Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 1: “Miami Heat.”
With the auction scene not looking so good in LA, the Haff-Ton team decided to take a little road trip 3000 miles east to Miami.
Fact: Miami has a population of 5.5 million. In 2009 it was ranked the richest U.S. city.
With lots of wealthy people living in Miami who are into various expensive hobbies and enjoy their sun, anything is possible from barbeques to boats and they were hoping for something big.
Fact: Over $300 million worth of vehicles are kept in storage facilities across America.
Electronics Unit
They won their first unit with a bid of $1000. It had 
some boxes, old speakers, clothes and dishes inside, but it was some of the electronics that attracted their attention. They found a Numark CD player and mixer of the kind a DJ would have. It had a value of $220.
They also found an off-brand generator, with a value of $200.
But things got more interesting when they started uncovering space memorabilia. 
They found a fake NASA space suit only worth $40.
Fact: A NASA spacesuit once sold at auction for $187,200
They then uncovered a large replica rocket and an authentic countdown machine.
Fact: Some display models were once prototypes for actual rockets.
They took their space items to Don Willis, a space memorabilia expert. Don told them the rocket replica was a Delta Relay model from back in 60’s. Ton and Allen got very excited when he told them it was the only one he’d ever seen of its kind.
Fact: In 1962, the Delta Relay rocket launched NASA’s first communications satellite.
The countdown machine was also something Don had never seen before. He was certain it was authentic and probably came from the same place as the rocket.
Don valued the two items at $6000, and after some haggling agreed to pay them $2800 for both.
Car Cover Container
The final auction of the day was for a shipping container. After they spotted what looked like a car cover, Allen and Ton bid $1800 and won the auction.
Before they could get to the cover however,
they had to work through a bunch of boxes and old clothes. Allen did find seven pairs of Levi 501 Jeans, valued at $210 and an antique lobster trap worth $80. Ton also found a barbeque baster bottle. It might not have been worth anything, but Ton loved it.
When they finally pulled off the car cover they discovered it wasn’t a car it all, it was a hovercraft. They took it down to a marine craft wholesaler named Al to check it out. Al told them a hovercraft could go over water, grass, sand, ice or even human bodies. Well that took a dark turn.
Fact: Hovercrafts can travel over any surface, gliding on a cushion of high pressure air.
They had to take it for a test drive though if they wanted to get top dollar for it. Al estimated a couple of people die every year from hovercraft accidents and Ton happily volunteered Allen for test driving duty. Al assured Allen that the nearest hospital was only a couple of miles away so he didn’t have to worry about that. What a comfort.
It drove great, and after Allen took it for a spin out on the water, Ton had a go too.
Al bought the hovercraft off them for $5350 and agreed to buy the first round of margaritas.
With their work done, they could kick back and relax in the Miami sun. Not a bad way to end the day on a high note.
Auction Total:
Paid $2800
Sold: $10640
Profit: $7840
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