Author - Naomi Luc

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 25: “Early Bird Special.”

Haff-Ton team drove to Stanton, California very early in the morning. Ton fell asleep in the truck.

Rise and Shine!
Auction time!

Fact: Some mammals like lions and koalas sleep over 20 hours a day.

Bright side? There were doughnuts and coffee at the auction. Um, can I come too?

Fact: Stanton is a major auto and aerospace manufacturing center in Orange County.

Company Unit

Popcorn maker, old milk cans, plastic containers, and boxes. Duo won the locker for $300.

They found an antique mantle with mirror. The guys also discovered a bike.

Ton lugged a ring toss game out of the unit.

Fact: Poor citizens in ancient Greece played ring toss with bent horseshoes.

Allen found boxes within boxes. Ton unpacked a leather shoulder holster. He also discovered a toy water gun. Shoot! No fun on the gun range with that.

Fact: Shoulder holsters gained popularity among Wild West gunmen in the mid 1800’s.

Allen found some real gun bags. But the guns inside were BB guns made to look like Thompson submachine guns.

Fact: 2.7 million Thompson submachine guns were produced for WWII

Haff-Ton team realized the guns were part of a vintage carnival shooting gallery. The rest of the pieces to the game where inside the unit.

They put the game together together, touched it up, and found a buyer.

Duo had to do some repair work before they put ad up online. The guys were soon contacted by Leamon, a collector.

Duo brought the game out to display. Leamon had a thick accent. Allen could barely make out a word he said. But one thing was clear; this shooting gallery could be worth a pretty penny if the guns still worked.

Fact: The 1893 Chicago World’s fair inspired the modern traveling carnival in the U.S.

Allen shot the BB guns at the targets. Guns worked but Allen missed by a mile.

He dared Ton to do better.
Bad move! This is TON we’re talking about here.
Ton hit the target right on the bull’s-eye.

Allen might not be a winner at target practice; but both of were winners when Leamon paid them $4,500 for the game.

Shrink Wrap Unit

Front end of a sports car, chairs, golf club case, boxes, and lots of items in shrink wrap. Duo took the unit for $500.

They found several pieces of “ground effect” car parts. Sides and exhaust cut out.

Fact: Some ground effects improve a car’s aerodynamics, while others are cosmetic.

Haff-Ton team also discovered an industrial cooking fan. Ton found a wooden dining set.

Ton unpacked fighting pads for MMA – mixed martial arts.

Fact: MMA contests were introduced to the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC.

Allen jumped like a scared little girl when he spotted a body in the back of the unit!

He’s not dead. Just a fighting dummy. Allen tried out a couple of his moves on it.

Fact: This dummy features a skeleton made of steel cable that can hold up to 4,100 lbs.

There was a ton of fighting gear in the unit, including a MMA training cage.

Duo took the cage and dummy to Ted, an owner of a mixed martial arts training facility.

Fact: It only takes 7 pounds of pressure to break an elbow joint.

Ted told them that MMA training cages were octagons. This cage definitely had missing pieces. It just wasn’t something Ted was interested in as-is.

The fighting dummy however, was a different story. That particular fighting dummy had originally been used by the military for bayonet training. It was very high quality and currently use for MMA training.

Ted bought the dummy and the pieces of the cage for $2,400.

The early birds caught the worm and made a healthy profit.

Auction Total:

Paid $800
Sold: $8,430
Profit: $7,630

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: Jaws of Life

November 11, 2011

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 24: “Great American Cashtime.”

Haff-Ton team drove to San Diego, California. Tourism – HUGE! Duo prepared to find just about anything in the storage units.

Fact: In 1592, San Diego was the first site visited by Europeans in what is now California.

One of the bidders was none other than Rene Nezhoda, pre-Storage Wars. Weird! It felt wrong to watch him without Casey! He was cheerful and friendly, and managed to steal one unit away from the duo.

Organized Unit

Boat motor, Bosch case, desk, swivel chair, shelves, rubber containers, and boxes. Everything was very neat and organized. Haff-Ton team won the locker for $1,300.

Allen found vintage baseball bats. Box of books and bag of clothes. His sense of fashion was offended when he found a pleather purse.

Allen also found a vintage baseball cap collection.

Ton opened a big box. Surprise! More baseball stuff. It was a pitching machine from the 1950’s.

Fact: The world’s first pitching machine was designed in 1897 and powered by gunpowder.

