Antiquing in Oronoco, MN

If I was buying for myself,I would be all over that.

I've got a challengeahead of me.

Yeah, you do.

I'll keep watching youif you make some money.

That's funny.

Come on and tryand pick with me.

He's goingto go nuts.

Think so?

Let's go.

$80, $90... What?

Somebody get a $130?

Just, bam!

approximately 400 dealers converge in SoutheasternMinnesota to form a sprawling antique showcourtesy of a small town that thinks big.

Hi, I'm Mark Walberg,host of Antiques Roadshow and Market Warriors, coming to you from Downtown Oronoco Gold RushDays, a flea market whose "Back to the Future" namecarries a Minnesota twist.

Much like calling Minneapolisand St. Paul "Twin Cities," a nickname that transformedrivals into two peas in a pod, the original 1858 Gold Rushwas really more of a bust.

So the name isn't as mucha nod to the past as it is a celebration of the present.

One might even wonder if thesedealers have brought with them more gold than the prospectorswere able to find here in the 19th century.

Our warriors are makinga hero's entrance, because they've hitched theirwagon to Oronoco's real heroes, members of the local firedepartment, which each year receives someof the proceeds from this event.

This will be a short-livedreception, though, because only one of our pickerswill exit a hero.

They won't know who that will be until all the itemsthey buy here are sold at Ken Farmer Auctionsin Radford, Virginia.

First up is their targetassignment, which will be made by auctioneer Steve Culver.

The target assignmentfor this week is to find toys-- everything from the metal windupsorts of toy to paper items likepin the tail on the donkey to dolls.

Toys are culturally based,so just as an example, Shirley Temple dolls would havebeen much more valuable 30 and 40 years ago.

Now people in their 30sonly have a vague idea of who Shirley Temple is.

SHIRLEY TEMPLE:I don't believe it--I don't!

So you have to be cognizantof who your buyers might be when you buy toys.

WALBERG:Time will be kept by thisWalter Durfee tall case clock housed in the Mayowood Mansion.

Pickers have one hour to findtheir target item.

Okay, go look foryour teddy bears.

Toys it is.WALBERG:Starting now.

KEVIN:Toys, that's going to bepretty fun today.

If you find the right toy, you can really make some moneyon toys.

Interesting.Nice old rocking horse.

Cloth covered one.

This is the type of thingwe're looking for.

It's missing a little tail.

Got a little button tailnow, huh?

Now, I have sold many a toyover the years.

They can be up,they can be down, one week to the next.

So we just have to find quality.

The perfect toy for me to findright now would be a toy that's going to appealnot only to toy collectors, but people who collect antiquekind of primitive things.

If this had a little betterdecal on it, it would be something I'd bemore interested in.

Probably going to stickto the mainstream type toy that I can send to auctionthat people would be kind of familiar with.

Keep looking.

I've got time to look,I've got time.

I've seen everything,including the kitchen sink.

Whoo!

Red Rider.

Don't try to shoot mewith that BB gun.

I'll shoot your eye out.

Uh-oh, look out.

I know somebody who gotshot in the bottom once.

WALBERG:In all seriousness, if you'repicking up a gun at a flea market,even if it's a BB gun, you can never be too safe.

You should keep the barrelpointed up in the air or down to the ground.

I think I've got a big challengeahead of me today.

Of course, always going to belooking for that deal and the steal out there.

But finding the piecethat's exceptional is going to be the challenge.

How old would you saythis is, sir?

It's Bakelite, right?

Yes, that'sa Bakelite handle.

Early '50s, maybe.

MILLER:Originally, Bingowas called Beano, and they played itwith little beans.

And then somebody mispronouncedit when they won, and they said "Bingo"instead of "Beano," and it just caught on.

I like it.

This is a fun piece.

It is fun.

Everyone likesto play with it.

I'm going tokeep that in mind.

Thank you.

I'm looking for something thata child would have played with, and that is my definitionof a toy.

Puzzles, teddy bears,to dolls.

I think I'm going to findsomething great.

I just have an eye for toys.

WALBERG:Gambling on toysisn't a game for kids.

It's one of the moststudied categories of all collectibles, and oneof Bene's strong suits.

She herself collects dolls,doll house furniture and one-of-a-kind toys.

BENE:I was hoping it was a Steiff, but when I got close,I knew right away it wasn't.

Steiff put a little buttonin the ear of their teddy bears, and on the buttonis the word "Steiff."

But I'm going to keep looking.

Every guy loves toys,every girl loves toys.

If you own the toy, you say,"Oh, I had so much fun playing with this,"or even better, if it's a toy you always wanted, and now youcan buy it as an adult because you didn't have itas a kid.

I remember thiswhen it first came out.

Frogman toy.

The premise was it was supposedto actually work in water.

It would dive, it would swim,it would surface.

And it works!

(laughing) Is this yours?

Yeah.Tell me about this.

This was the sort of toyback in the '60s we grew up with that wasdefinitely military directed.

Look at the floatto tether it down.

And the spear gunactually works.

It shoots the thing out.

Seems like everything is here.

WALBERG:One of the trickiest thingsabout vintage toys, especially for a Baby Boomerlike John, is they can push a nostalgia button and bring outthe kid in him all over again.

As an investment, that's not necessarilythe right button to push.

John needs to get a handleon market value.

Otherwise,like this scuba man toy, he may end up taking a bath.

JOHN:You have a lot of toysin your booth.

What would you pick outin your booth as the must-have toy?

Besides the frogman,this right here.

It's the first oneI've ever seen of that.

That's a Ny-lint.

And they've got another onethat looks like this, only it drills the postholesto put the telephone pole in.

JOHN:When do you think somethinglike this was made?

DEALER:This was '59.

JOHN:Oh, that's nifty.

Oh, wow.

We are just kids, aren't we?

Oh, I love that.

Of the two, which do you think more people would haveinterest in?

Probably this here.

Yeah.

I just need to thinkabout these two.

But I like them both.

KEVIN:When you're out looking fortoys, condition is everything.

The same item in bad conditionis going to bring a tenth of what that item in goodcondition is going to bring.

So right now we're lookingfor quality, good condition, a nice old vintage toy.

Wow, look at the little guywith the camera.

That's pretty neat.

DEALER:He actually lights up,and he spins around.

Look at that--an old RCA Victor toy.

