out a guy
in Paris emailed me back
and says, I'll buy it, as
long as the engine isn't
seized, for 800 bucks,
and I'll pay the shipping.
FRANK: Bill had done
some research on it, and he
started flippin' up
kind of a big number.
BILL: It's seized.
FRANK: It's seized.
CATHY: Okay.
FRANK: He had a
price if it was running.
The motor was seized
up, it's not all there.
So you're gonna have
to take the whole entire
motor apart to
ever get this to run.
BILL: With the engine
running, the offer was
800, and he was in Paris.
What are you lookin' at?
FRANK: I'd do two and a quarter.
I think I could get
maybe twice that.
Maybe. It's what I'm
thinkin' on it, maybe.
CATHY: 250.
BILL: How about 250?
FRANK: Tell you what,
I'd do, on the oil bottle,
the metal mailbox over
there, I'd do 250 on it then.
Now, you gotta remember,
this is my first buy,
I thought I'd get a
break on the first buy.
CATHY: First buy, deal.
FRANK: Okay, deal. I hope
I didn't use my free pass
here on the-
CATHY: Now
you're done. Let's go.
I told you he saved
everything, right?
MIKE: I see that, I see that.
MIKE: It's a toy box
with, look at that.
That used to be
a baseball glove.
I actually come cross
a really early toy box,
and inside the toy box
there's a pond boat.
It's early, I'd say from
the teens up until the 30s.
It's hard to find toys.
Kids beat the hell out of
their toys, they didn't survive.
If something survived
this long, it's incredible.
[♪]
MIKE: It's neat,
this little pond boat.
CATHY: Very cool.
MIKE: When I look at a toy
like that, I look at it as folk art.
I mean, the detail and
the creativity to make
somethin' like that,
awesome piece.
Is this somethin' you'd sell?
CATHY: Sure.
MIKE: You would?
BILL: What's your offer?
MIKE: On this thing right here
in this condition, twenty bucks.
BILL: Twenty bucks, that's-
CATHY: I think that's
a great deal, that's fine.
MIKE: That's what's great
about diggin' in barns in
upstate New York and
on the east coast, you find
so much earlier stuff out
here than you do when
we're in Iowa.
MIKE: Is this
microphone gettin' a tour.
MIKE: It's the all
access tour, Frankie.
I like that.
I can't even get my mind
around 14 different buildings.
Was he gonna
start a trailer park?
CATHY: As he ran out of
storage, then he would get
another trailer.
FRANK: Okay. We have to
physically check every trailer.
This is a cold call.
They get tired, we
miss out on any of those
buildings, we won't be
able to sleep at night.
Alright, where are we at here?
BILL: No one's been in
here for a long, long time.
FRANK: That's the
kind of places we like.
MIKE: Right off to the
left, I find this 1930s
flathead motorcycle Harley tank.
MIKE: I've got a '34 flathead,
the same exact tank as this.
[♪]
MIKE: Still got original
oil pump on the top,
it's got the petcock,
little bit of a dent in it,
but you know what, it's
there, it exists. I found it.
BILL: What's your offer?
MIKE: My offer?
Okay, let me see.
Shh!
Um, 75 bucks with the gas cap.
BILL: Is that the cap for that?
MIKE: No, heck no.
I know I gotta buy it, that
thing is speakin' to me,
callin' to me.
BILL: Let's do 80 bucks
for both and you got a deal.
MIKE: Oh, you want
bundle? Doin' a bundle thing.
Alright, how about, how
about a even hundred for
this and the stereo?
When I saw that old HH
Scott amplifier, you could
see the wood, you could
see all the detail in it.
A lot of this old stereo
equipment is really hot.
BILL: Actually, I
would absolutely do that
without a problem.
CATHY: What, the tank
and the stereo for what?
BILL: A hundred bucks.
MIKE: Alright, a hundred
bucks. Shake on it.
We did the bundle
situation there, 75 bucks
for the tank, five bucks
for the gas cap, boom,
twenty bucks on
this stereo equipment.
I'm really pleased
to have this stuff.
BILL: Well, that's all
vacuum tubes, that's why.
MIKE: Oh, look at this.
BILL: Steam whistle. That's
not, that's not goin' anywhere.
That is going on my boat.
I knew, somewhere on
this farm, there is a Crosby
steam whistle, somewhere.
He pulls it out.
MIKE: It was off the chain
for me to find that brass
whistle for Bill.
Did this make your day?
BILL: It totally made my day.
I wanna thank you for
finding the one thing I've
been looking for
on this farm forever.
So I had to give
him props for that.
[♪]
MIKE: Whoa! I'm up here.
We only get one chance to
take a bite out of this apple.
When are we gonna be back here?
I don't know.
By the time we do get
back here, that barn is
probably gonna be empty,
so I am basically junk
drunk right now.
Is this microphone
somethin' you guys'd sell?
BILL: Yeah, absolutely.
MIKE: Alright, let's
bring that down.
I'll hand this to you.
One of the things I
found in the shed was this
really early microphone.
It's beautiful, I mean
it's got art deco look to it,
it's all ribbed, I can
see it's got the original
stand to it, I mean this
is a really cool piece.
As pickers, we know enough
to be dangerous, I know
enough not to leave
this item behind.
CATHY: We should get
the other spotlight that's
in the other building
that went with that.
FRANK: Oh yeah.
CATHY: Uh, because I
think my dad demolished
a theatre building and
then these things were left
and he brought 'em,
brought 'em up here.
MIKE: I'd love to
see that theatre light if
you guys have that.
CATHY: Alright,
let's go find it.
MIKE: I was really stoked
to see that stage light
Cathy mentioned.
I figured this was a chance
for another package deal.
There it is, huh? Look at that.
FRANK: What's it say down there?
CATHY: Capital
stage lighting company-
BILL: New York City.
FRANK: Well, I like that part.
MIKE: Yeah, that is cool. Ooh,
oh my god, look at that light.
BILL: Wow. Wow.
MIKE: Oh yeah. Don't
do that, you'll break it!
FRANK: No, that's how you
test 'em, to see if they're broke.
[♪]
MIKE: And here's the
deal, I'm still thinkin'
about the microphone.
Tell me what you're thinkin'.
BILL: Combo for both, I
say 400. Combo, combo.
MIKE: [laughter]
Whoo! So you want
two bills for this and
two bills for that.
BILL: Actually, this was
probably the bulk of the,
of the price.
MIKE: $400 is way too
steep for these two items.
Especially since they
need some work before I get
these things back on the market.
It's all about condition.
The thing is, with
somethin' like this, it
does have a great
look, but to make it more
valuable for someone, this
is gonna have to work, and
that bulb is gonna have
to be changed out, that
socket's gonna have to
be changed on the inside,
'cause when you turn
your light on next to your
couch, you don't wanna
burn your hair off. You know?
How about 200
bucks for both of 'em?
BILL: 200 for both?
MIKE: What are
you thinking, Cathy?
Cathy was obviously on
the fence, but I still had one
card to play with Bill.
Remember I found
the whistle for ya.
BILL: Uh, I gotcha on the
whistle, so let's go to three.
MIKE: Um, you know, two,
I would do 250 and that's
all I can do.
I can do 250 bucks.
CATHY: For this and that?
Okay.
BILL: You know
what, I'm not usin' it,
she's not usin' it, it
wasn't a family heirloom.
MIKE: I got the
whistle discount.
BILL: You got the
whistle discount.
[whistles]
FRANK: You know, at
the end of the day, we were
able to find some great,
amazing items here.
What about the front?
MIKE: Just ram it, it's got
friggin' nine inches of travel.
FRANK: I paid 250 for it, I
know I can double my money.
[♪]
MIKE: The Harley VL
tank, to the right guy at
the end of the
rainbow, 200 bucks.
[♪]
FRANK: You know what I
really like, is it's got the base.
MIKE: At 125 on this
microphone, I'm gonna take
that chance all day long.
I got this very cool,
very unusual item,
I wanna get it appraised.
FRANK: Thanks a
lot, nice to meetcha.
CATHY: I appreciate
it, thank you
MIKE: I hope things work
out with the farm, you guys.
CATHY: Frank and Mike
are great and it really was an
enjoyable day.
Thanks!
BILL: See you later! She's
happy-happy wife, happy life.
That's pretty much it.
MIKE: We couldn't've dreamed
up a pick like that, Frankie.
FRANK: I'm tellin' you
what, for a cold call,
that was fantastic.
We'll be writin' that one down.
MIKE: I'm so out of it right
now, I'm completely junk drunk.
FRANK: I am, I'm tired.
[♪]
MIKE: So you know what I
was thinkin', since we're on
the east coast now, you could
be F-Wow and I'll be M-Wow.
FRANK: Okay. I like J-Wow.
MIKE: You gotta
have the name, dude.
[phone rings]
What's up, who's callin'?
FRANK: Danielle's callin'.
MIKE: Why is Danielle the
only person that ever calls us?
FRANK: I don't know.
Hey Danny, what's up?
DANIELLE: Hey,
how are you doin'?
FRANK: Doin' pretty good.
DANIELLE: Hey, I have an
awesome lead for you, and
Mike, you're especially
gonna like this one.
MIKE: Yeah, what
is it? Lay it on us.
DANIELLE: This
gentleman named Al,
he owns a company
in upstate New York.
Basically what he does is
he cleans out old buildings.
He's recently come
into this building from this
really cool elder lady.
Now, I can't really give
you a good idea what's in
there right now 'cause
he hasn't been inside it,
but it's definitely
worth checking out.
MIKE: No one's
been in there at all?
DANIELLE: No,
and I'll tell you why.
He's gonna demolish the
building and donate the
land to the local fire
department, which is
across the street.
FRANK: Alright,
we're pickin' it up.
MIKE: We're on it.
DANIELLE: Thanks guys.
FRANK: Bye now.
MIKE: Pretty cool.
Places like this get us
absolutely jacked up.
I mean, no one has been in
this building for four decades.
FRANK: Who knows
what we're gonna find?
This place could
be a honey hole.
MIKE: Here is it, here's
the fire department.
FRANK: Okay. Pull in, pull in.
MIKE: Hey, are you Al?
AL: Yeah, how you doin'?
MIKE: How's it goin'?
Good to meet you.
FRANK: Big buildin' here.
What's up, Marty?
MIKE: Wow.
AL: You gotta be careful here.
MIKE: Yeah, I see that.
AL: This used to be a
cheese factory that what it
was built for years ago.
FRANK: Okay.
Oh man, that's cool.
MIKE: Right away, you
could see that there's lots
of trees, weeds,
everything growin' in front of
the doors and we could see all
the windows were boarded up.
FRANK: No one has been
in here for so long, this is
gonna be a good place.
How do you, uh, Al,
how do you get in here?
