Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 3: “Sink or Swim.”
The Haff-Ton team headed down to Torrance, California, a town that has a great beach and port, which often means sports equipment and expendable income.
Fact: Torrance has a population of 147,405.
Allen and Ton had made some good finds in Torrance before but not many other serious bidders seemed to remember Torrance so they weren’t expecting a lot of bidders. They were disappointed find a large crowd waiting for the auction to start, but this didn’t stop them from winning two units.
Fact: Chuck Norris opened his first karate dojo in Torrance.
Marine Sports Unit
They won their first unit of the day for $800. It had some tennis rackets, suitcases and boxes, but what really attracted their attention was a large tarp. Once they got inside the unit they looked under it and found a mini boat.
Fact: Mini boats were manufactured from 1984 to 1996 in Dana Point, California.
They took it Ross a boat expert. He said it was an Addictor
190 in very good condition. He explained to them that mini boats were made pre Jet Skis, and it was actually the Jet Ski that eventually killed them.
Fact: The 190 is the smallest two-seater ever manufactured by Addictor.
Of course it would only be worth something if it ran so they had to take the boat for a test run. Ton took it on the water and it ran beautifully. He obviously enjoyed himself. It’s a good bet Ton might not even be in this business if he didn’t get to try out all the toys.
Fact: Mini boats were popular as rental boats at resorts in the 1990’s.
Ron bought the boat from them for $2500.
They also found Pen Saltwater Rod and Reels inside the unit, valued at $1750.
Music Room
They bought their second unit for $925. 
There was an art deco armoire which Alan thought might be from the 1930s, dead speakers, an electric piano too old to be worth anything, suitcases, a violin case which they were very disappointed to find empty and a very bizarre chicken statue that caused the guys quite a bit of amusement.
They did find some reproduction trunks
worth $300, and an antique 1897 music box made by the company Regina worth $1200.
Fact: In the 1900’s the Regina Company became known for making vacuum cleaners.
In one case, Allen discovered $275 worth of vintage records and in a secon
d case a $150 1976 Soprano clarinet. Then Ton found a horn.
Fact: Before electrical speakers, large horns were used to amplify sound on early record players.
The horn was part of an antique Thomas Edison phonograph. They were able to find the rest of the phonograph in the unit and they took it to Scott, a phonograph expert, who said was from 1905.
Fact: The first recording Thomas Edison made was his rendition of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”.
Scott told them when it was first made it would have been sold for $30.
Fact: The Edison Home Phonograph was first sold in 1896 for $30. $30 in 1905 is equal to $831 today.
The phonograph had a recorder, but they had to test it if it still works. Ton and Allen used a blank Edison cylinder to make a recording. It worked! Their voices played back to them, the sound all scratchy and old-timey.
Fact: Due to mass production, an original Edison blank cylinder is worth less than $10.
Ross bought it off them for $875.
Recording artists and boat rides, quite a fun day for the Haff-Ton duo!
Auction Total:
Paid $1724
Sold: $6825
Profit: $5100
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