With the little doggieright here.

And now here'sthe battery compartment.

You always want to lookat a battery compartment to make sureit's nice and clean.

And look at this one--it looks brand new.

KEVIN:Oh, we're goingto try it out?

We're goingto try it out.

KEVIN:Oh, this is very fun.

There we go.

It's off and running.

And it's working.

And look-- there's, like, a little TV thinggoing on, a screen that happens to go onas it runs around.

See the camera guy going around,and this is happening.

Now, how many of theseare out there?

Do you know anythingabout this toy?

DEALER:No, I haven't seen too many.

What's somethinglike this worth?

I'm asking $375.

The book valueis probably $450, $500.

It's in not-bad condition.

It's probably, like, a sevenor eight out of ten?

Yeah.

Pretty good.

WALBERG:I'm going to takea wild guess here, but I bet you couldhave sold that to Matt Lauerin a hot second.

I want to quickly checkthe prices on these.

Oh, this is cute.

$130, and that one's $250.

Little John Deere,that's a great piece.

I don't think I can make money.

Winding up in the wheel.

That's unusual, isn't it?

Yes, very unusual.

There's nota maker's name on it.

You looked for a name,you didn't find a name, right?

I looked all over,I couldn't find a name.

BENE:This is, like,the pressed tin, right?

Yeah, 1940s, '50s,somewhere in there.

And these are colorsyou don't usually see.

I see red, I see green.

I've never seenorange and navy.

It hasn't been repainted.

This is the color it came in.

And I think it says,"Made in Great Britain."

It's more unusual.

Might be more collectible.

You see a lot ofJapanese made pressed tin toys.

You know, what I wouldlike to do is... if you can show mehow it works.

Oh, wow.

Would you mind telling mewhere you got this piece?

I got itout of an estate sale.

The guy had quitean extensive toy collection.

Really?

Yeah, and this wasan unusual piece.

I had never seen anythinglike it before.

BENE:Yes, me neither.

DEALER:That's whatattracted me to it.

You mentioned youwould take $100.

I was wondering if there'sany way you could do this for, like, $75.

I'll tell you what.

The very best I could dowould be $90.

BENE:Is there any way you couldmeet me at, like, $80?

I'll split the differencewith you.

What arewe talking?

Go $85.$85?

Okay, I think that'sa good deal.

Thank you very much.

Yep, I'll get a bagfor you.

BENE:Usually toys like this, the winding mechanismwould be broken.

But the fact that this onehad the key, it does work, is very good.

WALBERG:That makes Bene the first pickerto stop toying around, so to speak,with her target item.

(John chuckling) I seem to be drawnto trucks this morning.

Tonka, another big, big name.

Hey, how are you doing?

How are the tin litho toysselling these days?

DEALER:It's tough.

You've got to be priced right.

That one I just gotnot too long ago, about a week ago.

It's missing the...there's a little wire that holds that up.

JOHN:Yeah, I'm looking atthe price of the Tonkas.

He had a buck and a quarteron the white one, he had $165 on the Citgo,which, looking at the condition, it's making me feela heck of a lot better about the first Linnettin litho that I saw.

Much better condition.

Two parts to it,everything is working.

And time is gettinga little tight.

So I think I'm goingto head back and talk to the gentlemanand see if we can make a deal.

MILLER:I like this pinball machine.

This is kind of neat.

Is this your booth?

Yep.

Can you tell me aboutthis pinball machine?

It's a child size,early to late '50s, and it works.

MILLER:Oh, it was made in Italy.

Look at the top here.

Ventura, made in Italy-- Italia.

DEALER:A lot of people collectfull size machines.

This is the only small onewe've ever seen.

MILLER:And that's whatmakes this very rare.

You don't ever seechild-size pinball machines.

Actually, my son isthe one who found it.

18 years old.

MILLER:Smart buy.

Pretty sharp kid.

I like it.

It's got the classicspace age theme from the '50s.

Well, the Jetsons.

Was there a piece of glassoriginally?

No.

DEALER:The bumpers were originallycomposed of rubber bands and they werekind of dry rotted.

Where werethe rubber bands?

Around the little posts.

Okay, Ric, so we'remissing the rubber bands.

Paint looks like it'sin great shape.

Actually, it's almost mint.

You can tellthere's age to it, but it's worn in justthe right places.

Ric, I see on the ticketthat you're asking $75.

What a bargain price.

Please.

What would beyour best price, since it doesn'thave the rubber bands?

Oh, $65.

Would you take... $58?

$62.

$60?

Okay.

Thank you.

You got a deal.

All right!

Is he going to be sadto part with this?

Probably, but he's out therebuying things right now.

He researches everythingand finds the unusual.

Well, he learned thatfrom you, Ric.

I hope so.

I love the frogman.

I really do.

I just don't know if the audience is going to beas big on that.

What could you doon the frogman?

I'd go 130 bucks on it.

JOHN:And the Linnet toy?

And that I could do...I could go $150 on that.

It kills me, because my heartwould be there.

And if I was buying for myself,I would be all over that.

Yeah, these are cool,but that's really cool.

Have you seen anythinglike this before?

DEALER:I looked on eBay,and there's the other one, posthole digger.

There's a bunch of thoseon there, but none of these.

None that actually sets itafter they dig the holes.

Very interesting.

Could you do 100 buckson the frogman?

DEALER: $125.

Couldn't get you downto $100 on that, huh?

No, I paid too much for it.

You know, I needto make some money.

(chuckling):I think you just answeredmy question.

(both laughing) And you're sayingbuck and a half on this.

Can you do a buckand a quarter?

Uh... JOHN:Sure you can.

Yeah, I'll goa buck and a quarter.

Yeah, I'll goa buck and a quarter on that.

All right,that works for me.

All right.

DEALER:I've been doing showsfor about 25 years.

It's amazing.

You get people that say,"Oh, yeah, I remember having that as a kid."

And a lot of timesthey'll buy it, because they had it as a child.

He'll do real well on that.

Because, like I said,it's a hard one to find.

There yougo, sir.Thank you, doctor.

Pleasure doingbusiness with you.

WALBERG:That leaves Kevin as the only pickerstill playing around.

Playing a target round, that is.

I'm feeling the pressurea little bit right now.

I don't see a lot of toysthat I want to take to market.