Duo took the pitching machine to a batting cage owner, Cordell. He stated the machine was made by the Master Pitching Machine Company.

Fact: The founder of Master Pitching Machines’ first prototype was built in 1952.

It was the first and only machine to have an arm lever. The lever made the machine’s aim less precise, which meant it was more like a real pitcher.

Fact: A 105 mph heater thrown by Aroldis Chapman in 2010 is the fastest pitch in MLB history.

The machine was in great shape and had no dents. A newer machine would be worth $4,000! This one had historical value.

Pitch.
Swing.
Home run as the pitching machine was appraised at $8,000. Cordell offered to pay $4,500… IF it worked.

Flip the switch.
Arm worked like a pitcher.
Allen hit ball after ball.

SOLD!

Loft Unit

Aluminum ladders, racks, refrigerator, animal crates, and boxes. The locker had a loft, which piqued the duo’s interest. Haff-Ton won the locker for $900.

Ton found camping chairs, feed buckets, and a water trough. Ton found a hydraulic ram used in fire rescue situations.

Fact: Hydraulic rams use special heat resistant fluid to avoid explosion during fire rescues.

Allen climbed up to check the loft. He discovered a “Jaws of Life” up there. Ton was psyched.

Fact: The Jaws of Life is a hydraulic tool used to help free victims from wrecked vehicles.

Duo took the “Jaws of Life” to Ryan, a fire fighter and rescue gear collector.

Fact: The Jaws of Life was first used in 1963 as a tool to rescue race car drivers from crashes.

The machine was American made dated back to the 1980’s. Jaws could push a car door apart or pull back a roof.

Ton’s kind of machine!

Fact: The first Jaws of Life machine was so large it had to be transported by a pickup truck.

Ton said he had once been saved from a car crash with a Jaws of Life rescue.

If the rescue tool worked, it would be valued at $5,000. Ryan had a spare junk car and asked Ton to use rescue Jaws to take off the roof.

Pull off a car roof?
He didn’t have to ask Ton twice.

Fact: On average, extrication with the Jaws of Life takes 9 to 15 minutes.

Ton took the Jaws of Life to the car.

RIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPP!

It’s now a convertible. (Not one I’d want to drive.)

Ryan was ready to deal, but Ton and Allen decided to donate the rescue tool to him. It was important that the Jaws of life be in the hands of someone who would use it to save lives.

Fact: Firefighters often use the Jaws of Life to extract victims from burning buildings.

Haff-Ton team selfless act may have saved a life.

Auction Total:

Paid $2200
Sold: $5,840
Profit: $3,640

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: Ton Chain Saw Massacre

November 8, 2011

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 23: “Auction Hunters, Ink.”

Haff-Ton team drove back to Los Angeles, California. Home sweet home. They were glad to be back.

Duo attended an auction at a high-end facility; state of the art with climate control and solid security. It attracted businesses and wealthy individuals alike.

Fact: Cadillac coined the term “climate control” in 1966.

Wooden Bear Unit

Bikes, wooden bear statue, PA, face mask, gas cans, trash can, rubber bins, and boxes. Duo won the locker for $325.

Ton found a 600 volt flood light. Sometimes you just have to wonder how the original owners accumulated their “stuff.”

Haff-team then dug up several “hot saws”.

Fact: A “hot saw” is a high-performance, modified chainsaw, often used for competitions.

The saws were all heavy duty. One had a customized smoke stack attached.

Fact: Expansion chambers help enhance engine power by reusing the energy in burnt exhaust.

The wooden bear was obviously carved with one of the saws. Bear was missing a mouth, however. Allen decided it was time to get creative. He fired up the saw and carved. Luckily, Allen didn’t lose any fingers.

Haff-Ton team took the saws a chain collector, George. He was impressed with two of the saws. One was valued at $1,500-$2,200.

Fact: The hot saw world record is 3 cuts through a 19″ thick log in 5.085 seconds.

The second saw had a value of $2,500-$3,000 with 21 or 22 horsepower.

Fact: A riding lawnmower is generally 20 to 30 horsepower.

If however, the saws don’t work, they’re not worth a dime. Need a volunteer.

TON!

Crank. Tree. VaVOOOOM! Mulch.

Saws worked perfectly. George paid $4,000 for the lot.

Company Unit

Collectable posters, artwork from a tattoo parlor, suitcases, and cornucopia of boxes. Duo won the locker for $900.