AL: I don't know, the
first time I've tried here.
I haven't looked at it.
MIKE: I dunno.
FRANK: Everything's boarded up.
Like, how are we gonna
get in this place, you know?
MIKE: Alright. Do you
care how people get in here?
AL: Whatever you have
to do to get in here, just do
whatever you have to do.
FRANK: You know what we
might need to do, we might
need to go talk to
the fire department.
They could get an ax or
somethin' and get in here.
MIKE: Oh yeah, yeah!
FRANK: He bought the
property and he's going to
donate it to the fire
department, so I thought, hey,
these guys break into homes,
they do everything all the time.
Let's go over and
ask these people!
FIREMAN: Hey guys.
AL: Is the fire chief around?
FIREMAN: Yeah.
MIKE: Hey, are you the chief?
CHIEF: Yes, I am.
AL: They wanna actually
get into the building over
here, and I told 'em, you
know, we're gonna donate
the land to you guys afterward.
We thought maybe you guys
could help a little bit get in
there, 'cause the doors have
gotta be ripped off somehow.
MIKE: Any help you could
give us would be very cool.
CHIEF: Sure, we can, uh,
supply you with somethin' here.
[♪]
MIKE: These guys
are going for it!
AL: They know
what they're doing.
[♪]
MIKE: They got
the crew. I like this!
FRANK: Alright, these
guys got it goin' on.
MIKE: Nothin' man,
this is awesome!
Nothin' like a little
B&E to start the day.
Alright Al, I think you got
the right guys on the job.
This is awesome!
FRANK: These guys
are gettin' it down.
I'm fired up, you
know what I mean?
MIKE: I got this.
He's gettin' goin' for it, man.
[chainsaw sound]
We're gonna get in this
place no matter what.
This is awesome!
AL: There we go.
IKE: You wanna go inside?
FRANK: Yeah. Let's go
in. I can't wait any longer.
When we first get a
glimpse of this place,
I mean, it looks like a
tomb. The hell is that?
MIKE: Convertible, dude.
FRANK: Oh, that's cool.
MIKE: Then we look over
and we see the old car.
FRANK: A Fleetmaster.
MIKE: The last thing I
was expecting to find in this
abandoned cheese factory
are these old vehicles.
FRANK: It's a 1948
Fleetmaster 500.
MIKE: That's a cruiser dude.
We got really excited
because it's a two door,
it was a convertible
and I was thinkin', okay,
game on, this is
gonna be awesome.
[♪]
MIKE: You know, the floor
is toast on this thing, Frankie.
FRANK: Is it?
MIKE: You can see all
the way through the floor.
FRANK: This car
could tell some stories.
MIKE: This thing is
rusty, but it's so damn cool.
Ouch!
AL: I don't think the
engine's any good.
FRANK: There's no engine
here, that's just a block.
You know what it's missin',
a big piece right here, Mike?
MIKE: The radiator.
FRANK: A radiator,
baby. That's big money.
AL: It's got wheels
on it, though.
MIKE: It does have wheels.
FRANK: I bet they don't roll.
MIKE: Even if it's in that
condition, there's some
cars out there that
could still be worth a lot of
money in that condition.
Now that you know
the motor's not in it, now
that you know there's
no floor in it, what uh, tell
me what you're thinkin'.
I'm thinkin', you know,
he's gonna say maybe a
hundred or two hundred bucks.
AL: Well, I was thinkin' 1500.
MIKE: Really.
When he said 1500 bucks, I
kinda stepped back a little bit.
1500...
I wasn't thinkin'
anything over a grand
to be honest with you.
We can only sell
this car for 1500 max.
I mean, it's gonna cost
us at least a thousand
dollars to get this thing
home, so even if he sells
it to us for 500 bucks,
there's no money to be made.
It's great that it exists,
would it be nice if it was
in better condition,
yeah, but I mean, hey-
FRANK: It is what
it is, like Al said.
MIKE: It is what it is.
AL: I think they were
very fair in their valuation of
the car, and I understand
it's just gonna cost
too much to move it some place.
FRANK: Al, how do you get
up to the next level up here?
AL: I don't know, is
that a ladder right there?
FRANK: Well, it's a
ladder, but I don't know
if I'd wanna walk up it.
MIKE: That's really sketchy.
The ladder looked a bit
jenky and, you know, it
was wood, all
crooked and everything.
AL: I'm not goin' up it.
FRANK: Uh-uh, no?
MIKE: He's like, you know
what, why don't we get the
fire department guys
over here with one of their
nice new ladders, and
we'll crawl on up there.
FRANK: These guys are
comin' in handy, aren't they?
MIKE: I know, I love these guys.
FRANK: Out with the
old, in with the new.
MIKE: How's it lookin'?
FRANK: I don't wanna look yet.
MIKE: Oh my god.
This place is a friggin'
spook house, dude.
FRANK: This is like Blair Witch.
[♪]
FRANK: Hey Mike!
This place is freaky.
I haven't seen Mike.
What was that?
Mike, what's goin' on?!
MIKE: Fraaank.
Frank! [scream]
FRANK: Look at this, man!
MIKE: Blair Witch
meets cheese factory?
FRANK: Yeah.
MIKE: Holy moley.
FRANK: You've got
a lot to look at here.
Muffler, lawnmower...
MARTY: That's an
old ironing board.
FRANK: As you can tell,
I don't iron my clothes.
MIKE: There's so much to
dig through but a lot of it's
garbage, so you have to get
down to the core of this pick.
Sardine cans... and guess what?
Still trash.
FRANK: Buncha raccoon feces.
One man's garbage can sometimes
still be another man's garbage.
MIKE: Here's a
piece that's kinda cool.
I managed to pull this
amazing ornate fern stand
out of this landfill.
MIKE: This is a very cool
piece, original white paint.
It's an original iron piece,
very cool. You sell that?
AL: Yeah.
MIKE: Yeah? How
about, uh, twenty bucks?
AL: You know what,
I think twenty dollars
sounds good on that.
MIKE: Alright, I'll pop
on that, twenty bucks.
AL: As long as I don't
have to carry it out.
MIKE: I'll carry it
out, I'll carry it out.
AL: I think we could find
a lot so we can get more
to the fire department,
how's that?
MIKE: Oh, you mean the
proceeds are goin' to the
fire department?
AL: I wanna help them, I
wanna take care of them.
MIKE: Al, what a great guy.
He buys this property,
and then he's donating the
land and all the money
he gets from the contents
to the fire department, so cool.
AL: What I've always
been trying to do for years is
give back to the community
that I built my business
in, and I'm sure the fire
department's gonna be
happy with whatever
we can help 'em out with.
MIKE: Woo!
AL: That was an antique,
uh, dish I just broke.
FRANK: What do
you think this is, Mike?
MIKE: Let me see.
It's a chimney top.
For terracotta,
yeah, a chimney top.
FRANK: Kind of cool.
All of a sudden, I come
across this terracotta chimney.
That's kind of a good
piece, you know?
It's got some nice lines on it.
It could be for people
to restore in their homes.
How about this, Al?
What do you think on
this little chimney top thing?
AL: 25?
FRANK: Tell you what, you
throw these poles in, I'll do 25.
AL: Alright, you got the poles.
FRANK: Alright.
He got what he wanted,
I got the fishin' poles and
I got the chimney.
Worked all the way around.
MIKE: Woo! Gettin'
into it now, baby!
FRANK: This room is
really startin' to pay off for us,
Al, and the fire department.
Hopefully I can find some more
good stuff to help their cause.
That's somethin' here
somebody made that's kinda cool.
Dunno what it is, though
FRANK: It kinda catches
my eye 'cause it's hand-made.
You can tell somebody
has physically made this and
made the actual
wooden gear out of it.
MIKE: Yeah, what
the hell is that?
FRANK: I'm not sure what it is.
Maybe it went with some
part of the cheese factory
or something.
It's just a cool piece.
Al, I don't know what this
is, but how about ten bucks?
AL: Okay.
FRANK: I don't know
what it is, but I'm gonna take
a chance on it.
AL: That sounds good.
FRANK: You know, one
thing about our job is you have
to take risks.
On something like
that that's ten dollars,
I mean, that is
a cool little piece
and I know I'm gonna make money.
I'm right behind ya.
MIKE: What are you doin'?
FRANK: I'm gonna
grab this, though.
Al, I grabbed a
couple things here.
AL: Okay.
FRANK: It's GI Joe,
little truck and trailer like.
[♪]
Looks pretty complete, it's
broke down here, somethin'
broke off here, I don't
know what it is, somethin'
broke off here, probably
had a canopy at one time.
It's kind of cool, it's
battery operated, the battery
compartment, somebody
left batteries in it,
so it's not that great in shape.
FRANK: So it's pretty much
just a shelf piece, you know?
I'd probably do twenty
bucks on the set.
Cleaned all up, I think I could
probably get around forty maybe?
AL: I'll let you do that
for twenty dollars, I'll do it.
FRANK: Alright, good deal.
AL: Okay, very good, thank you.
FRANK: I paid twenty
dollars for both pieces,
great to have it.
I'm gonna start
grabbin' some stuff.
MIKE: Hand me fishin' poles.
FRANK: Alright, buddy.
MIKE: Got any
fishhooks in these?
FRANK: Nope.
I got the fishin' poles and I
got the chimney for 25 dollars.
I think I can at least
double to triple my money.
AL: What are you gonna
do with it, tell me that.
MIKE: Well, I'm gonna sell it!
The cast iron ornate fern
stand, I paid twenty dollars for.
I think I can get $75 for it.
Oh my god, I just
found an amazing piece.
MIKE: On my way outta
the building, I discover this
really early toy.
This is a tin carousel.
It's got the flag on the
top that's always missin',
beautiful piece, I
couldn't believe I found it,
I mean, this is thing is so old.
Only problem, it looks like
a horse stepped on it, okay?
But I got a guy that I
think can fix it enough to
where he can put it back
into the shape of a carousel.
Oh my god, look!
FRANK: What?
MIKE: Look at this. That's
what you call spit-shine.
Osmond's merry-go-round, 1899.
With toys, everything
is about condition.
I'm at thirty bucks on it.
AL: You know, it's been
quite a day, but I really
think forty dollars
would be a better deal.
MIKE: You know what,
I'll do forty dollars on it.
It's goin' to a good
cause, the fire department.
AL: Okay, very good.
MIKE: This is a
forty dollar toy now.
I'm gonna bring it to my
guy, have him tweak it,
have him twist it, have
him bend it around a little bit.
I hope to have him bring
this thing up to $200.
[♪]
Alright Chief,
where's the chief at?
FRANK: You know, today,
I wish I could spent some
more money, but the
money I did spend,
I'm happy it's going
to a good cause.