A few toys, few toys.

Tin toys, tin toys.

I want a nice oldcountry toy.

I've been here before.

We've already been down here.

No, no, no,there's too much...

I can't, I can't.

We've already been here, downhere, and shot across there.

I am on a questto find some toys.

A nice good primitive toywould be something that would pertain more to justa toy collector.

I don't believe I've gotanything like that.

I do have the windup tinroller coaster.

It's a windup.Tin windup toy.

DEALER:It's made by Wolverine,a '50s toy.

Working condition.

The car has the wings on it,so it's supposed to catch.

KEVIN:Whoo!

WALBERG:It's funny how you neverhear Kevin make that sound when he's checking outa cane.

KEVIN:Come on!

Excellent.

And it just keeps going and going and going.

Yay!

No Kevin.

Oh, my goodness.

No Kevin?

No Kevin.

We might getsome money today.

What's something like thatbeing sold for?

I put $175 on it.

Now, is thatsomething that you could get offof pretty easily, or something thatyou're pretty firm on?

This is the first time outfor this particular toy.

I'd like 100 anda half out of it.

$150, huh?

It's a pretty neat piece.

Condition isactually really good.

Did you get itout of a house?

It was an estate.

Was it a package deal,or was it something you bought separately?

I'd actually boughta whole bunch of stuff.

Would $100 doanything for you?

No.

Can I grind youat all off the $150?

A little bit?

Um, $135 is about it.

Yeah, I got you.

How about $120,and we'll get the deal done?

100 and a quarter.

That's absolutely it.

I'm going to do itfor a buck and a quarter.

I like this toy.I really like it.

Tin litho.It's all still shiny.

Look at the bottom.

I mean, the bottom even hasthe directions.

Thank you so much.You bet.

Down to two minutes!

BENE:Wow.

He has two minutes, so... JOHN:I think he's got less.

BENE:Well, I hear some dogsbarking.

He might be close.

I think he's gota minute and a half.

Oh, I thinkhe's over there.

Wow!Whoa!

There he is!

Yeah, you made it, Kevin.

I just track starred itall the way here.

I needed the money,but I'm glad you made it.

WALBERG:Now the pickers will assesseach other's items to determine if eachof them fulfilled the target assignment, toys.

The pickers can reject any itemfor whatever reason they choose.

Wrong or right,majority rules.

So who wants to go first?

The ladies were here first,so ladies first.

Yeah, why don'tyou go first, Miller?

Okay, but can you guysclose your eyes?

We won't watch.

I wantmy "voila" moment.

You'll haveyour "wal-la" moment.

Oh, I have this really neatItalian pinball machine.

It's Italian?

It's Italian.

How do you know it is?

It says "Fragile" on it.

"Fragile"!

MILLER:It's got the mark right here.

It was made in Italy.

I love the outer space theme.

That's really nifty.

How much did you pay?

Did the ballscome with it?

No, but that's easyto put the ball in.

$60.

Oh, neat.

The original price was $75.

I don't think the ballsnot being there is a big deal.

It doesn't hurtthe price.

You know, what's keyin toys is the paint.

KEVIN:The graphics.

BENE:These are nice graphics.

KEVIN:This is really beautiful.

I think it definitelymet the challenge, Miller.

I love it-- it's really neat.

All right, Bene, let's seewhat you brought.

Okay.

KEVIN:Nice, a tin lithotractor.

Ooh, the paintlooks good.

Yes, and it hasthe original key.

Oh, key wind.

Over here it says,"Made in Great Britain."

You usually see mostlythe red and the greens.

And I think that collectorswill be looking for something different.

MILLER:And what did you pay?

I paid $85 for this.

And he was asking $120.

JOHN:Okay, you did good.

You know, at $85, it's...it's one of those hit or miss.

You could makea lot of money on it.

Have I met the challenge?

Absolutely.

I'm up.

BENE:Go ahead, Kevin.

Did you bringme lunch?

No, we have a couplepieces in here.

BENE:Oh, wow.

Oh my god,a roller coaster.

Right, it's calledthe Jet Rollercoaster, and it's a Wolverine toy.

BENE:That is great.

Wolverine is a great name.

I hate to wind up the springs,but I'll do it one time.

But you just wind it upright here.

And then you takethis little guy, all right, and he goes like that,and he comes right back... Oh!

BENE:That's great, Kevin.

Do it again,do it again.

I'm trying, but I don't wantto break it.

You know, it's a car,which is always good.

But it's kind of, like, almost,like, this very kind of... Space age, too.

Yeah, space age.

Buck Rogers,Flash Gordon.

Yes, that isa very good toy.

What yearis this, Kev?

This is probablyfrom the '50s, I would say.

What did you pay for it?

He was asking $175,and I got it for $125.

How'd I do, all right?

I met the challenge?

You met the challenge.

♫Dun, da-dun, da...♫ Okay, John.

All right.

KEVIN:Oh, nice, a Ny-lint.

Power and Light Company.

Oh, this just hasall the bells and whistles.

Yeah, this is pretty cool.

The way it works,it connects to that.

I've got to rememberwhere this went onto.

This went on... Oh, there he goes.

Oh, just be quiet.

We're makinghim nervous!

So you're pretty much goingto need an engineering degree...

Which I have!

Which you do have.

That's why he bought it.

I hope the auction housecan put it together.

Maybe you should sendinstructions with it.

But it all works-- I mean,all the pieces are here.

Just putting it together wouldkeep a kid occupied for hours.

There you go.

The dealer, it looks like,was asking $185.

What did you pay, John?

Buck and a quarter.

You gota good discount.

I like the electricorange color.

Yeah, I love the color,don't you?

So, did I meet the challenge?

Double thumbs up.

Easy thumbs upon this one.

You want some helpwith the breakdown?

There we go.

WALBERG:Will buyingthis Italian-made toy as her target item turn Millerinto a pinball wizard, or will bidders be unlikelyto flip for it?

Let's fast-forwardpast our Bonus and Shop Til You Stop roundsand find out how she did.

Remember, Miller spent $60.

Okay, here we go.

The vintage space agepinball game.

Who'll start it out at $100?

$100 bid, $100 bid anyone?

Well, 50 bucks.

Everybody's already got one?

$50 bid, now $60 to go.

$60 bid.

Has little Martian menand everything on it.