Allen discovered some costume jewelry. Ton found comic books from the 1980’s.

Fact: A Superman comic book valued at $1 million was found in a storage unit in 2011.

They found a complete beginner’s tattoo kit. Ton unpacked some tattoo ink. In the mix were tattoo designs which were used to trace tattoos onto skin. Ton discovered custom-made tattoo tools. One had the name “Pike” engraved on it.

Fact: Renowned tattoo artist, Mike Pike, got his first tattoo when he was 7 years old.

A second machine was signed by Bob Shaw. He helped boom the popularity of tattoos in the US.

Fact: Bob Shaw began tattooing in 1941, at age 16.

Haff-Ton team took the designs and custom-made tools to Rick, an expert tattooist and collector.

Several of the tattoo designs were from the 1940’s made by Bob Shaw himself. Duo showed him Mike Pike “Teacup” machine.

Fact: The Mike Pike “Teacup” gets its name from the shape of the machine’s frame.

Rick was very impressed by the Bob Shaw “Swing Gate” tool. It was made of cast iron, which often broke, so they were very rare and hard to find.

Fact: Bob Shaw worked as a tattoo artist for over five decades until his death in 1993.

Rick was astonished the tool had been signed by Bob Shaw. Unsigned alone the tool was valued at $2,500. Signed, the Haff-Ton team learned the value was $10,000.

Ink-Me!

Fact: The world’s most tattooed man is 100% covered, including the inside of his mouth.

Rick paid $8,000 for the lot. He threw in a tattoo for Ton made with the Bob Saw tattoo machine.

Ton was stoked with his tattoo made by a Bob Shaw tool.

Auction Total:

Paid $1,225
Sold: $13,415
Profit: $12,190

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: The Color of Money

November 1, 2011

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 22: “Hot Wheels.”

Haff-Ton drove to “The Jewel of the Hot Desert.” That would be Palm Springs, California. The town of wealth and leisure. Duo expected to find treasure hidden in storage units.

Fact: Private golf courses in Palm Springs have membership fees as high as $250,000.

The weather was hot and miserable. The bidders grumpy and serious. The storage units were all outside.

In a word – UGH!

Fact: The highest recorded temperature in Palm Springs is 123 Fahrenheit, recorded on July 28, 1995.

Grab Bag Unit

Drums, amplifier, poker chips, vintage Pepsi cans, action figure, garbage bags, and boxes. This unit had a little bit of everything. Haff-Ton team won it for $200.

Allen found a TV, vinyl records, and electric piano. Duo carried a cheap coffee table out of the locker. That’s when Ton spotted tires.

Haff-Ton team moved mattresses and boxes and AHA! Cave man toy! A 1965 Mustang car-themed pool table!

Fact: The ’65 Mustang debuted on film in the 1964 James Bond movie, “Goldfinger”

Duo took the pool table to Dennis, a gaming expert. The model for the table made from original Mustang parts. The original headlights, tail lights, and bumper were still intact; and the tire chrome rims were real.

Fact: The Ford Mustang is named after the WWII P-51 Mustang fighter plane.

It was a classic collector’s piece.

Dennis wanted to buy it for $5,000. Allen asked for $6,500. Stalemate. The only solution? A game of pool. Dennis picked his opponent. Ton played dumb as though he did not know how to play pool. Dennis chose him. Bad move! Ton had been playing since he was a kid.

Dennis just got hustled!

Ton won in 1-2-3, eight in the corner pocket. Allen asked Dennis to show the “Color of your Money.”

Fact: Paul Newman reprised his role as “Fast Eddie” in 1986’s “The Color of Money”

Off-Road Unit

Cabinet, R.V. tractor tires, motorcycle riding gloves, car frame bender, door, work bench, and boxes. Duo saw something big in the back; won the locker for $240.

Allen found a microwave. Ton discovered off-road chest protectors.

Fact: Off-road chest protectors guard against puncture wounds from flying trail debris.

What was in the back? SAND RAIL! An off-road vehicle which was light weight but heavy on the horse power.

Fact: Some sand rails boast over 400 horsepower, and can jump over 10 feet in the air.

Ton glee like a boy with a toy. He enjoyed driving sand rails up at Dumont Dunes.

Fact: The largest of the Dumont Dunes, Competition Hill, rises 500 feet above the Mojave Desert.