[honks horn]
MIKE: Thanks guys! Thank you!
[♪]
You know what, it was
so cool of those guys to
give us the fire
helmet they had.
FRANK: Oh, I know that
was, you know, it was killer.
MIKE: I wasn't expecting
that at all. You look good!
FRANK: I feel good.
MIKE: You look like you
mean business, dude.
FRANK: Hey! Get
the hose over there,
let's get this this goin' here!
[siren sound effect]
[♪]
[♪]
MIKE: We've got a
lead from Danielle.
We're goin' to a home
today that was built in 1856.
On top of that, this place
is shaped like an octagon.
How cool is that?
This gal named Marlene,
she's got some old
military uniforms, she's
got some vintage clothes,
she's got some funky stuff.
I'm thinkin' if she's got
vintage clothing and she
lives in a house this old-
FRANK: Estate sale stuff too.
MIKE: Yeah, then she's
gotta have other stuff.
FRANK: I don't know
that much about vintage
clothing unless it's 80s
stuff that I'm still wearing.
You know what I mean,
I know about that stuff.
MIKE: Maybe you could get,
like, Michael Jackson coats,
you know?
FRANK: With the zippers?
It'd be awesome. I'd be on it
MIKE: With the
zippers, the glove.
FRANK: I already got the glove.
[♪]
MIKE: Alright,
here it is, buddy.
See that octagon shape?
FRANK: I see it. Oh, yeah, yeah.
MIKE: Eight sides.
FRANK: Let's hit it!
MIKE: Marlene, she's got
some clothing, she's got
some funky stuff.
We wanna be the people who
bring this stuff back to market.
Hey, how are you doin'?
FRANK: Hi! What's your name?
JULIA: Julia.
FRANK: Hi Julia.
MIKE: Nice to meet
you. Marlene here?
JULIA: She sure is.
MIKE: Hey, how
you doin', Marlene?
MARLENE: Hi guys! How are you?
MIKE: We're doin' good!
Oh wow, this place
is like a museum!
JULIA: We got in touch
with Frank and Mike
because my mother and
I are selling our property
and we have so many treasures.
It's about time to get
rid of some of 'em.
MIKE: Look at these
glass cases, Frankie!
MARLENE: It's a way
to sort my collection.
Don't you sort your collections?
FRANK: Of course we do!
MIKE: Marlene was a trip.
She was dressed just
like she got off a barrel
racing horse in the 1940s.
MARLENE: It's a neat old
house, built in the 1800s
and became a slave depot,
it's got hiding spaces and
passageways in it.
JULIA: This house,
we don't do doors.
We have passageways.
There are nine passageways.
This house was used as part
of the underground railroad.
MARLENE: Hurry up!
This is how people got
from the house to the edge
of the river.
Then we're going to go
through the underground tunnel.
MIKE: Pay attention!
FRANK: I'm sorry!
MARLENE: Ready? FRANK: Ready.
MARLENE: Go! You too!
MIKE: All of a sudden,
we're crawlin' through
this space that escaped
slaves crawled through
during the civil war.
JULIA: There's a
secret room there.
[♪]
There's a message left
by one of the slaves who
lived here during the civil war.
It's directions to
the next safe house.
MIKE: That was really cool.
That's something you
learn about in school, but
that's somethin' that you
never get to see first-hand.
[♪]
JULIA: See, the civil war
was supposed to be a bunch
of guys who got
together and duked it out.
People would actually take
picnics to watch the men fight.
MIKE: Really.
JULIA: Nobody thought it
was going to be an real war!
MIKE: Frank! The tour was
fun, but me and Frankie can only
concentrate for so long.
Then our attention span goes.
FRANK: I wanted to get picking.
[♪]
MIKE: I see you got some
tramp art frames in here, huh?
MARLENE: Yes.
MIKE: Is that stuff for sale?
MARLENE & JULIA:
Everything's for sale!
MIKE: Okay, well, how
much is that frame right there?
MARLENE: That one
would be a hundred bucks.
MIKE: How about fifty bucks?
MARLENE: No, once I tell
you a price, I'm adamant.
MIKE: That's it, that's
it? No negotiation.
MARLENE: I hate the heckling.
[crosstalk]
MARLENE: Julia's the dickerer.
MIKE: She likes to, okay. Julia,
how about fifty bucks for that?
JULIA: How about a
hundred and a quarter?
The auction goes both ways.
MIKE: Oh my lord!
FRANK: You know, Julia,
she was a great tour guide,
but I can tell she's gonna
be a brutal negotiator.
JULIA: Come on in, guys!
[♪]
Old boots, old rockabilly
shirts, all in this section.
MIKE: Look at that!
FRANK: Why don'tcha go
down the highway with that on?
MIKE: Yeah man!
Getcher motor runnin' baby!
JULIA: We have clothes
hangin' everywhere.
My mother and I are collectors.
FRANK: What's this mean?
JULIA: That's a southern
colonel, a southern
plantation owner.
FRANK: Yeah, I'd be in
charge then, wouldn't I?
JULIA: As they would
say, large and in charge!
[laughter]
MIKE: He's cuddly, isn't he?
JULIA: You're too skinny!
MIKE: Marlene and
Julia made me laugh.
I mean, these guys
are a comedy team.
Especially the jokes
at Frankie's expense.
JULIA: We could fit you
for a bustiere and make
you just fabulous!
FRANK: Okay!
[laughter]
JULIA: I love chubby guys!
I love a nice,
round, plump fellow.
I'm a chubby chaser.
Don't give me a skinny
guy, give me a nice
squishy one!
[laughing]
MIKE: 'Sup, Frankie Ray?
Seriously, you
look good, you do.
You look really good.
JULIA: I'm not just a
spokesperson for the
hair club for men, I'm a member.
[laughter]
MIKE: I think she
had a crush on you.
FRANK: You think so?
MIKE: Yeah.
Alright, let's see
what size this is.
When we saw the leather
jacket with the Harley
label on it, had
the horse tag in it?
Okay, this thing is
straight out of the
Wild One with
Marlon Brando, man.
This is early American
made motorcycle stuff.
Look, this thing fits me.
I put that sucker on,
it fit me like a glove.
How much is this coat?
JULIA: Hundred bucks.
MIKE: Alright, I'll take
it for a hundred bucks!
That's a five to six
hundred dollars jacket, bam!
Oh, there's a Buco.
FRANK: Oh, a Buco.
MIKE: Let me see
the Buco helmet.
JULIA: That was my dad's.
MIKE: That was your dad's? I
see that motorcycle helmet in
there, it's early, you know,
it's probably from the 60s.
JULIA: Yeah, more than
one of them, actually.
MIKE: Buco is the crème de la
crème of motorcycle accessory.
They made all different
types of accessories.
How much are these Buco helmets?
JULIA: Thirty bucks a piece.
MIKE: You know what, I'm
not even gonna argue with
you because I like
this kind of stuff.
Thirty bucks a piece, boom
boom, those are worth 150 a piece.
[♪]
Frankie, what do
you think of this coat?
FRANK: I can't imagine
you not running me over to try
to get to it.
MIKE: One of the things
that I noticed was this
white leather
jacket with fringe.
JULIA: My mother would
do wild west shows and that
was her riding jacket.
FRANK: Look at that,
isn't that beautiful?
MIKE: That is beautiful.
JULIA: I'm guessing
1945 to 50, right in there.
FRANK: Okay.
MIKE: Very cool, had some
nice beaded embroidery on it,
was made very well,
the leather was not dry,
it was real supple still.
I mean, it's a great piece.
How much is a jacket like this?
JULIA: 500.
MIKE: 500.
This jacket is so cool.
Western stuff is back around.
There's no way I can do 500.
I'd be interested
in half of that.
I'd be interested
in 250 on the coat.
FRANK: 250, I-
JULIA: Can we do three?
MIKE: I can't do three
and feel safe about it,
feel good about it.
I put it in reverse,
backed up a little bit and
said hey, this is all I got,
man, this is where I'm at.
I've shown my cards, told
you where I'm at with it.
JULIA: 275.
MIKE: I can't do 275.
JULIA: Well, it's cheaper
than taking it out for dinner.
FRANK: Why don't you
guys, why don't you guys flip?
Or do rock, paper, scissors?
MIKE: I'll do rock,
paper, scissors with ya.
FRANK: Two, three.
Scissors, scissors,
alright, let's do it again.
MIKE: Rock, paper.
FRANK: Paper covers rock!
MIKE: Woo!
FRANK: 250! Now that
we're on a roll, I hope we
can find some more good stuff.
[♪]
What is this?
JULIA: That's all my marbles.
I know I lost 'em somewhere.
FRANK: I got that, what
about this one right here?
JULIA: It came out of a
corner drugstore on Main street.
I don't know anything
about what it dispensed
and I'm not up to date
on what they go for.
FRANK: It's a candy jar,
and you can open the front
of it and probably scoop
out some peanuts, malted
milk balls, gumballs,
gummies, whatever it was.
JULIA: I'd like 75.
FRANK: 75, I'll do $50 on it.
JULIA: How about 60?
FRANK: How about 50?
JULIA: How about
I'll think about it.
There is absolutely
nothing better than the
art of a good deal.
FRANK: How about 55?
JULIA: I'm thinking,
I'm thinking more.
FRANK: You were
at 60 and I was at 50.
JULIA: I know,
but I didn't go to 65!
FRANK: This could break
the ice for you and me.
55.
JULIA: Alright.
I hope he sweat a little.
FRANK: Very good.
I paid $55 for it, I
think it's a great piece.
Cleaned up, maybe if I
even stick some candy in it,
125 to 150 all day. Mike?
MIKE: What?
FRANK: I bought something.
MIKE: Fabulous!
JULIA: Yay!
MIKE: Julia and Marlene
were so much fun.
FRANK: 55, thank you.
JULIA: Of course, it'll be a
hundred bucks for the scoop.
FRANK: Oh, for the
scoop that goes in it?
I'll just use my
hand. I paid $55 for it.
Cleaned up, 125
all day. He loves it.
MIKE: I love it!
[♪]
JULIA: Elvis and
Evel Kneivel era.
[♪]
MIKE: Alright.
[crosstalk]
MARLENE: -it's been
a blast meeting you.
MIKE: That was worth
the drive, right there.
MARLENE: What? The hug?
MIKE: Gettin' a
little hug there.
MARLENE: You can
get them all the time.
JULIA: Alright, it's
been a pleasure.
FRANK: Thanks so much.
JULIA: You can't sell
memories, you can only
sell stuff, so I'm just
happy they're going to
someone who collects that
same sort of thing, and is
going to wear it with
as much joy as we did.
Bye guys! We'll
keep the light on.
MARLENE: Bye bye!
MIKE: Hey, let me
tell you somethin'.