$50 now, $60 to go.

$60, now $70.

Now $80.$80 bid to go, $80.

Are we really done at 70 bucks?

Anybody else?

$80 bid, $80?

Sold, $70, to 463, 463.

WALBERG:Let's rewind our wayback to Oronoko for the Bonus Round.

This time the pickerswere teamed up and told to buyan item this morning that they would have to sellhere at the same market in the afternoon.

Each team was given a budgetof $300.

Let's see their deal makingas a prelude to watching them try to flip what they boughtfor profit.

Should I hit the leftand you do the right?

I think we shouldstand together.

Oh, my gosh, look at this.

That's $175.

That's huge,and it's a great sign.

MILLER:I'd rather get something small.

Something smallthat we can really sell.

WALBERG:Out of the starting gate,Bene and Miller were two for two when it comesto conflicting strategies.

Miller suggested splitting up,Bene advised sticking together.

Bene made a playfor something big, Miller was focusedon something small.

This isn't going to be easy.

JOHN:No, it's not.

One, you don't knowa lot of the dealers to actuallyflip it to.

And we don't knowthe taste up here.

DEALER:How are you doing?

KEVIN:We're doing all right.

What sort of thingssell out here?

Collectible advertising.

Beer, soda, petroleum.

We like to lookfor that sort of thing.

So if we found something,you might be interested in buying it later on if it'ssomething kind of neat?

Sure, yeah.

Something kind ofcool and groovy.

JOHN:We made a friendover here, so... And she sounds likeshe's into buying.

That's it, so... Let's go find a pieceof advertising.

WALBERG:Got to hand it to the Brunos.

Why guess what dealers heremay want to buy when you can ask them directly?

This little spatterware?

No, I don't know... Look at this!

This is a fire extinguisher.

There's firemen around here, no?

Oh, big animals!

MILLER:How are we goingto carry that around?

Wait, look over here.

You know what,I kind of like this.

You see a lot of that,it's fairly common.

Oh, look at the neatbutter mold.

That is adorable.

This is hand-carved.

But the price is $58.

If we could get it for $20.

I don't think we could...

I can do $25.

Um... that is good.

MILLER:You've got a neat varietyof things in here.

I like the old tins here.

DEALER:They used to put cigarsin the 1800s, they put them in here.

What aboutthe George Washington tin?

BENE:It's cute, but I don't thinkwe're going to make any money on it.

MILLER:Would you ask him for $25?

He won't take it.

MILLER:Asking's not getting.

BENE:No, I know, but... She wants to askyour best price on this.

I actually don't think... $65.

I don't thinkwe can do that.

Okay, I'm interested.

Good luck.We might be back.

Whoa, whoa, whoa... Uh-oh.

JOHN:No, okay.

KEVIN:I think she's lookingfor something different.

We've got to thinkmeat and potatoes.

You're meat and potatoes,I'm vichyssoise.

Yeah, you're vichyssoise.

(laughing) KEVIN:That's pretty cool.

JOHN:That's very cool.

Tell me about this.

DEALER:I'm guessingit's from the '50s.

JOHN:Is the Star Tribune still beingprinted, do we know?

DEALER:It still is being printed, yeah.

KEVIN:We might as well try and findsomething from this area to sell to the people from this area.

Hey, when in Rome,do what the Romans do.

We're in Minneapolis, so... KEVIN:It just lacks a little graphicthat I would like to see.

Put that on the number one listright now?

What would you wantto pay for that?

I don't know, $100?

MILLER:I know what you'regoing for... stop.

I'm just taking a look!

It looks like it's beenshot up with bullets.

DEALER:This is $250.

BENE:$250, okay, thank you.

Miller, he saidthat sign was $250.

That other dealerhad one for $175, and that wasin better condition.

If we can go and get it lower, we might be ableto sell it to this guy.

But did you ask himabout $125 or $75?

No, I didn't.

Right now, I'm in thislike farm theme.

I'm thinking chickensand hens and pigs.

I know,because that's what's here.

And that's why I'm kind of goingalong with the butter mold.

Let's go for the sure thing.

You want to gofor the butter mold?

Butter mold or Coke sign,whatever we can get.

"Gentlemen will behave,others must."

That is great!

Not good enough,just a cardboardy thing.

Hey, look at the ice cream sign.

That's from St. Joe, Missouri.

What age you thinking?

DEALER:'30s, '40s.

Keep it on the cheap?

Can you do $20 on it?

I can do $30 on there.

$25 in the middle?

Yeah.

JOHN:Done.

I like the fact thatit's in good condition, and everybody lovesice cream.

Would you want to buy thislater for $35?

Let's see... no.

BENE:Hi, what is your best priceon the sign?

$125.

Okay, $125.

We might be ableto double our money.

I don't know, why shouldwe take that risk?

Because if we don't sell it, then we're going to havethe huge loss.

You want to go trythe butter mold for $25?

I like the George Washingtontobacco tin.

No, that is too high.

So let's just go do it.

Okay, let's do it.

It's a safer gamble.

He's over there,let's cut across.

Miller!

Hi, Mike.

Would you take $20on this, Mike?

Yeah, that's whatI said I would, sure.

Here you go,thank you very much.

What do you think?

He gave us an extra five dollardiscount, that's what I think.

We should have said $15.

I think so!

JOHN:Susan, how are you?

I'm good, how are you doing?

Good to see you.

We found something for you.

Justrite Ice Cream.

What are you thinking?

Ice cream doesn't sellin Wisconsin.

If it had cheese on it,we'd probably buy it, though.

How does $35 sound?

You can't get up to $50, huh?

If it had an ice cream coneon it, we'd be all over it.

Yeah, graphics and picturesmake a big difference.

We just thought it was cool,Justrite Ice Cream.

I could do $45 on it.

Bring it up to $50?

Draw a little pictureover here.

Okay, can we get a marker?

We'll do it.

KEVIN:$47.50?

$47?

We don't deala whole lot in change.

Oh, $47, $50... $47, okay--okay, here you go.

Hi, how are you, Mike?

Very, very good.

Good, how's it going?Going very well.

You know I'm coming backlater to shop.

Right, that's fine.

What do you thinkabout this?

MILLER:The folk art hangingon the wall?

MIKE:That's cool.

MILLER:Isn't it neat?

Yeah, I like that.