Duo took the vehicle to a sand rail expert nicknamed, “Animal.” He said the sand rails were at their prime in the 1970’s. Several of the custom pieces for sand rails could not even be found anymore.

Fact: Sand rails feature special tires to ‘float’ on top of sand.

Allen took the uber-fast dune buggy for a test drive. He drove fast! Mad Max had nothing on him. Dust whirled about like a tornado as Allen pushed the pedal to the metal.

Duo wanted $14,000 for the sand rail. Animal was a little reluctant, until he took it for a ride. Then he fell in love with that sand rail. In his own words: “Dude, you got a deal!”

Ton played Fast Eddie. Allen played Mad Max. It was a movie-themed auction day for the duo.

Auction Total:

Paid $440
Sold: $21,420
Profit: $20,980

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: Ton sets Allen on Fire!

October 25, 2011

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 21: “Battle Bought.”

Haff-Ton team drove to Whittier, California for a shipping container auction. Container were shipped from all over the world; thought a few originated from the states.

Fact: Container auctions move quickly to avoid affecting the facility’s shipping schedule.

Allen spotted an old partner at the auction, Big Bill. He’s a mean old fella who enjoys to drop a room on buyers.

Fact: To ‘drop a room’ means to strategically bid to drive up the price on your opponent.

China Cabinet Unit

China cabinet, and lots of boxes. Haff-Ton won the unit for $525.

Allen found a can of spaghetti sauce. Oh, lunch! He also found a professional artist’s easel. Ton unpacked drapes and fabrics from a box. He then discovered a butane torch.

Allen dug up a fighting BattleBot robots. Several little ones and one big yellow one.

Fact: BattleBots was one of the many combat robot TV shows in the early 2000s.

Duo took the bots to Chuck and Jason. These men engineered and built robots for BattleBot competitions. One of them built a part of the Phoenix bot which landed on Mars.

Fact: The Phoenix Mars rover took almost 10 months to travel 422 million miles.

Haff-Ton team showed the guys their little robots. HA! Lightweights as far as Chuck and Jason were concerned. The yellow bot was another matter. It was a middleweight with a lot of brute force; plus it was almost bullet proof.

Fact: The middleweight class of combat robots can weigh up to 120 pounds.

Chuck and Jason turned it on and maneuvered the bot to see if it worked.

Fact: BattleBot arenas feature obstacles like spinning plates, pits, walls, and fire.

Allen wanted to take over but quickly damaged the guys’ fax machine with the bot. Duo were paying for a fax machine either way, might as well go eat the whole hog.

DIE FAX MACHINE, DIE!

Fact: Some bots hit with a force of 250psi, ten times the force that can break bones.

Chuck and Jason bought the yellow bot for $2,000. The little bots weren’t worth the trouble to find a buyer. Haff vs Ton BattleBot match! Ton’s bot lit Allen’s bot on fire. Char-grilled and well done, Ton.

Fact: BattleBot weapons include saw blades, axes, hammers, and flame throwers.

Antique Unit

Antique side table, carpet, ottoman, lampshades, and boxes. Haff-Ton team won the unit for $675.

Ton unpacked a silver plated tea seat. Allen found a harmonica pistol.

Fact: The first harmonica pistol was made in 1829, and is now worth $200,000.

Duo took the gun to Blaze who stated it dated back to the 1800’s. Pistol made by Jarre.

Fact: Alphonse Jarre was known for designing harmonica-feed pistols.

Historically, the harmonica pistol one step closer towards the invention of vertical magazines.

Fact: The first firearm with a vertical magazine was the Volition repeating rifle in 1848.

The gun was in mint condition. Blaze said it belonged in a museum.

Allen wanted $10,000 for it, but Blaze wouldn’t go above $7,000. Duo refused and drove off in their bread truck. Blaze, with a change of heart, called them back. He agreed to pay $10K for the pistol. That was sweet music to Allen’s and Ton’s ears.

Auction Total:

Paid $1,200
Sold: $13,300
Profit: $12,100

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: Mad Scientist

October 18, 2011

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Bonus Episode: “Night of the Digging Dead.”

Haff-Ton team drove to Oxnard, California. Oxnard has beaches, mansions, agriculture, and manufacturing. Anything and everything could be inside a storage locker.

Fact: Oxnard is infamous for its violent surfer gangs.

Household Unit

Jewelry cabinet, flat screen TVs, fire safe, scuba tank, detergent, furniture, fake plant, and boxes. Duo won the locker for $1,000.