Hey, seriously, when
you had that wig on, you
looked good, dude.
FRANK: Did I really look good?
MIKE: You looked really good.
FRANK: Better than right now?
MIKE: I didn't recognize
you, I turned around
and you had the wig
on, and I was like, whoa!
FRANK: Did I look like the guy
from the Monkees or somethin'?
MIKE: No, you kind of looked
like an older Peter Brady.
FRANK: Really.
MIKE: I don't think so.
FRANK: Ahahaha!
MIKE: Dream on, dreamweaver.
FRANK: Danielle hooked
us up with an appraiser to
appraise the microphone
we got from Cathy.
The guy's name's Mike Brown.
Danielle's super excited
because this guy's, like,
a super musician, he lives
in an old church, and he
has a wonderful collection
of musical instruments.
MIKE: If we can learn
something from this dude,
that's cool.
FRANK: Maybe he can
teach us a couple chords.
MIKE: You know
how to play a guitar?
FRANK: Well, I could
play some three string rock
like AC/DC.
Na na na na na na,
na na na na na na na...
[♪]
Right there, buddy. Here it is.
MIKE: This is it?
FRANK: Hope so.
FRANK: Sit back,
listen, learn. Alright.
We really don't know what
this microphone's worth.
We paid $125 for it,
so it's kind of a risk.
Hello!
MIKE: Hey, are you Mike?
MIKE B.: I am.
What's going on, guys?
MIKE: How's it goin'?
I'm Mike, nice to meet you.
FRANK: I'm Frank.
MIKE B.: Alright, cool.
FRANK: I mean, soon as we
walk in here, it was like, wow!
Nothin' but instruments.
He's got organs, he's got
banjoes, he's got steel guitars,
he's got regular guitars,
do I need to keep goin'?
He's got everything!
MIKE: Wow!
FRANK: Yeah, you've
gotta have a big place to have
all this stuff.
MIKE: This thing is like a
Vatican of musical instruments.
MIKE B.: It was a
Methodist church,
it was built in 1828.
MIKE: 1828, dude!
Danielle was tellin' us
your story, man, it's so cool.
MIKE B.: I'm a
singer/songwriter.
I wrote a wish list of
people I want on a record.
I found that if you go to
people, they're a lot more
likely to play on things,
so I drove to 48 states.
MIKE B.: I mean, all
my biggest influences,
I ended up recording with.
Jay Bennett from Wilco
played, David Lyra from
Cracker, Garth Hudson from
The Band, that's a big one.
MIKE: He traveled the
country, he wrote music,
he played songs with
famous musicians.
I mean, this guy
is totally cool.
What's the cherry on
top of your collection?
MIKE B.: I like the Gretsch.
[♪]
I literally paid 50 bucks
for that at a yard sale.
It's a 64, 65 Gretsch
[inaudible] anniversary.
FRANK: What's the value
of something like this?
MIKE B.: I would say around
2300, somethin' like that.
MIKE: Holy moley. 2300 bucks?
That's a $2250 profit,
that's exactly why we
need to know more
about instruments.
This is heavy duty, man.
Mike had a collection
of old microphones.
To me, when I think of
an old microphone, this is
what I think of, this
looks to me like something
really iconic for
an old microphone.
MIKE B.: It sounds
brittle, it sounds like
what a lot of live recordings
sounds like of that era.
MIKE: What's the most
valuable one out of this?
MIKE B.: I would probably
say the Ribbon, this guy.
It actually has a ribbon,
real thin ribbon inside of it.
MIKE B.: This would be
more like a studio microphone.
[♪]
It's probably an $800 mic.
MIKE: Really?
FRANK: See, I woulda
thought completely different.
I woulda thought this
would be more than that
'cause that looks
like a screen door.
MIKE B.: Yeah,
the recording stuff,
it's different, it's very
much, am I gonna get a good
sound out of this?
MIKE: We picked up a
microphone recently, $125.
We thought it was a ribbon mic.
We had no idea the age,
we had no idea the value.
We bought it 'cause,
you know, basically, we're
pickers and we speculate
a lot of times, we saw it so
we took a chance on it.
MIKE B.: I'd like to
take a look at that.
MIKE: Yeah. Mike definitely
knows what he's talkin'
about when it
comes to instruments.
We're really excited to
see what he has to say
about this microphone.
MIKE B.: It is cool, man.
FRANK: We were excited
because it had that grille
on it, 'cause it kind of
looked like your favorite
one over there, the one
that was the most expensive.
MIKE: Yeah, the ribbon
mic. Is this a ribbon mic?
MIKE B.: I think
it is, actually.
Oh, it's a model RB, so
there's a good chance of it.
This is pretty old.
MIKE: Like, what era
do you think it's from?
MIKE B.: I would say late 30s.
FRANK: That's good.
MIKE B.: I know guys in
LA that would absolutely love
this thing.
MIKE: It was so cool
to see him talk about this
piece 'cause he actually
loved it, and that's what
I love about interacting
with other collectors, man.
MIKE B.: I have run into
one stand that actually
had the original,
like, the set screw.
MIKE: How much does
it really make a difference
that it's on the original stand?
MIKE B.: It's definitely,
to the right person,
a pretty big
difference. It's all intact.
I mean, the originality of it is
kinda what makes it really hip.
MIKE: This is an RB
model, it's all intact, it's got
the original stand.
I mean, this thing is in
incredible shape for its age.
Alright, I'm gettin'
excited about this thing
'cause I see you
gettin' excited.
MIKE B.: Yeah, I like it a lot.
MIKE: What do you think the
value of somethin' like this is?
MIKE B.: I mean,
to the right person?
I would definitely
say 500 for it.
FRANK: Good deal.
So we did good on it.
MIKE: Cool, man.
[♪]
When Mike said this microphone
was worth $500,
we got really excited.
We're pickers-we don't
know everything, but we
knew enough not
to leave it behind.
I'm really glad Danielle
sent us here, though.
We had a really good
time. We learned a lot.
FRANK: Listenin' to Mike's
stories, travel around the
country in a van, I mean,
the music he made, I mean,
I could not miss an
opportunity to jam with him.
MIKE: Let's rock!
FRANK: 1, 2, 3, 4!
[♪]
MIKE: I had absolutely
no idea what I was doin',
I was like Animal on the drums.
I was beatin' into stuff.
[♪]
I look over and Frankie's
crankin' on the guitar and
Mike was, I dunno, he was
playin' some funeral music
or somethin', but you know what?
We were jammin',
man, we were jammin'!
FRANK: We were havin' fun.
[♪]
Look Frankie, it's
some kind of Enduro.
It says Yankee on the motor.
FRANK: It's a twin
cylinder, two stroke,
500cc motorcycle.
Very, very rare.
MIKE: Alright. Do you
care how people get in here?
AL: Whatever you
have to do to get in.
MIKE: We're gonna get in
this place no matter what.
[siren]
[chainsaw sound]
MIKE: This house is
shaped like an octagon.
JULIA: This house was used
as part of underground railroad.
MIKE: All of a sudden,
we're crawlin' through
this space that escaped
slaves crawled though
during the civil war.
It's never somethin'
you get to see first-hand.
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 are in upstate
New York, and we are
rollin' large, man.
Frankie and I are
freestylin', and we're
lookin' for a place
to rock up on.
FRANK: Yeah. We're
checkin' up a lotta little towns,
there's a lot of big hills.
MIKE: In New York, with
the ups and downs of these
long driveways and
stuff, it's really difficult for
us to see some of these
properties down the road.
Keep your eyes peeled, man.
FRANK: I'm keepin' 'em. Look
at this place, whip over here.
Oh yeah, this looks
good, he might have
something in the back.
He knows about the
[inaudible] I'm sure.
This looks old.
MIKE: Yeah. Hey, how you doin'?
Hey, we're pickers,
and uh, this is a list of
stuff that we're lookin' to buy.
FRANK: Yeah, we
were kind of lookin' at that
Airstream, it
looks like it's, like-
MAN: Ah hell, I don't
want none of that stuff,
you get the hell off
my property right now!
FRANK: In this game, you
know, you've gotta have some thick
skin, I mean, you've gotta
be able to take rejection.
Man, that guy was rough.
MIKE: Frankie honed
his rejection skills in high
school with the ladies,
and now that has carried
on for him to make a living.
[tires screeching]
When you're out here
freestylin', you'd better have
the skills to pay the bills
or you're not gonna make it.
MIKE: Oh, look at this
place, look at this place!
FRANK: Oh, this
place looks good.
MIKE: Looks good, man,
look at all those buildings.
FRANK: It's got a For Sale sign.
Let's look in here, ask
about the truck, and ask
about the other stuff.
First of all, they got
cars for sale out there,
that's a good sign,
they're already sellin' stuff.
As we pull in, I mean,
this place just keeps
goin' on and on and on.
MIKE: Hey, how you doin'?
CATHY: Good, good.
MIKE: I saw your old trucks from
the road and thought we'd stop.
I'm Mike.
CATHY: I'm Cathy.
FRANK: My name's
Frank. CATHY: Hi Frank.
FRANK: We're pickers,
we're always out buyin'
and sellin' stuff, and
uh, that just give you, like,
a little guideline, some of
the stuff we're lookin' for.
You know, bicycles, motorcycles-
MIKE: Advertising signs.
FRANK: A little
bit of everything.
CATHY: Okay. I've got it here.
14 trailers back
there, I can show you.
MIKE: I can see that,
I can see all this stuff.
When I cast my eyes over and
saw everything that was here,
I was like, thank
you, pickin' gods.
I see you got a load here, what
are you doin', scrappin' stuff?
CATHY: I'm scrapping
metal. Tin, things like that.
MIKE: Prices are up.
CATHY: Well, they
could go higher.
MIKE: Well, they can always
go higher, that'd be nice.
FRANK: Better than just
throwin' it away, you know
what I mean?
MIKE: So why are you
scrappin' stuff out here?
CATHY: Um, well, we
wanna try to keep the farm, and
um, you know, my dad
passed in September.
MIKE: Oh, I'm sorry.
CATHY: Yeah, and he
was a collector/hoarder his
whole life, so we're
just cleaning it up.
He didn't never
cleaned anything up.
He saved everything.
MIKE: She inherited
this place from her father
Jeremiah, and he had a
wide variety of interests,
so when we walked in the
barn, it was pretty overwhelming.
Wow.
She's got, like, the
whole laundry list.
FRANK: Wow, you do have a lot.
MIKE: Have you found
anything in here that's
just kind of blown your
mind when you saw it?
CATHY: It kinda all
blows my mind, actually.
It's so overwhelming.
1942, my dad joined
the Army Air Corps.
Ended up flying the hump,
doing bombing missions.
He was hit over Tokyo bay
and his plane went down.