Would you want to own it?

No.

Okay,right off the bat, no.

Do you know anybodywho would want to own it?

Try Bob Weiss over there.

Bob Weiss?

Mike told me this is the perfecthome for this, Bob.

First of all,how much money is it?

$65.

$55.

MILLER:I said $65, then somehowyou heard $55.

Molly, you want to buya mold for $55?

Oh, he is reallya tough nut here.

I don't know, Bob,what do you think?

Did you make this, or... ?

No, I didn't make it.

Okay.

Great, $65.

What... $55, I'm just joking.

I have selective hearing, too.

WALBERG:Now it's timeto Shop 'til You Stop.

It's an untimed roundwhere our pickers can buy one or two items,but no more than that.

The round begins now.

KEVIN:So I've been up and downquite a few aisles here.

It's an Arts and Craftshammered copper vase.

Is it Rycroft, American Beautyor something?

What are youasking for it?

$2,500.Out of my budget.

KEVIN:I'm pretty wide open on whatI'm going to be looking for.

I'm going to do some browsingand see if I can come across something I think will work.

DEALER:Those are early lamps.

They're Victorian.

Talk to me.

$500.

Not good.

They're cast brass.

Yeah, I know.

$450.

I appreciateyou trying with me.

You bet.

I'm going past those everydayitems I see all the time.

There has to be that interestingbooth that draws me in, and that's where I kind of findthose hidden treasures.

Oh, look at that.

It's a wrought-iron two-snaketray stand, circa 1930s.

That's exactly where I thinkit's from, around the 1930s.

And the head supports the littleholder, which would hold the business cardsor even a candle or whatever you'd liketo put in there.

You could call it folk art.

I think at $175-$200, it couldbe a winner at auction.

This is something... $300, $400,even $500 at auction, who knows?

People love to have somethinginteresting to offer their business card in.

What's better than that?

It could even go on a counter.

I came here to see if I couldmake a deal with you.

(laughing) WALBERG:It's usually not a good signif the dealer starts to laugh even before you throw outa number.

I gotta try, obviously.

Would you take $150?

I cannot do that.

Okay, I figuredthat would happen, and you didn't kick me,which is good.

That's always a good start.Not that hard yet anyway.

What do you thinkyou can do, though?

I'll go $200 on it.

How about in the middleat $175?

Then I would break even.

Would you really?

$185?

No.

You're good, though.

I like this.

I'd hate to haveto put it down for $15, but I'm sure you wantto sell it too.

We'll do $190.

Yeah, $190?Oh, absolutely.

Let's do it.

You're over like a fat rat,I'll tell you.

My name is Tom Van Deest.

I don't buy anythingmanufactured.

I appreciate things that arehand-done with a creative bend to them.

They're rather hardto come by, though.

That piece has got kindof a Deco feel to it.

And again, it's representativeof the kinds of things we do purchase--it's one of a kind and handmade.

What are you looking for?

Something to make money on.

Got a lot of stuff here.

I told you they weren't goingto come down on our end!

KEVIN:We did, we're here!

I told you they'd be here.

You know whatit's all about.

Well, I'll keep watching if youmake some money, you know.

Yeah, right,that's funny.

Do you want to comepick with me?

Hey, I'll try it.

I'll give it a whirl.

Come on and tryand pick with me.

What's your name?

Phil, nice to meet you.

Hi, Phil, I'm Kevin.

We can find anything,but it has to be quality.

There's a lot of stuffdown here.

KEVIN:Is that a painting?That's a print.

Some stuff up here.

No.

Up here behind the VFW.

The gaming machines arepretty cool, too.

What have we got...?

Do you know something that'sworth good money?

I want to know.

Mushroom bat?

Not here.

What's that?

It's a baseball bat with a bulbous end on itfor counterweight.

They're $500 to $1,000.

That's my forte,the old leather helmets.

PHIL:This is a flight helmet.

KEVIN:I don't know how old it is.

Look, it's got Velcro on it.

Indian snowshoes, those wouldn't be goodfor you, are they?

KEVIN:A lot of money.

What is this thing?

DEALER:This is an old toy from 1913.

You would hit that and it wouldkick the ball.

KEVIN:I gotcha.

No ball?No ball.

All cast iron.

I went out with Kevin,and I'll tell you what: I don't wish that on anybody.

I'm glad he's doing itand not me, because that'smission impossible.

Good luck.

We'll try and do something.

You better run.

KEVIN:All right, man.

You know, today, the things thatsell good at that auction, I had a hard time finding, so I'm kind of bumming I didn'tget my second item to send to auction, but I didthe best I could.

This is a big,spread out market.

I'm really a little nervousabout this.

There's just a lot to see.

Look at this place,it's humungous!

A lot of walking today,it's going to be a tough one.

To find a piece that peoplewill buy at auction, you really have to lookfor what sells.

Is that jewelry over there?

I know good jewelry sells.

It's small, it's portable,people tend to buy it at auction.

Rhinestone pieces with namebrands sell.

Anything signed?

Eisenberg, Miriam Haskell... DEALER:A lot of themdidn't get signed because they go to boutiquesand stuff like that... And they puton their own name?

Yeah.

WALBERG:Bene's strategy with costumejewelry is similar to how she approached looking for goldjewelry in Iowa.

BENE:When you're buying for anauction, things move quickly.

You want to be very obviousin what you're selling.

So if I'm selling gold,I want it to be the color gold, and I want it to be marked.

WALBERG:Even though many good piecesof costume jewelry are in fact unsigned,Bene can't depend on potential biddersat a general auction to know what 20 years of experiencehas taught her.

So she's looking for piecesthat will tell even a first-time buyerexactly what they are.

Do you know if you haveanything that's signed?

You can just dig around.

When you have a jewelry boxlike this, you really should lookat every piece.

This one has a mark here,but it's all one color.

With costume jewelry,you want to find colors.

Okay, I want to keep going.

I'm a little nervous becauseI haven't found anything yet.

It's been over an hour.

I'm just going to ask people.

I'm looking for, like,signed costume jewelry, anything you think is just,like, "Wow," that you love.

We'll go over here.

This is Trifari,that's the jelly bellies.

The jelly bellies, yes.

That's a three-piece set.

It's Alfred Philippe.

I like this.

It is very collectible.