The fire safe was locked. Allen used his break-into-safe skills. He dropped the corner of the safe onto the floor. Inside? No gold or silver. Papers and card titles. Wah. Wah. Wah.

Allen scuba gear and steel cage-like parts. Ton blew a cap. He knew what the steel cage was. A shark cage!

Duo put the cage together. Had all its parts. They took the cage to Chris, a shark boat captain. It was a nice cage. Had a good floating system. Decent condition and higher valued cage than most.

Fact: Rodney Fox invented the first shark cage in 1965 after surviving a near fatal shark attack.

Shark cage had to be tested. First to see if it would hold up in water. Secondly to see if it would hold up against a shark attack. Say what?

Time to head out to sea into shark infested waters. Ton would take the plunge to meet Jaws!

Fact: Great white sharks can detect blood in the water from 3 miles away.

Chris lowered the cage into the water. All was quiet. Then… OH NO! One of the floatation devices broke loose from the cage. Soon after, the bottom of the cage fell off! Ton had no yet jumped into the cage. Phew! Nothing like 300 pounds of Ton bait.

The cage’s value lowered, of course. Duo sold the cage for $500.

Doctor’s Unit

Vintage furniture, wall clock, pharmacy tubs, old doctor diagrams, and boxes. Haff-Ton team won the unit for $550.

It was very late at night by the time the duo dug through locker.

Ton unpacked boxes of games and hot wheels. Allen found an undertaker’s certificate dating back to 1926. Don’t think that had value, but the antique postmortem equipment with embalmer might.

Fact: In 1865, Lincoln became the first U.S. President to be embalmed.

Allen also retrieved a doctor’s bag from the 1920’s with an electric bone saw inside. He could literally saw someone in Haff… I meant half. Or did I?

Ton found a vintage undertakers tool kit. Who owned this storage unit? Creep-o-mongus! Duo took the postmortem equipment to the morgue to show Sean, who was an autopsy technician and collector.

Fact: An average of 2.4 million corpses pass through U.S. mortuaries annually.

The electric bone saw interested Sean. It was from the 1940’s. Electric bone saws revolutionized how bodies were examined. Sean speculated how many thousands of heads that saw had opened. Allen really didn’t want to think about it. Can’t say I blame him.

Sean wanted to see how straight and accurate the saw could would cut. Allen held sample skull. Saw cut right through that dead skull. That’s just wrong on so many levels.

Sean paid $8,500 for all the morticians equipment.

Ton could have been shark bait. Allen cut through a skull. What a weird day at auction.

Auction Total:

Paid $1,550
Sold: $9,680
Profit: $8,130

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: I will BUMP You off the Road

September 13, 2011

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 20: “Sin City Shootout.”

Haff-Ton drove to Las Vegas, Nevada. May luck be a lady and they hit the storage unit jackpot!

Fact: The biggest slot machine jackpot in Las Vegas was worth over $39 million.

Gamblers make storage auctions an expensive business in Vegas. Locals glad to overpay for a locker for the high-stakes game of hunting for treasure in a locker.

Fender Box Unit

Shelves, heavy duty cases, hangers, crutches, box marked Fender, couch, and a fan. Duo won the unit for $350. Let’s hope that Fender box wasn’t empty.

Fact: A signed Fender guitar sold for 2.8 million at an auction in 2005.

It was a crap shoot. Fender box stuffed with trash. Allen looked on the bright side (if there is one). Duo now had $2.50 in recycled cans. Big whoop!

Allen found clothing and stuffed animals. Ton discovered a potato launcher and was he ever happy!

Fact: Potato guns can shoot a potato up to 700 yards.

Allen found two matching suitcases bot filled with magazines for AR15/M16. As luck would have it, M16’s were legal in Nevada. Which of course, Ton knew.

Fact: The U.S. first used M-16s in combat during the Vietnam War.

Haff-Ton team took the magazines to Bob, a local gun dealer. The magazines appeared in good condition. Brand name from a decent company. Allen, of course, wanted to a fire a few rounds. You know, to make sure everything worked.

Allen fired as though he were in a bad “B” movie. He aimed at watermelons which just exploded into pieces.

Fact: The M-16 A1 can shoot 750 rounds of ammunition per minute.

Bob was in a strong bargaining position as the magazines could not be legally sold in California. Both parties agreed to the price tag of $1,250.