My dad was a prisoner
of war and he was only in
there for a month, but
they just endured some
awful, awful things that
you can't even imagine.
They took everything away
from him, you know, his
pride and everything else,
so, you know, he got out,
he was, uh, 19 years old
and down to 98 pounds, and
I think, ever since then,
he just saved everything.
FRANK: He started keeping
everything 'cause he was
bound to have nobody take
things away from him ever again.
MIKE: Well, we'd be
honored to look through
this stuff, I mean, really.
CATHY: Yeah, let's dig.
MIKE: Alright, she
said our favorite phrase.
Let's dig. I like your style.
FRANK: You don't
need to tell us twice.
CATHY: My dad had some
debts and we have expenses
to keep the farm going.
Every little bit helps.
MIKE: We may find
some stuff today that you
haven't even seen before.
CATHY: I'm sure of that.
Every day is a treasure hunt.
MIKE: It's like, you just
wonder what is under all that.
There could be, like,
a car under there.
The only way for me
to pick in that area over
there is basically
to climb Mt. Pick.
[♪]
When you get to the top
of that pile, then you can
look all over the barn.
Oh, there's some good
wooden bicycles over there.
When I look over
the space, I see a big,
huge pile of turn of
the century bicycles.
There's a bunch of 'em here,
they're all wadded together.
It's so hard to find one, I'm
lookin' at a whole pile of 'em.
CATHY: Bring 'em on out
now, we'll take a look at 'em.
MIKE: Alright, here's
some of the wood rims.
CATHY: What year do
you think these are from?
MIKE: You know, most
of this stuff here, these
frames, are 1890s.
[♪]
MIKE: These have wooden
rims on 'em, pneumatic
tires, very cool
stuff, cord grips.
MIKE: See, this was
called a race cycle, and their
claim to fame was this huge
crank, see how big this is?
Versus that.
CATHY: Right.
MIKE: So, on these bicycle
frames and all of this stuff,
I'd do 200 dollars.
CATHY: 1890s, right?
MIKE: 1890s, but
condition is everything.
See this? The
frame is broken here.
It's completely separated
from the casting.
How about 250?
CATHY: 250
sounds alright. Alright.
MIKE: Alright, so
we can do it? Alright.
I appreciate you workin'
with me 'cause, uh, I can
take some of this stuff
and actually put it to use,
put it back on the road.
For the pile of
bicycles, I paid $250.
I think I can put one of them
together out of all that stuff.
That leaves me with a
lot of parts to mess with.
FRANK: We're in there
five minutes and he's already
found bicycles stuff that early.
I'm like, here we go.
Mike goes one way, I
go the other way, we're
checkin' with each other
like, hey, findin' anything?
What are you finding?
MIKE: I found some old
oil bottles like you like.
FRANK: Okay. Look
at this, a mailbox.
CATHY: Oh, nice!
MIKE: The great thing
about Cathy was she was so
receptive to us.
FRANK: All of a sudden,
her husband shows up.
BILL: Hey, how you doin'?
What are you guys doin'?
MIKE: Pretty good,
we're diggin'! I'm Mike.
BILL: I'm Bill.
FRANK: I'm Frank, how you doin'?
Uh, that could be a
bad sign, he could be the
decision maker and then
go, hey, I don't wanna get
rid of this stuff,
that's blah blah blah,
sometimes that can
really put a cramp on us.
MIKE: So if we find
somethin' we like, should
we ask him about it?
CATHY: No, that'd be me
BILL: The queen.
FRANK: Luckily,
today, Cathy said, I'm the
decision maker here,
and Bill doesn't really care
what we get rid of.
MIKE: Dive on in.
FRANK: Alrighty.
MIKE: Look at this, Frankie.
Some kind of Enduro. It
says Yankee on the motor.
FRANK: Yeah,
that is interesting.
It's a twin cylinder, two
stroke, 500cc motorcycle.
Very, very rare.
This is the old school,
uh, dirtbikes, but oddball
stuff is always good.
It's missin' both the side
plates, the seat's not original-
CATHY: How do you know that?
FRANK: How do I know
that? Well, c'mere, I'll show ya.
Somebody's recovered
this at one time or another
with the brown thing.
BILL: I did some
investigating just to find
out what these were all
about, Yankee bikes, and
it's pretty rare.
There's actually clubs
all around the country that,
you know, collect 'em.
BILL: It turns out a guy
in Paris emailed me back
and says, I'll buy it, as
long as the engine isn't
seized, for 800 bucks,
and I'll pay the shipping.
FRANK: Bill had done
some research on it, and he
started flippin' up
kind of a big number.
BILL: It's seized.
FRANK: It's seized.
CATHY: Okay.
FRANK: He had a
price if it was running.
The motor was seized
up, it's not all there.
So you're gonna have
to take the whole entire
motor apart to
ever get this to run.
BILL: With the engine
running, the offer was
800, and he was in Paris.
What are you lookin' at?
FRANK: I'd do two and a quarter.
I think I could get
maybe twice that.
Maybe. It's what I'm
thinkin' on it, maybe.
CATHY: 250.
BILL: How about 250?
FRANK: Tell you what,
I'd do, on the oil bottle,
the metal mailbox over
there, I'd do 250 on it then.
Now, you gotta remember,
this is my first buy,
I thought I'd get a
break on the first buy.
CATHY: First buy, deal.
FRANK: Okay, deal. I hope
I didn't use my free pass
here on the-
CATHY: Now
you're done. Let's go.
I told you he saved
everything, right?
MIKE: I see that, I see that.
MIKE: It's a toy box
with, look at that.
That used to be
a baseball glove.
I actually come cross
a really early toy box,
and inside the toy box
there's a pond boat.
It's early, I'd say from
the teens up until the 30s.
It's hard to find toys.
Kids beat the hell out of
their toys, they didn't survive.
If something survived
this long, it's incredible.
[♪]
MIKE: It's neat,
this little pond boat.
CATHY: Very cool.
MIKE: When I look at a toy
like that, I look at it as folk art.
I mean, the detail and
the creativity to make
somethin' like that,
awesome piece.
Is this somethin' you'd sell?
CATHY: Sure.
MIKE: You would?
BILL: What's your offer?
MIKE: On this thing right here
in this condition, twenty bucks.
BILL: Twenty bucks, that's-
CATHY: I think that's
a great deal, that's fine.
MIKE: That's what's great
about diggin' in barns in
upstate New York and
on the east coast, you find
so much earlier stuff out
here than you do when
we're in Iowa.
MIKE: Is this
microphone gettin' a tour.
MIKE: It's the all
access tour, Frankie.
I like that.
I can't even get my mind
around 14 different buildings.
Was he gonna
start a trailer park?
CATHY: As he ran out of
storage, then he would get
another trailer.
FRANK: Okay. We have to
physically check every trailer.
This is a cold call.
They get tired, we
miss out on any of those
buildings, we won't be
able to sleep at night.
Alright, where are we at here?
BILL: No one's been in
here for a long, long time.
FRANK: That's the
kind of places we like.
MIKE: Right off to the
left, I find this 1930s
flathead motorcycle Harley tank.
MIKE: I've got a '34 flathead,
the same exact tank as this.
[♪]
MIKE: Still got original
oil pump on the top,
it's got the petcock,
little bit of a dent in it,
but you know what, it's
there, it exists. I found it.
BILL: What's your offer?
MIKE: My offer?
Okay, let me see.
Shh!
Um, 75 bucks with the gas cap.
BILL: Is that the cap for that?
MIKE: No, heck no.
I know I gotta buy it, that
thing is speakin' to me,
callin' to me.
BILL: Let's do 80 bucks
for both and you got a deal.
MIKE: Oh, you want
bundle? Doin' a bundle thing.
Alright, how about, how
about a even hundred for
this and the stereo?
When I saw that old HH
Scott amplifier, you could
see the wood, you could
see all the detail in it.
A lot of this old stereo
equipment is really hot.
BILL: Actually, I
would absolutely do that
without a problem.
CATHY: What, the tank
and the stereo for what?
BILL: A hundred bucks.
MIKE: Alright, a hundred
bucks. Shake on it.
We did the bundle
situation there, 75 bucks
for the tank, five bucks
for the gas cap, boom,
twenty bucks on
this stereo equipment.
I'm really pleased
to have this stuff.
BILL: Well, that's all
vacuum tubes, that's why.
MIKE: Oh, look at this.
BILL: Steam whistle. That's
not, that's not goin' anywhere.
That is going on my boat.
I knew, somewhere on
this farm, there is a Crosby
steam whistle, somewhere.
He pulls it out.
MIKE: It was off the chain
for me to find that brass
whistle for Bill.
Did this make your day?
BILL: It totally made my day.
I wanna thank you for
finding the one thing I've
been looking for
on this farm forever.
So I had to give
him props for that.
[♪]
MIKE: Whoa! I'm up here.
We only get one chance to
take a bite out of this apple.
When are we gonna be back here?
I don't know.
By the time we do get
back here, that barn is
probably gonna be empty,
so I am basically junk
drunk right now.
Is this microphone
somethin' you guys'd sell?
BILL: Yeah, absolutely.
MIKE: Alright, let's
bring that down.
I'll hand this to you.
One of the things I
found in the shed was this
really early microphone.
It's beautiful, I mean
it's got art deco look to it,
it's all ribbed, I can
see it's got the original
stand to it, I mean this
is a really cool piece.
As pickers, we know enough
to be dangerous, I know
enough not to leave
this item behind.
CATHY: We should get
the other spotlight that's
in the other building
that went with that.
FRANK: Oh yeah.
CATHY: Uh, because I
think my dad demolished
a theatre building and
then these things were left
and he brought 'em,
brought 'em up here.
MIKE: I'd love to
see that theatre light if
you guys have that.
CATHY: Alright,
let's go find it.
MIKE: I was really stoked
to see that stage light
Cathy mentioned.
I figured this was a chance
for another package deal.
There it is, huh? Look at that.
FRANK: What's it say down there?
CATHY: Capital
stage lighting company-
BILL: New York City.
FRANK: Well, I like that part.
MIKE: Yeah, that is cool. Ooh,
oh my god, look at that light.
BILL: Wow. Wow.
MIKE: Oh yeah. Don't
do that, you'll break it!
FRANK: No, that's how you
test 'em, to see if they're broke.
[♪]
MIKE: And here's the
deal, I'm still thinkin'
about the microphone.
Tell me what you're thinkin'.
BILL: Combo for both, I
say 400. Combo, combo.
MIKE: [laughter]
Whoo! So you want
two bills for this and
two bills for that.
BILL: Actually, this was
probably the bulk of the,
of the price.
MIKE: $400 is way too
steep for these two items.
Especially since they
need some work before I get
these things back on the market.
It's all about condition.