The one she has in her boothis backed in sterling, and also it has the name of thespecific designer who did it, whose signature piecewas a crown.

And it's a three-piece set,which is more desirable.

She has $195,I need it to be $125.

I was wondering if you could dosomething in the neighborhood of $125.

No, that I can't do.

Okay...

This is Weiss, and then we'vegot the earrings to go with.

The mark is here, Weiss,which is a very good name.

All the stones are intact.

Just on the Weiss piece,your best price on that?

$165, that I can do $125.

Any way you can take$100 on that?

We found rhinestones,we found name brand, but if I were to purchasejust the Weiss set for $125, it would not have workedin my favor.

Right now, my only planis to bundle and get two items, hopefully for a good deal.

This might be signed.

That's Trifari.

Very nice enameling on this one.

This is Trifari too,I believe.

This is great.

This is a Trifari bracelet,it's vintage, no stone missing.

It's marked right here.

Very nice clasp.

I was wondering if youwould take $125 for the Weiss and this?

I've got to getsomething out of this, so you know,I would come down to $135.

We'll do that,bracelet and the earrings will be $100 and thisbracelet will be $35.

Thank you very much.Bye bye.

Have a good day.

It seems to be some sort oftheater seating, or off a train.

Is this yours?

Yes.

Where's it from?

It's a railroad.

It is railroad.

Everything seemsto be original.

Yeah, it is.

I think it's NP.

Northern Pacific.

It doesn't have any railroadinsignia on it anywhere.

I don't... Yeah, it would be inthe iron on the side.

I'm wondering if thisis less a railroad item and more a trolley car item.

In the 1890s, 1880s, trolleyseats were in the middle and the aisles were on the ends,so people would have had to flip up the seat to get intothe next row of seats.

So I think that's what this is,because everything railroad has the name on it somewhere.

You are right there.

How much youasking for it?

$200.

I did pay that for it,and I'm just kind of selling out a bunch of stuff.

I've sold a lotof stuff today, and I'm just givinggood deals.

(chuckling) How'd you come by it?

I actually bought itat an auction.

You paid how muchfor it at auction?

I paid $200.

What'd you really payfor it?

No, I did.

Seriously, no,I'm not lying.

WALBERG:John risks insulting dealerRichard Herbrandson by challenging what he saidhe paid for this piece, but he does it with a laughto make it seem like it's just good-naturedskepticism.

If what the dealer says is trueand John decides to haggle, he's basically asking the dealerto lose some money, and that's a line some customerswon't cross, but not John.

JOHN:I really want to do $100.

That's what I want to do, $100.

I can't do that.

I paid $200 for it.

And if you reallywant to know something, I don't care if I sell it.

You know, if I can getmy money back, I'll sell it,otherwise I'll keep it.

WALBERG:That leaves John nowhere to go,but out.

Thank you very much.

I'm going to go shopa little bit back here.

Sold.

Bummer!

It's a dentist's cabinet.

They make fabulous jewelrycabinets now.

Would've been my piece,but it's sold.

Such an interesting table.

Oh, don't... Oh well.

Very neat.

Typewriters are makinga comeback.

The kids are discovering them.

It's amazing how everythinggoes full-circle.

It sold.

I haven't seen a market selllike this in years.

This is such a good thingfor the business.

Not for me,but it's a good sign.

How are giraffes sellingthese days?

I love it.

Frogman, still there?

Sell him to me!

Give me a price I can't resist!

Here's the thing:that trolley seat, we've talked about what a goodmarket this has been today.

Seems like everybody's selling.

That will often tempt a dealerto make better deals.

He said, "I've had a fabulousday, I'm cleaning out."

Maybe he did spend $200to buy it and he was willing to sell it just to get roomin his van.

I'm thinking if I can get thatdown below $200, it is interesting, so sometimesthat's all it takes.

Hey, you're still here.

Talk me into it.

And a big part of talking meinto it is going to be price.

I'll tell you what,I'll do $180.

You want to getrid of it.

It's heavy,it's bulky.

And you want to makea guy like me happy, since we're the same ageand everything.

And you're wearingmy Hawaiian shirt, too.

You see that?

I like theHawaiian shirts.

Oh, I love them,they're so cool.

They're wonderful.

Now get below $180,got to get below $180.

$175.

(laughing) Bare bones.$150.

(laughing) Okay, done deal.

$150 will do it.

All right, that's funfor $150.

I've been working the showfor five years, also have an antiquesshop in my town.

Never know, maybe I'll fill upmy truck and go back.

Thank you.

Thank you, my friend.

It was really, reallychallenging.

I didn't want to take a chanceon just blowing it.

Chose one good item,we'll see if it works.

You know, I really don't havea strategy right now.

I've got to start covering a lotof territory.

I think I'm going to finda higher-end item here.

Now, this is what I'm lookingfor, but this is newer.

It's neo-Greco.

Got the Egyptian motif.

But the problem isthere's no way I'm going to pay $1,250 each.

These are newer, but I know thatpeople like the Baroque style.

It's too much for me to paysince they're 20th century, but cherubs do very well.

A beautiful piece, that'sexactly what I'm looking for.

Whoa, $1,475!

You know, I saw about sevenor eight items that drew my eye, and I'm still havingsticker shock.

If they don't fit the bill,walk away.

It's never-ending.

I wish I had a golf cartto cover all this territory, but why not just jump inand see what I find?

Hey, Miller.

Yes!

You bought my pinball machineearlier today.

Yes, oh my gosh.

I was eating breakfast.

You have an amazing eye.

Thank you.

Tell me your name.I'm Isaiah.

I'm so impressed,your dad taught you well.

(chuckles) I try.

I'm on the clock,so we've got to walk fast.

Let's walk and talk.

WALBERG:Having just teamed up with Benein the Buy/Sell bonus round, Miller has zero interest injoining forces with anyone else.

She doesn't likemaking compromises, and the one she made with Beneput her in a bad mood.

I like the George Washingtontobacco tin.

No, that's too high.

Let's just go do it.

Okay, we gotto keep walking.

I think I'm havingsticker shock.

I mean, I don't know if I canget a good deal here.

Sadly, we're inthe retail.

Now, you knowthis market.

Oh yeah, well...

So where am Igoing to get the exceptional thingsthat are low priced?

The other sideof the firehouse.

Let's go.