Warehouse Unit

Pallet jack, furniture, books, gloves, bags, and boxes. Haff-Ton team won the unit for $800.

Allen pulled the tarp off what he thought was a wine cabinet, but it turned out to be photo booth. It was a reproduction of a 50’s style piece.

Fact: The first known photo booth was unveiled at the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris.

Allen found a pair of over sized clown shoes. Weirdly enough, they fitted Ton perfectly – that dude has big feet!

Fact: Ton wears a size 15 EEE shoe.

Allen also unpacked a hamburger maker. Ton thought they should keep it for barbeques.

Fact: The record for the longest sausage is 36.75 miles, set in the UK in 2000.

Haff also discovered a Royal Doulton porcelain figurine. Unfortunately, it was chipped.

Fact: Royal Doulton has been making fine china and collectibles since 1815.

Ton had better luck. He found a BUMPER CAR that dated back to the 50’s. It still worked. Allen took it for a spin!

Fact: The longest bumper car marathon lasted over 25 hours.

Afterwards, Allen declared that was the most fun he’d ever had in a storage unit.

Allen knew he had to sell they had to sell the bumper car because it had value. Duo took the car to Peter, a bumper car collector.

Fact: Bumper cars retrofitted with 12 volt batteries can run up to 22 mph.

Peter specifically dated the car back to 1953. Time of the last of the metal bumpger cars. He showed the duo the car’s VIN number under its seat.

Fact: A bumper car’s Vehicle Identification Number [VIN] indicates what theme park it came from.

It appeared to be in good shape. Peter wanted to see if the bumper car run. Allen happy to oblige.

SOLD to Peter for $9,000. To wrap up the day, Allen suggested they head back to the gun range. Ton’s love for gun rubbed off on Allen.

Auction Total:

Paid $1,150
Sold: $13,750
Profit: $12,600

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: Ton rode a BULL!

September 6, 2011

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 19: “Rodeo Ton.”

Haff-Ton team drove to Anaheim, California. They were not going to Disneyland, however, buying storage units at auction can at time feel like an amusement park.

Fact: Anaheim’s population boomed after the completion of Disneyland in 1955.

Allen’s weather forecast for the day was sunny with a chance of beautiful storage units.

Fact: More than half of Anaheim Hills residents make over $100,000 a year.

Expensive Unit

Mattress, air conditioner, lemonade juicer, suitcases, and boxes marked expensive. The duo won the locker for $425.

Allen unpacked a silver serving tray from one box. Unfortunately it wasn’t solid silver. He also found an old table and bad china. Crap! Ton discovered some old clothes. More crap!

Fact: In 1996, a silver serving tray sold for a record $10,287,000.

Allen dug through a box. Found hunting clothes, a duck decoys to train dogs to hunt, and a duck caller.

Fact: Native Americans created the first duck calls out of canes and reeds.

Ton retrieved an antique banjo from the 30’s from inside of one box. Inside another box he found vintage duck decoys. All hand- crafted and one-of-a-kind.

Fact: In 1924, archaeologists found 2000 year old duck decoys in a Nevada cave.

Haff-Ton team took the ducks to Mike, a decoy collector and a personal friend of Ton.

Mike knew right off the bat from the paint and shape of one particular duck, that it was made by the Dodge Decoy Company. Dated back to 1880.

Fact: Jasper N. Dodge produced decoys between 1883 and 1905.

One duck decoy, Allen christened as the ugly duckling, was appraised at $3,000. No so ugly now. Another duck decoy was made by Janson and valued between $5,000-$6,000.

Fact: “Fresh-Air-Dick” Jason carved all of his decoys by hand, between 1920 and 1945.

Retail value of the whole flock? $15,000.

DUCK ME!

Fact: In 2007, an antique duck decoy sold at auction for a record $856,000.

Mike offered them $3,000. Ouch.

Allen wasn’t happy. He threatened to put one of the ducks in the water if Mike didn’t up his price. Now Allen, it’s not nice to harm innocent little ducky in your negotiations.

Mike raised his offer to $8,500. Sold!

Quack! Quack! Quack!

Roping Steer Unit

Cow skull for steer roping practice, statue, cooler, and boxes. There was a big space in the back, but the duo couldn’t see what was back there. Haff-Ton won the unit for $675.

Ton found a DVD player and a GPS. It was going in the bread truck!