The thing is, with
somethin' like this, it
does have a great
look, but to make it more
valuable for someone, this
is gonna have to work, and
that bulb is gonna have
to be changed out, that
socket's gonna have to
be changed on the inside,
'cause when you turn
your light on next to your
couch, you don't wanna
burn your hair off. You know?
How about 200
bucks for both of 'em?
BILL: 200 for both?
MIKE: What are
you thinking, Cathy?
Cathy was obviously on
the fence, but I still had one
card to play with Bill.
Remember I found
the whistle for ya.
BILL: Uh, I gotcha on the
whistle, so let's go to three.
MIKE: Um, you know, two,
I would do 250 and that's
all I can do.
I can do 250 bucks.
CATHY: For this and that?
Okay.
BILL: You know
what, I'm not usin' it,
she's not usin' it, it
wasn't a family heirloom.
MIKE: I got the
whistle discount.
BILL: You got the
whistle discount.
[whistles]
FRANK: You know, at
the end of the day, we were
able to find some great,
amazing items here.
What about the front?
MIKE: Just ram it, it's got
friggin' nine inches of travel.
FRANK: I paid 250 for it, I
know I can double my money.
[♪]
MIKE: The Harley VL
tank, to the right guy at
the end of the
rainbow, 200 bucks.
[♪]
FRANK: You know what I
really like, is it's got the base.
MIKE: At 125 on this
microphone, I'm gonna take
that chance all day long.
I got this very cool,
very unusual item,
I wanna get it appraised.
FRANK: Thanks a
lot, nice to meetcha.
CATHY: I appreciate
it, thank you
MIKE: I hope things work
out with the farm, you guys.
CATHY: Frank and Mike
are great and it really was an
enjoyable day.
Thanks!
BILL: See you later! She's
happy-happy wife, happy life.
That's pretty much it.
MIKE: We couldn't've dreamed
up a pick like that, Frankie.
FRANK: I'm tellin' you
what, for a cold call,
that was fantastic.
We'll be writin' that one down.
MIKE: I'm so out of it right
now, I'm completely junk drunk.
FRANK: I am, I'm tired.
[♪]
MIKE: So you know what I
was thinkin', since we're on
the east coast now, you could
be F-Wow and I'll be M-Wow.
FRANK: Okay. I like J-Wow.
MIKE: You gotta
have the name, dude.
[phone rings]
What's up, who's callin'?
FRANK: Danielle's callin'.
MIKE: Why is Danielle the
only person that ever calls us?
FRANK: I don't know.
Hey Danny, what's up?
DANIELLE: Hey,
how are you doin'?
FRANK: Doin' pretty good.
DANIELLE: Hey, I have an
awesome lead for you, and
Mike, you're especially
gonna like this one.
MIKE: Yeah, what
is it? Lay it on us.
DANIELLE: This
gentleman named Al,
he owns a company
in upstate New York.
Basically what he does is
he cleans out old buildings.
He's recently come
into this building from this
really cool elder lady.
Now, I can't really give
you a good idea what's in
there right now 'cause
he hasn't been inside it,
but it's definitely
worth checking out.
MIKE: No one's
been in there at all?
DANIELLE: No,
and I'll tell you why.
He's gonna demolish the
building and donate the
land to the local fire
department, which is
across the street.
FRANK: Alright,
we're pickin' it up.
MIKE: We're on it.
DANIELLE: Thanks guys.
FRANK: Bye now.
MIKE: Pretty cool.
Places like this get us
absolutely jacked up.
I mean, no one has been in
this building for four decades.
FRANK: Who knows
what we're gonna find?
This place could
be a honey hole.
MIKE: Here is it, here's
the fire department.
FRANK: Okay. Pull in, pull in.
MIKE: Hey, are you Al?
AL: Yeah, how you doin'?
MIKE: How's it goin'?
Good to meet you.
FRANK: Big buildin' here.
What's up, Marty?
MIKE: Wow.
AL: You gotta be careful here.
MIKE: Yeah, I see that.
AL: This used to be a
cheese factory that what it
was built for years ago.
FRANK: Okay.
Oh man, that's cool.
MIKE: Right away, you
could see that there's lots
of trees, weeds,
everything growin' in front of
the doors and we could see all
the windows were boarded up.
FRANK: No one has been
in here for so long, this is
gonna be a good place.
How do you, uh, Al,
how do you get in here?
AL: I don't know, the
first time I've tried here.
I haven't looked at it.
MIKE: I dunno.
FRANK: Everything's boarded up.
Like, how are we gonna
get in this place, you know?
MIKE: Alright. Do you
care how people get in here?
AL: Whatever you have
to do to get in here, just do
whatever you have to do.
FRANK: You know what we
might need to do, we might
need to go talk to
the fire department.
They could get an ax or
somethin' and get in here.
MIKE: Oh yeah, yeah!
FRANK: He bought the
property and he's going to
donate it to the fire
department, so I thought, hey,
these guys break into homes,
they do everything all the time.
Let's go over and
ask these people!
FIREMAN: Hey guys.
AL: Is the fire chief around?
FIREMAN: Yeah.
MIKE: Hey, are you the chief?
CHIEF: Yes, I am.
AL: They wanna actually
get into the building over
here, and I told 'em, you
know, we're gonna donate
the land to you guys afterward.
We thought maybe you guys
could help a little bit get in
there, 'cause the doors have
gotta be ripped off somehow.
MIKE: Any help you could
give us would be very cool.
CHIEF: Sure, we can, uh,
supply you with somethin' here.
[♪]
MIKE: These guys
are going for it!
AL: They know
what they're doing.
[♪]
MIKE: They got
the crew. I like this!
FRANK: Alright, these
guys got it goin' on.
MIKE: Nothin' man,
this is awesome!
Nothin' like a little
B&E to start the day.
Alright Al, I think you got
the right guys on the job.
This is awesome!
FRANK: These guys
are gettin' it down.
I'm fired up, you
know what I mean?
MIKE: I got this.
He's gettin' goin' for it, man.
[chainsaw sound]
We're gonna get in this
place no matter what.
This is awesome!
AL: There we go.
IKE: You wanna go inside?
FRANK: Yeah. Let's go
in. I can't wait any longer.
When we first get a
glimpse of this place,
I mean, it looks like a
tomb. The hell is that?
MIKE: Convertible, dude.
FRANK: Oh, that's cool.
MIKE: Then we look over
and we see the old car.
FRANK: A Fleetmaster.
MIKE: The last thing I
was expecting to find in this
abandoned cheese factory
are these old vehicles.
FRANK: It's a 1948
Fleetmaster 500.
MIKE: That's a cruiser dude.
We got really excited
because it's a two door,
it was a convertible
and I was thinkin', okay,
game on, this is
gonna be awesome.
[♪]
MIKE: You know, the floor
is toast on this thing, Frankie.
FRANK: Is it?
MIKE: You can see all
the way through the floor.
FRANK: This car
could tell some stories.
MIKE: This thing is
rusty, but it's so damn cool.
Ouch!
AL: I don't think the
engine's any good.
FRANK: There's no engine
here, that's just a block.
You know what it's missin',
a big piece right here, Mike?
MIKE: The radiator.
FRANK: A radiator,
baby. That's big money.
AL: It's got wheels
on it, though.
MIKE: It does have wheels.
FRANK: I bet they don't roll.
MIKE: Even if it's in that
condition, there's some
cars out there that
could still be worth a lot of
money in that condition.
Now that you know
the motor's not in it, now
that you know there's
no floor in it, what uh, tell
me what you're thinkin'.
I'm thinkin', you know,
he's gonna say maybe a
hundred or two hundred bucks.
AL: Well, I was thinkin' 1500.
MIKE: Really.
When he said 1500 bucks, I
kinda stepped back a little bit.
1500...
I wasn't thinkin'
anything over a grand
to be honest with you.
We can only sell
this car for 1500 max.
I mean, it's gonna cost
us at least a thousand
dollars to get this thing
home, so even if he sells
it to us for 500 bucks,
there's no money to be made.
It's great that it exists,
would it be nice if it was
in better condition,
yeah, but I mean, hey-
FRANK: It is what
it is, like Al said.
MIKE: It is what it is.
AL: I think they were
very fair in their valuation of
the car, and I understand
it's just gonna cost
too much to move it some place.
FRANK: Al, how do you get
up to the next level up here?
AL: I don't know, is
that a ladder right there?
FRANK: Well, it's a
ladder, but I don't know
if I'd wanna walk up it.
MIKE: That's really sketchy.
The ladder looked a bit
jenky and, you know, it
was wood, all
crooked and everything.
AL: I'm not goin' up it.
FRANK: Uh-uh, no?
MIKE: He's like, you know
what, why don't we get the
fire department guys
over here with one of their
nice new ladders, and
we'll crawl on up there.
FRANK: These guys are
comin' in handy, aren't they?
MIKE: I know, I love these guys.
FRANK: Out with the
old, in with the new.
MIKE: How's it lookin'?
FRANK: I don't wanna look yet.
MIKE: Oh my god.
This place is a friggin'
spook house, dude.
FRANK: This is like Blair Witch.
[♪]
FRANK: Hey Mike!
This place is freaky.
I haven't seen Mike.
What was that?
Mike, what's goin' on?!
MIKE: Fraaank.
Frank! [scream]
FRANK: Look at this, man!
MIKE: Blair Witch
meets cheese factory?
FRANK: Yeah.
MIKE: Holy moley.
FRANK: You've got
a lot to look at here.
Muffler, lawnmower...
MARTY: That's an
old ironing board.
FRANK: As you can tell,
I don't iron my clothes.
MIKE: There's so much to
dig through but a lot of it's
garbage, so you have to get
down to the core of this pick.
Sardine cans... and guess what?
Still trash.
FRANK: Buncha raccoon feces.
One man's garbage can sometimes
still be another man's garbage.
MIKE: Here's a
piece that's kinda cool.
I managed to pull this
amazing ornate fern stand
out of this landfill.
MIKE: This is a very cool
piece, original white paint.
It's an original iron piece,
very cool. You sell that?
AL: Yeah.
MIKE: Yeah? How
about, uh, twenty bucks?
AL: You know what,
I think twenty dollars
sounds good on that.
MIKE: Alright, I'll pop
on that, twenty bucks.
AL: As long as I don't
have to carry it out.
MIKE: I'll carry it
out, I'll carry it out.
AL: I think we could find
a lot so we can get more
to the fire department,
how's that?
MIKE: Oh, you mean the
proceeds are goin' to the
fire department?
AL: I wanna help them, I
wanna take care of them.
MIKE: Al, what a great guy.
He buys this property,
and then he's donating the
land and all the money
he gets from the contents
to the fire department, so cool.