WALBERG:Suddenly, Miller seesthe advantage of having a second set of eyes.

MILLER:I'm so glad that he came and found me later in the day because he could reallytake me to dealers that didn't havethese higher-end retail prices.

There's jewelry set updown there, the toys, little bit of everything.

Ooh!

I saw this bracelet.

It's just a piece of costumejewelry.

I like the carving,it's very intricate.

I ideally would have hopedthat this was jade, and that would make itvery expensive, but it's not.

Then I thought, "Okay,maybe this piece is Bakelite," and now I'm thinkingit's plastic.

$30 is fair,but I really want $15.

If that was my store,I'd ask $45.

WALBERG:At barely more than a whisper,Isaiah says an offer of $15 is a mere third of whathe thinks is a fair price.

But he sees thingsfrom a dealer's perspective.

I'm pretty sure that's notwhat Miller wants to hear.

Hi, how much do you wantfor this little bangle?

$30.

$30, can I give you $15?

It's kind of...look at all the dirt.

No.

Okay, would you take $20?

No.

There's no way?

What don't you understandabout no?

(people laughing) I'll do $30.

Okay, you got a deal.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

I'm going to wear it.

Are there anyhole-in-the-wall paintings?

Hold on.

I'm not as interestedin the clock as much, but I like the candelabra set.

Really intricate designs.

I think I like the veinof the marble.

And it's missingits finial.

Look at this dust,that's just pure dust.

The idea is to clean itwithout polishing it, but maintain the old patina,that's what people want.

What are you askingfor the pair together?

I got $495for the complete set.

Oh, my.

So just for the candelabra,would you take... if we can separate them?

WALBERG:Since these three pieces wereliterally made for each other, conventional wisdom suggeststhey have more value if sold as a set.

Many buyers would preferto move on rather than ask a dealer not onlyto buck tradition, but risk taking a financial lossin the process.

But Miller hasn't set her sightson winning anyone's approval.

The winning she's afteris winning this game.

I'd do $125 on them.

Would you take $75?

No.

I'll do $100.

Look at this,the polish isn't great on these, they're old lookingand it's missing the top finial.

I understand.

I've got a challengeahead of me.

Yeah, you do.

(both laughing) Is there any waywe can work out a deal?

$85?

$85, all right.

Okay, great,you got a deal.

Thank you for making it happen.

Thank you, Isaiah.

You've led mein the right direction.

Keep up the good work.

See you around.Bye.

WALBERG:Let's review all the itemsand what the pickers spent.

Here are John's lots: a Ny-linttoy truck and a trolley seat.

Miller's lots are comprised ofa child-sized pinball machine, a pair of candelabra,and a carved celluloid bracelet.

Bene's lots includea tin lithograph toy tractor, a Trifari bracelet, and a Weissbracelet and earring set.

Kevin's lots consist ofa Wolverine toy roller coaster and a wrought iron card holder.

Now it's on to Radford,Virginia, where all the items you just saw will be soldat Ken Farmer Auctions.

After that, there will beone final round of bidding that happens on eBay for an itemeach picker bought with the express purposeof selling online, which we will reveal later on.

Watching the bidding from behindthe scenes will be all four of our pickers,who've just been told about Miller's 17% profiton her target item.

Profit.

No, it didn't soar.

WALBERG:We took an online polland asked which item would make the most profit at auction.

Miller's pinball machinegot the most votes, and now our pickers are beingshown the rest of the results of that poll, revealing a tiefor the fewest votes between Kevin's wrought-ironcard holder and John's Ny-lint toy truck.

JOHN:We're down there at the bottom.

KEVIN:Way at the bottom.

Nobody likes the snake holder.

JOHN:Where's the love?

MILLER:I think the viewers are right.

It's hard to tell which of thosetwo is the worst.

Oh!

WALBERG:Okay, this is the momentwe've been waiting for.

Remember, as a result of sellingtheir wooden mold, Miller and Bene each earn$17.50 profit.

In addition, John and Kevinare both starting out $11 in the black as the resultof selling their ice cream tray.

Now let's get the peoplewith the bucks saying what they really feel.

WALBERG:All right, here we go.

1950s toy, nice condition.

Crisp.$50.

$50 on the Internet,who goes $60?

At $50, bid $60.

$60, now $70, give me $70.

At $70, new bid $80.

$80, bid $90.

Anybody for $90?Come on.

$90, now $100.

Anybody for $100?

Sold for $90.

Wow!

(groans) Thought it was better than that.

Nice Ny-lint powerand light truck.

Boy, that's innice condition.

$20, bid $30.

$30, now $40.

Come on!

$40, $40...Yep!

$50, now $60, $60, now $70.

$70, now $80.

$80, bid is $80.

$70 in the back,anybody else?

$80, now $90 to go.

It's done.

I got $80 up here,need $90 to go.

Anyone for $90?

$80 to 463.

Tin lithograph tractor.

How much on it, $10.

Oh... $10, now $20.

$20, now $30.

$30, now $40, $40, now $50.

Up to $60, now $70,now $80, $90, $100.

Now $110.

Profit!

$110, now bidding at $120.

Wow!Yes!

$120, bid $130.

Anybody for $130?

Sold, $120 to 451.

JOHN: Wow.

Freeze.

(laughing) I'm so happy.

Well, the viewers wereright about that.

Yeah.They put thatup there, yeah.

John, the viewers were alsoright about your truck.

You had to do that, huh?

You can't givea guy a break, just put the knife inand twist it.

(laughing) It ain't over yet, kids.

Okay, let's seewhat happens.

Nice, signed costume braceletand matching earrings.

Oh, it's gotsome color to it.

$20, bid $30.

Why?

You wouldn't wearthese in Radford, just when you goto Roanoke.

$30, now $40.

(laughing) Come on, come on.

$30, bid $40.

Are we done at $30?

$30?

Sold, $30.

(groans) Bye-bye, first place.

Tough with jewelry.

Now, this is a business cardholder that you put out where you want to get peopleto sort of pay attention when they walk into your office.

Something else, I love it.

I don't know where you're goingto get another one.

You got anything, Kelly?$110.

Whoa!

Who'll give $120?

At $120, anybody for $120?

Now $130, I think there's lotsof money left at that price.

$130, now $140, $150... Come on.

Oh my gosh!

$150, now $160.

At $160, anybody?