Duo cleared away all of the boxes. WOW! Allen found a mechanical bull in the back. It reminded him of Urban Cowboy (a movie starring John Travolta and Debra Winger).

Fact: To prepare for Urban Cowboy, John Travolta installed a mechanical bull in his home.

Haff-Ton took the mechanical bull to a cowboy bar owner named Kenny. Mechanical bull model was an El Toro. It dated back to the 70’s.

Fact: The original El Toro only had two speeds: off and on.

Kenny explained that mechanical bulls originally were used to train bronco riders. They became popular in clubs after the movie, Urban Cowboy.

Fact: John Travolta did all his own bull-riding stunts in Urban Cowboy.

Kenny picked Ton to test it out. Ton weighs about 300 pounds. The mechanical bull can toss 300 pounds. That’s a lot of bull between man and machine. Allen made a side bet with Kenny. For every second Ton stayed on, Kenny would pay a grand.

Ton rode the bull for 5.5 seconds. Kenny was true to his word and bought the bull for $5,000.

Auction Total:

Paid $1,100
Sold: $16,600
Profit: $15,500

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: Ton of Magic

August 30, 2011

Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 18: “Viva La Vegas.”

The Haff-Ton team drove to Henderson, Nevada, a suburb 20 miles south of Vegas and a popular vacation home spot.

Fact: Jason Giambi, Chris Tucker and Flavor Flav all reside in Henderson.

Henderson had a reputation for great auctions and lots of professionals had showed up to bid. The Haff-Ton team had to keep on their toes.

Trash Bag Unit

Canvas sheet, open suit case, folder, walker, trash bags and boxes. The duo won the unit for $120.

Allen started going through the trash bags. He found a lot of trash inside, but also $150 dollars. Not bad! Allen also discovered some old German beer steins from the late 1800’s.

Fact: Stein lids were invented in the 1300s to repel flies carrying the Black Plague.

Ton was definitely excited.

Fact: The world record for beer drinking is 1 litre of brew in 1.3 seconds, set in 1977.

Ton found some Elvis Presley t-shirts. In a box he discovered a cane with a telescope and sword inside. Very cool.

Haff-Ton team took the sword cane to Luke, a blade specialist. He told them full length sword canes were hard to come by. The telescope probably meant this had been used by an explorer.

Fact: Canes that hold various tools are generally referred to as “gadget canes”

Luke dated it between 1820-1860. In excellent condition a sword cane would be worth up to $3,500.

Fact: Sword canes first emerged after dueling was outlawed by the King of France in 1626.

This one had been used and there was obvious wear on the blade.

Luke bought it from them for $1,500.

Safe Unit

Couch, keyboard, safe, vintage suitcase, and fake plant. The duo won the locker for $200.

Ton was excited to get his hands on the safe. The keypad was broken, but this didn’t stop Ton who got his tools out of the truck.

Fact: A $339,000 safe designed to hold luxury clothing is the most expensive in the world.

He drilled a hole through the safe and used a snake cam to look inside. Duo spotted some money inside and got very excited. Ton also saw the safe’s key and with the use of a magnet, got it out.

Fact: Snake cams are used by SWAT teams to detect threats under doors and around corners.

Duo were extremely disappointed when they opened the safe and found the money was fake.

Allen opened the vintage suitcase and found magician props inside, including a wand and magic hat.

Fact: The world record for most rabbits pulled out of a magician’s hat is 300, set in 2008.

In the back of the unit Ton found a magic box and saws used for a magic trick to cut a woman in half and then put her back together again.

Haff-Ton team took the magic box to pro magician Larry. Larry called it the Zig Zag Girl and said it was invented by Robert Harbin.

Fact: Robert Harbin was a popular British illusionist in the mid-1900s.

Larry explained it was very important in magic history. Depending on how well the parts worked, it would be worth between $1,200-$3,000.

Larry brought out his assistant Angela to help him test it out. Together with Allen and Ton, Larry performed the trick.

Fact: Black paint on the sides of the box make the space inside appear smaller than it really is.

All the parts worked well, and Larry paid $2,500 for the box. Now that’s pretty magical!

To wrap up the day, duo treated themselves to some beer in the beer steins. Bottoms up!

Auction Total:

Paid $320
Sold: $5,070
Profit: $4,750

Please post your insightful and thoughtful opinions in the comment box below.

Auction Hunters: Allen Races Ton

August 23, 2011