AL: What I've always
been trying to do for years is
give back to the community
that I built my business
in, and I'm sure the fire
department's gonna be
happy with whatever
we can help 'em out with.
MIKE: Woo!
AL: That was an antique,
uh, dish I just broke.
FRANK: What do
you think this is, Mike?
MIKE: Let me see.
It's a chimney top.
For terracotta,
yeah, a chimney top.
FRANK: Kind of cool.
All of a sudden, I come
across this terracotta chimney.
That's kind of a good
piece, you know?
It's got some nice lines on it.
It could be for people
to restore in their homes.
How about this, Al?
What do you think on
this little chimney top thing?
AL: 25?
FRANK: Tell you what, you
throw these poles in, I'll do 25.
AL: Alright, you got the poles.
FRANK: Alright.
He got what he wanted,
I got the fishin' poles and
I got the chimney.
Worked all the way around.
MIKE: Woo! Gettin'
into it now, baby!
FRANK: This room is
really startin' to pay off for us,
Al, and the fire department.
Hopefully I can find some more
good stuff to help their cause.
That's somethin' here
somebody made that's kinda cool.
Dunno what it is, though
FRANK: It kinda catches
my eye 'cause it's hand-made.
You can tell somebody
has physically made this and
made the actual
wooden gear out of it.
MIKE: Yeah, what
the hell is that?
FRANK: I'm not sure what it is.
Maybe it went with some
part of the cheese factory
or something.
It's just a cool piece.
Al, I don't know what this
is, but how about ten bucks?
AL: Okay.
FRANK: I don't know
what it is, but I'm gonna take
a chance on it.
AL: That sounds good.
FRANK: You know, one
thing about our job is you have
to take risks.
On something like
that that's ten dollars,
I mean, that is
a cool little piece
and I know I'm gonna make money.
I'm right behind ya.
MIKE: What are you doin'?
FRANK: I'm gonna
grab this, though.
Al, I grabbed a
couple things here.
AL: Okay.
FRANK: It's GI Joe,
little truck and trailer like.
[♪]
Looks pretty complete, it's
broke down here, somethin'
broke off here, I don't
know what it is, somethin'
broke off here, probably
had a canopy at one time.
It's kind of cool, it's
battery operated, the battery
compartment, somebody
left batteries in it,
so it's not that great in shape.
FRANK: So it's pretty much
just a shelf piece, you know?
I'd probably do twenty
bucks on the set.
Cleaned all up, I think I could
probably get around forty maybe?
AL: I'll let you do that
for twenty dollars, I'll do it.
FRANK: Alright, good deal.
AL: Okay, very good, thank you.
FRANK: I paid twenty
dollars for both pieces,
great to have it.
I'm gonna start
grabbin' some stuff.
MIKE: Hand me fishin' poles.
FRANK: Alright, buddy.
MIKE: Got any
fishhooks in these?
FRANK: Nope.
I got the fishin' poles and I
got the chimney for 25 dollars.
I think I can at least
double to triple my money.
AL: What are you gonna
do with it, tell me that.
MIKE: Well, I'm gonna sell it!
The cast iron ornate fern
stand, I paid twenty dollars for.
I think I can get $75 for it.
Oh my god, I just
found an amazing piece.
MIKE: On my way outta
the building, I discover this
really early toy.
This is a tin carousel.
It's got the flag on the
top that's always missin',
beautiful piece, I
couldn't believe I found it,
I mean, this is thing is so old.
Only problem, it looks like
a horse stepped on it, okay?
But I got a guy that I
think can fix it enough to
where he can put it back
into the shape of a carousel.
Oh my god, look!
FRANK: What?
MIKE: Look at this. That's
what you call spit-shine.
Osmond's merry-go-round, 1899.
With toys, everything
is about condition.
I'm at thirty bucks on it.
AL: You know, it's been
quite a day, but I really
think forty dollars
would be a better deal.
MIKE: You know what,
I'll do forty dollars on it.
It's goin' to a good
cause, the fire department.
AL: Okay, very good.
MIKE: This is a
forty dollar toy now.
I'm gonna bring it to my
guy, have him tweak it,
have him twist it, have
him bend it around a little bit.
I hope to have him bring
this thing up to $200.
[♪]
Alright Chief,
where's the chief at?
FRANK: You know, today,
I wish I could spent some
more money, but the
money I did spend,
I'm happy it's going
to a good cause.
[honks horn]
MIKE: Thanks guys! Thank you!
[♪]
You know what, it was
so cool of those guys to
give us the fire
helmet they had.
FRANK: Oh, I know that
was, you know, it was killer.
MIKE: I wasn't expecting
that at all. You look good!
FRANK: I feel good.
MIKE: You look like you
mean business, dude.
FRANK: Hey! Get
the hose over there,
let's get this this goin' here!
[siren sound effect]
[♪]
[♪]
MIKE: We've got a
lead from Danielle.
We're goin' to a home
today that was built in 1856.
On top of that, this place
is shaped like an octagon.
How cool is that?
This gal named Marlene,
she's got some old
military uniforms, she's
got some vintage clothes,
she's got some funky stuff.
I'm thinkin' if she's got
vintage clothing and she
lives in a house this old-
FRANK: Estate sale stuff too.
MIKE: Yeah, then she's
gotta have other stuff.
FRANK: I don't know
that much about vintage
clothing unless it's 80s
stuff that I'm still wearing.
You know what I mean,
I know about that stuff.
MIKE: Maybe you could get,
like, Michael Jackson coats,
you know?
FRANK: With the zippers?
It'd be awesome. I'd be on it
MIKE: With the
zippers, the glove.
FRANK: I already got the glove.
[♪]
MIKE: Alright,
here it is, buddy.
See that octagon shape?
FRANK: I see it. Oh, yeah, yeah.
MIKE: Eight sides.
FRANK: Let's hit it!
MIKE: Marlene, she's got
some clothing, she's got
some funky stuff.
We wanna be the people who
bring this stuff back to market.
Hey, how are you doin'?
FRANK: Hi! What's your name?
JULIA: Julia.
FRANK: Hi Julia.
MIKE: Nice to meet
you. Marlene here?
JULIA: She sure is.
MIKE: Hey, how
you doin', Marlene?
MARLENE: Hi guys! How are you?
MIKE: We're doin' good!
Oh wow, this place
is like a museum!
JULIA: We got in touch
with Frank and Mike
because my mother and
I are selling our property
and we have so many treasures.
It's about time to get
rid of some of 'em.
MIKE: Look at these
glass cases, Frankie!
MARLENE: It's a way
to sort my collection.
Don't you sort your collections?
FRANK: Of course we do!
MIKE: Marlene was a trip.
She was dressed just
like she got off a barrel
racing horse in the 1940s.
MARLENE: It's a neat old
house, built in the 1800s
and became a slave depot,
it's got hiding spaces and
passageways in it.
JULIA: This house,
we don't do doors.
We have passageways.
There are nine passageways.
This house was used as part
of the underground railroad.
MARLENE: Hurry up!
This is how people got
from the house to the edge
of the river.
Then we're going to go
through the underground tunnel.
MIKE: Pay attention!
FRANK: I'm sorry!
MARLENE: Ready? FRANK: Ready.
MARLENE: Go! You too!
MIKE: All of a sudden,
we're crawlin' through
this space that escaped
slaves crawled through
during the civil war.
JULIA: There's a
secret room there.
[♪]
There's a message left
by one of the slaves who
lived here during the civil war.
It's directions to
the next safe house.
MIKE: That was really cool.
That's something you
learn about in school, but
that's somethin' that you
never get to see first-hand.
[♪]
JULIA: See, the civil war
was supposed to be a bunch
of guys who got
together and duked it out.
People would actually take
picnics to watch the men fight.
MIKE: Really.
JULIA: Nobody thought it
was going to be an real war!
MIKE: Frank! The tour was
fun, but me and Frankie can only
concentrate for so long.
Then our attention span goes.
FRANK: I wanted to get picking.
[♪]
MIKE: I see you got some
tramp art frames in here, huh?
MARLENE: Yes.
MIKE: Is that stuff for sale?
MARLENE & JULIA:
Everything's for sale!
MIKE: Okay, well, how
much is that frame right there?
MARLENE: That one
would be a hundred bucks.
MIKE: How about fifty bucks?
MARLENE: No, once I tell
you a price, I'm adamant.
MIKE: That's it, that's
it? No negotiation.
MARLENE: I hate the heckling.
[crosstalk]
MARLENE: Julia's the dickerer.
MIKE: She likes to, okay. Julia,
how about fifty bucks for that?
JULIA: How about a
hundred and a quarter?
The auction goes both ways.
MIKE: Oh my lord!
FRANK: You know, Julia,
she was a great tour guide,
but I can tell she's gonna
be a brutal negotiator.
JULIA: Come on in, guys!
[♪]
Old boots, old rockabilly
shirts, all in this section.
MIKE: Look at that!
FRANK: Why don'tcha go
down the highway with that on?
MIKE: Yeah man!
Getcher motor runnin' baby!
JULIA: We have clothes
hangin' everywhere.
My mother and I are collectors.
FRANK: What's this mean?
JULIA: That's a southern
colonel, a southern
plantation owner.
FRANK: Yeah, I'd be in
charge then, wouldn't I?
JULIA: As they would
say, large and in charge!
[laughter]
MIKE: He's cuddly, isn't he?
JULIA: You're too skinny!
MIKE: Marlene and
Julia made me laugh.
I mean, these guys
are a comedy team.
Especially the jokes
at Frankie's expense.
JULIA: We could fit you
for a bustiere and make
you just fabulous!
FRANK: Okay!
[laughter]
JULIA: I love chubby guys!
I love a nice,
round, plump fellow.
I'm a chubby chaser.
Don't give me a skinny
guy, give me a nice
squishy one!
[laughing]
MIKE: 'Sup, Frankie Ray?
Seriously, you
look good, you do.
You look really good.
JULIA: I'm not just a
spokesperson for the
hair club for men, I'm a member.
[laughter]
MIKE: I think she
had a crush on you.
FRANK: You think so?
MIKE: Yeah.
Alright, let's see
what size this is.
When we saw the leather
jacket with the Harley
label on it, had
the horse tag in it?
Okay, this thing is
straight out of the
Wild One with
Marlon Brando, man.
This is early American
made motorcycle stuff.
Look, this thing fits me.
I put that sucker on,
it fit me like a glove.
How much is this coat?
JULIA: Hundred bucks.
MIKE: Alright, I'll take
it for a hundred bucks!
That's a five to six
hundred dollars jacket, bam!
Oh, there's a Buco.
FRANK: Oh, a Buco.
MIKE: Let me see
the Buco helmet.
JULIA: That was my dad's.
MIKE: That was your dad's? I
see that motorcycle helmet in
there, it's early, you know,
it's probably from the 60s.