Come on!

$160?

Sold, $150to the Internet.

I don't believe it.

Bummer.

Nice vintage floralcelluloid bangle bracelet.

$10.

$10 again, now $20.

$20, now $30, bid at $30.

$30, now bid $40.

Yay!

You're at even.

$30, bid $40?

That new stuff at the stores nowcosts more than that.

$30, now $40.

Sold, $30 to the Internet.

Okay, yay.

But you didn't take a loss.

Our jewelry both brought $30,and yours was a set.

That's what they'repaying for jewelry.

And it was signed.

KEVIN:It's costume jewelry.

People buy thatin lots quite a bit.

Great, and I haveanother one coming up.

And I still gotthat trolley car seat.

"Ding ding,"went the trolley.

This is one of those thingsthat none of your friends have in their houses.

An old vintage seat,and most likely from a trolley.

Anything, Kelly?

$70.

All right, halfway there.

Halfway there.

Anybody bid $80?

$80, now $90.

Yep!

$90, now $100.Are you joking?

It's more comfortable thanthe seat you're in, I guarantee.

Uh-oh, put it down.

(laughing) $110, now $120.

$120, sir?

$120, now $130.

Good, good.

Give me $130.

You've got $120.

If he wants to bid $130 though,you don't want to stop him.

Bid it up!

$130.

Now $140, now $150.

Oh, you got it!

$160, now $170.

Give me $170.

$170?

Sold for $160, then.

All right, a little bit.

Nice Trifariblue rhinestone bracelet.

$40.

$40, now $50.

Hit me with $50.

$50, now $60.

What?

You're at profit.

It opened at $40.

$50, now $60.

$70.

Yay!

$80, $90.

$80, now $90 to go.

She liked it.

$90?

MILLER:He's getting it for his wife.

We like him, we like him.

He's good.

$100, bid $100.

$100?

Sold, $90.

She got a profiton jewelry.

A lot of bangfor the buck here, folks.

Nice pair of French-stylecandelabra.

Who'll give $100to start them out?

At $100, anybody give $100?

$60, at $60.

Thank you, sir, now $70.

Anybody give $80?

Yep.

$80, now $90.

$90, now $100.

Anybody give $100?

Good deal there.

He's got his headway down.

Yes, he does.

$90 to number 427.

Wow!

(cheering) I won!

Did I win?

WALBERG:Not so fast, Bene.

We still have one more roundon eBay, remember?

Okay... Delete tape.

(laughing) WALBERG:Right now, you only havea $5 lead over Miller, but I need to remind youthat Kevin is one of eBay's top sellers, so he has morethan a good chance of overtaking you both.

Before we watchthe results online, let's see what each of youbought.

KEVIN :It's like a little pagoda,with a little deity just sitting there.

Solid bronze bookends, like fourand a half pounds apiece.

They'll definitely holdsome big books.

BENE:I went with the dollhouse, and it had the dollhousefurniture.

KEVIN:Tin litho with plasticfurniture, right?

BENE:Plastic furniture.

KEVIN:Looks like it's all there, too.

BENE:Yeah, a lot of pieces.

MILLER:This poster,and I like the graphics, it was in good condition.

This will appealto Western collectors.

JOHN:Love my Frogman.

The darn thing actually works.

BENE:People your age are buying backtheir childhood.

JOHN:I'm kind of still inmy childhood.

Don't make me leave,come on!

All right, so we're sellingour things on our eBay ten-day auction.

Totally unreserved-- that meanswe're starting them very low-- and wherever they end up,they end up.

And we're going to get to watchit right at its very last moment when it finally goes off.

Let's check it out.

Here we go, there's the counter, see the red countercounting down?

It's going right down.

What are you up to?What are you starting at?

It's $81.

Come on, I paid $110,get up there.

Within the last ten seconds,if it's going to pop, it'll start biddingat the very end.

Should we do the countlike NASA?

Go ahead.

Five, four, three... No, it's not going up.

Bummer.

Oh!

Whoa!

Look at that!

Just, bam!

Bam, right thereat the last second.

I've never watched that happenbefore, wow.

Wasn't that exciting?

We've got three moreto watch now.

I know, yeah,we can all do this.

Okay, I'm ready.

$13.07.

Well, you haveseven bids, so... $20!

Oh, we had a little pop.

Yay, keep going!

Look at theselittle increments.

It just keeps popping,they're fighting over it.

Hey Miller,count it down, come on.

Five, four, three, two, one...

Blast off?

"I counted downand nothing happened!"

Mine didn't soar.

Yeah, it didn't soar.

There we are.

$129.67.

Wow, you bought itfor $60.

$65, yeah.

KEVIN:You're already way up.

31 bidders?

31 bids so far.

Oh, let's go!

Miller, count it down.

Four, three,two, one... Oh, $129.67.

Profit!

No bids at the end,but it was a big double.

Profit, profit!

Well, oh no, Kevin, Mr. Asian is going.

$111.50.

$111.50.

37 bids on it, though.

Yeah, 37 bids,it's going to go nuts.

Five, four, three,two, one... Oh!

Nothing!

Oh, Kevy-Kev.

WALBERG:And the winner is Bene Raia.

Yay, I won!

I really won!

KEVIN:When you're at a regularauction, it's exciting, but it's calculated:you can actually see it happening as it goes along.

With eBay, it can be hiddenright down to that last second.

You could be up there for tendays with very little action, and that last second, bam,fireworks.

I thought I was going to bekilled with the eBay auction because Kevin does eBay,but I pulled it off and I actually won.

I feel like a realMarket Warrior.

This feels fantastic.

Turn to PBS for stories thatdefine the American experirocket toy.

I see those going for,oh, around $300, $400 at local antique shows.

The coaster is in workingcondition, which is rare for a piece like that.

I was just surprised thatI could get it so cheaply.

Sold at $90, number 463.

Old toy collectors,they're going to snap this up.

Really a good purchase.

I bought a windup toy tractor.

I like all windup toys,and it's just an enjoyment thing is the reason I play.

I'm looking for good paint,low wear, low playtime, and just rarity.

These toys are before my time...I like the earlier toys.

It was really in good shapewhen I got here, so that really grabbed my eye.

You blow $100 in gasjust running around.

I think it's a great deal.

Sold at $120 to 451.

Thank you very much.