JULIA: Yeah, more than
one of them, actually.
MIKE: Buco is the crème de la
crème of motorcycle accessory.
They made all different
types of accessories.
How much are these Buco helmets?
JULIA: Thirty bucks a piece.
MIKE: You know what, I'm
not even gonna argue with
you because I like
this kind of stuff.
Thirty bucks a piece, boom
boom, those are worth 150 a piece.
[♪]
Frankie, what do
you think of this coat?
FRANK: I can't imagine
you not running me over to try
to get to it.
MIKE: One of the things
that I noticed was this
white leather
jacket with fringe.
JULIA: My mother would
do wild west shows and that
was her riding jacket.
FRANK: Look at that,
isn't that beautiful?
MIKE: That is beautiful.
JULIA: I'm guessing
1945 to 50, right in there.
FRANK: Okay.
MIKE: Very cool, had some
nice beaded embroidery on it,
was made very well,
the leather was not dry,
it was real supple still.
I mean, it's a great piece.
How much is a jacket like this?
JULIA: 500.
MIKE: 500.
This jacket is so cool.
Western stuff is back around.
There's no way I can do 500.
I'd be interested
in half of that.
I'd be interested
in 250 on the coat.
FRANK: 250, I-
JULIA: Can we do three?
MIKE: I can't do three
and feel safe about it,
feel good about it.
I put it in reverse,
backed up a little bit and
said hey, this is all I got,
man, this is where I'm at.
I've shown my cards, told
you where I'm at with it.
JULIA: 275.
MIKE: I can't do 275.
JULIA: Well, it's cheaper
than taking it out for dinner.
FRANK: Why don't you
guys, why don't you guys flip?
Or do rock, paper, scissors?
MIKE: I'll do rock,
paper, scissors with ya.
FRANK: Two, three.
Scissors, scissors,
alright, let's do it again.
MIKE: Rock, paper.
FRANK: Paper covers rock!
MIKE: Woo!
FRANK: 250! Now that
we're on a roll, I hope we
can find some more good stuff.
[♪]
What is this?
JULIA: That's all my marbles.
I know I lost 'em somewhere.
FRANK: I got that, what
about this one right here?
JULIA: It came out of a
corner drugstore on Main street.
I don't know anything
about what it dispensed
and I'm not up to date
on what they go for.
FRANK: It's a candy jar,
and you can open the front
of it and probably scoop
out some peanuts, malted
milk balls, gumballs,
gummies, whatever it was.
JULIA: I'd like 75.
FRANK: 75, I'll do $50 on it.
JULIA: How about 60?
FRANK: How about 50?
JULIA: How about
I'll think about it.
There is absolutely
nothing better than the
art of a good deal.
FRANK: How about 55?
JULIA: I'm thinking,
I'm thinking more.
FRANK: You were
at 60 and I was at 50.
JULIA: I know,
but I didn't go to 65!
FRANK: This could break
the ice for you and me.
55.
JULIA: Alright.
I hope he sweat a little.
FRANK: Very good.
I paid $55 for it, I
think it's a great piece.
Cleaned up, maybe if I
even stick some candy in it,
125 to 150 all day. Mike?
MIKE: What?
FRANK: I bought something.
MIKE: Fabulous!
JULIA: Yay!
MIKE: Julia and Marlene
were so much fun.
FRANK: 55, thank you.
JULIA: Of course, it'll be a
hundred bucks for the scoop.
FRANK: Oh, for the
scoop that goes in it?
I'll just use my
hand. I paid $55 for it.
Cleaned up, 125
all day. He loves it.
MIKE: I love it!
[♪]
JULIA: Elvis and
Evel Kneivel era.
[♪]
MIKE: Alright.
[crosstalk]
MARLENE: -it's been
a blast meeting you.
MIKE: That was worth
the drive, right there.
MARLENE: What? The hug?
MIKE: Gettin' a
little hug there.
MARLENE: You can
get them all the time.
JULIA: Alright, it's
been a pleasure.
FRANK: Thanks so much.
JULIA: You can't sell
memories, you can only
sell stuff, so I'm just
happy they're going to
someone who collects that
same sort of thing, and is
going to wear it with
as much joy as we did.
Bye guys! We'll
keep the light on.
MARLENE: Bye bye!
MIKE: Hey, let me
tell you somethin'.
Hey, seriously, when
you had that wig on, you
looked good, dude.
FRANK: Did I really look good?
MIKE: You looked really good.
FRANK: Better than right now?
MIKE: I didn't recognize
you, I turned around
and you had the wig
on, and I was like, whoa!
FRANK: Did I look like the guy
from the Monkees or somethin'?
MIKE: No, you kind of looked
like an older Peter Brady.
FRANK: Really.
MIKE: I don't think so.
FRANK: Ahahaha!
MIKE: Dream on, dreamweaver.
FRANK: Danielle hooked
us up with an appraiser to
appraise the microphone
we got from Cathy.
The guy's name's Mike Brown.
Danielle's super excited
because this guy's, like,
a super musician, he lives
in an old church, and he
has a wonderful collection
of musical instruments.
MIKE: If we can learn
something from this dude,
that's cool.
FRANK: Maybe he can
teach us a couple chords.
MIKE: You know
how to play a guitar?
FRANK: Well, I could
play some three string rock
like AC/DC.
Na na na na na na,
na na na na na na na...
[♪]
Right there, buddy. Here it is.
MIKE: This is it?
FRANK: Hope so.
FRANK: Sit back,
listen, learn. Alright.
We really don't know what
this microphone's worth.
We paid $125 for it,
so it's kind of a risk.
Hello!
MIKE: Hey, are you Mike?
MIKE B.: I am.
What's going on, guys?
MIKE: How's it goin'?
I'm Mike, nice to meet you.
FRANK: I'm Frank.
MIKE B.: Alright, cool.
FRANK: I mean, soon as we
walk in here, it was like, wow!
Nothin' but instruments.
He's got organs, he's got
banjoes, he's got steel guitars,
he's got regular guitars,
do I need to keep goin'?
He's got everything!
MIKE: Wow!
FRANK: Yeah, you've
gotta have a big place to have
all this stuff.
MIKE: This thing is like a
Vatican of musical instruments.
MIKE B.: It was a
Methodist church,
it was built in 1828.
MIKE: 1828, dude!
Danielle was tellin' us
your story, man, it's so cool.
MIKE B.: I'm a
singer/songwriter.
I wrote a wish list of
people I want on a record.
I found that if you go to
people, they're a lot more
likely to play on things,
so I drove to 48 states.
MIKE B.: I mean, all
my biggest influences,
I ended up recording with.
Jay Bennett from Wilco
played, David Lyra from
Cracker, Garth Hudson from
The Band, that's a big one.
MIKE: He traveled the
country, he wrote music,
he played songs with
famous musicians.
I mean, this guy
is totally cool.
What's the cherry on
top of your collection?
MIKE B.: I like the Gretsch.
[♪]
I literally paid 50 bucks
for that at a yard sale.
It's a 64, 65 Gretsch
[inaudible] anniversary.
FRANK: What's the value
of something like this?
MIKE B.: I would say around
2300, somethin' like that.
MIKE: Holy moley. 2300 bucks?
That's a $2250 profit,
that's exactly why we
need to know more
about instruments.
This is heavy duty, man.
Mike had a collection
of old microphones.
To me, when I think of
an old microphone, this is
what I think of, this
looks to me like something
really iconic for
an old microphone.
MIKE B.: It sounds
brittle, it sounds like
what a lot of live recordings
sounds like of that era.
MIKE: What's the most
valuable one out of this?
MIKE B.: I would probably
say the Ribbon, this guy.
It actually has a ribbon,
real thin ribbon inside of it.
MIKE B.: This would be
more like a studio microphone.
[♪]
It's probably an $800 mic.
MIKE: Really?
FRANK: See, I woulda
thought completely different.
I woulda thought this
would be more than that
'cause that looks
like a screen door.
MIKE B.: Yeah,
the recording stuff,
it's different, it's very
much, am I gonna get a good
sound out of this?
MIKE: We picked up a
microphone recently, $125.
We thought it was a ribbon mic.
We had no idea the age,
we had no idea the value.
We bought it 'cause,
you know, basically, we're
pickers and we speculate
a lot of times, we saw it so
we took a chance on it.
MIKE B.: I'd like to
take a look at that.
MIKE: Yeah. Mike definitely
knows what he's talkin'
about when it
comes to instruments.
We're really excited to
see what he has to say
about this microphone.
MIKE B.: It is cool, man.
FRANK: We were excited
because it had that grille
on it, 'cause it kind of
looked like your favorite
one over there, the one
that was the most expensive.
MIKE: Yeah, the ribbon
mic. Is this a ribbon mic?
MIKE B.: I think
it is, actually.
Oh, it's a model RB, so
there's a good chance of it.
This is pretty old.
MIKE: Like, what era
do you think it's from?
MIKE B.: I would say late 30s.
FRANK: That's good.
MIKE B.: I know guys in
LA that would absolutely love
this thing.
MIKE: It was so cool
to see him talk about this
piece 'cause he actually
loved it, and that's what
I love about interacting
with other collectors, man.
MIKE B.: I have run into
one stand that actually
had the original,
like, the set screw.
MIKE: How much does
it really make a difference
that it's on the original stand?
MIKE B.: It's definitely,
to the right person,
a pretty big
difference. It's all intact.
I mean, the originality of it is
kinda what makes it really hip.
MIKE: This is an RB
model, it's all intact, it's got
the original stand.
I mean, this thing is in
incredible shape for its age.
Alright, I'm gettin'
excited about this thing
'cause I see you
gettin' excited.
MIKE B.: Yeah, I like it a lot.
MIKE: What do you think the
value of somethin' like this is?
MIKE B.: I mean,
to the right person?
I would definitely
say 500 for it.
FRANK: Good deal.
So we did good on it.
MIKE: Cool, man.
[♪]
When Mike said this microphone
was worth $500,
we got really excited.
We're pickers-we don't
know everything, but we
knew enough not
to leave it behind.
I'm really glad Danielle
sent us here, though.
We had a really good
time. We learned a lot.
FRANK: Listenin' to Mike's
stories, travel around the
country in a van, I mean,
the music he made, I mean,
I could not miss an
opportunity to jam with him.
MIKE: Let's rock!
FRANK: 1, 2, 3, 4!
[♪]
MIKE: I had absolutely
no idea what I was doin',
I was like Animal on the drums.
I was beatin' into stuff.
[♪]
I look over and Frankie's
crankin' on the guitar and
Mike was, I dunno, he was
playin' some funeral music
or somethin', but you know what?
We were jammin',
man, we were jammin'!
FRANK: We were havin' fun.
[♪]