John: This is where we keep all the movie cars
that go to all the car shows.
Robbie: What!
The beverly hillbillies!
Danielle: The munster mobile!
The delorean!
[wheels screeching]
robbie: Woohoo! Danielle: Ahhh!
Mike: Dave, check this out.
Dave: Holy crap.
Mike: I haven't seen this much of this kind of stuff...
Mike: This boat with a gun on the front of it,
that's bad-ass!
Ted: [laughs]
mike: ...Under one roof, in an extremely long time.
Ted: I got 8 storage units, and they're just like this.
Mike: Wooh...
♪♪
mike: Robbie is texting me, he's blowing up my phone,
he's like, "tell dave to call me back,
why isn't he calling back, is he alright?"
I mean...
Dave: Yeah...
Mike: ...Just call my brother back,
it's like you're his friend, be courteous.
Dave: I am courteous.
But he's always giving me advice all the time, you know.
Mike: What is he trying to give you advice on?
Dave: "there's 150,000 beautiful women out there.
You go in the bar, and you pick a fight with the biggest guy.
And then all the girls will see you're the alpha."
mike: Everybody's just kind of worried about you, you know.
You're living alone, you're eating tv dinners.
You know you're... Dressing kind of...
Like farm & fleet-ish.
So he's kind of taken it upon himself to give you some advice.
Dave: "hey dave!"
mike: [laughs]
dave: "" ...You gotta do this!
You gotta do that, what's the matter with you!"
I mean, if he just talked to me like,
you know, a normal person,
maybe I'd take in some of that in, you know.
Mike: As much as we tease dave, I love picking with the guy.
Mike: Here we go...
Mike: He's like riding around with an encyclopedia.
He has taught me so much.
Mike: Alright, get the flyer, dude.
Mike: Hey -hey! You ted?
Ted: Can I help ya?
Mike: Hey, how are you doing, my friend?
I'm mike.
Ted: Nice to meet you.
Mike: Good to see ya, how are ya?
This is dave.
Dave: ...Ted.
Ted: Hi dave.
Mike: Hand him the flyer there, dave baby.
Dave: Here you go.
Mike: Anything on here from pottery to advertising.
Ted: I've got... Amusement park, arcade.
I'm a... Kid at heart...
Mike: Yeah. [laughs]
ted: ...I'm- I'm a 75-year-old kid.
Mike: I love that.
Ted: I like amusement parks, especially at night.
When I was younger, I didn't really ride that many rides,
but I loved the arcade.
Trying to win something out of the- the crane games
mike: I see this bumper car.
Ted: Yeah.
Mike: I can see the rubber at the bottom.
Ted: Yep.
Mike: Look at this, dave baby, take this off.
Dave: Yeah!
Mike: Yeah!
Dave: Ooh... That's a cool one.
Mike: There you go, man.
Ted: Yeah that- that's probably from the...
Late '20s, early '30s.
Mike: Oh my gosh, this is the style,
this has got the look.
Dave: I love the front.
Mike: I know.
Have long has this been sitting out here?
Ted: Oh... Probably 7, 8 years anyway.
Maybe more than that.
Mike: Yeah.
Is it... Is it from a park that you used to frequent?
Ted: I think this one was actually from euclid beach park.
At one time, in this area within 60-mile radius,
there was a approximately 25 parks here at one time.
Dave: Wow.
Mike: You have to be a kid at heart to collect carnival,
circus, and arcade stuff your whole life.
Mike: You know what that's for, dave?
Dave: Yeah.
Mike: Face plants.
Dave: [laughs] that's right.
Ted: Yeah.
Mike: The stuff that ted collects has been extremely
hard to find for years.
Because it speaks to the kid in all of us.
So it's always been sought after.
Mike: I can remember when I was a little kid,
I couldn't do these, I was too little, you know.
Ted: [laughs]
mike: But I can remember watching people
in the cage, I guess.
Ted: Sure.
Mike: And the cage above them...
Ted: [zzztt, zzztt, zzztt]
mike: ...And then the electricity going
[zzztt -zzztt- zzztt]... It was so crazy, man.
Dave: The sparks coming down.
Does it have the electric motor in it still?
Ted: No it does not.
They scrapped them out from the '20s,
'30s, there's a lot of copper in them.
Dave: Oh yeah, yeah.
Mike: People were actually getting them to roll
on the road, you know what I mean?
They're putting engines in them, and they're going for it.
Ted: I would probably sell that one for a grand.
Mike: It's so cool, man.
Look at that. It's like...
It just looks like it's going to eat ya...
Ted: Heh.
Mike: ...You know.
Dave: That's what makes the front of it.
Mike: Dave, shake the man's hand,
I'll do a grand on this.
Ted: Oh cool.
Mike: I think it's awesome.
Dave: Now, that was easy.
Mike: I think it's awesome, man.
Ted: That was easy.
Mike: Yeah, we're easy.
Mike: There are so many reasons that collectors get
to the point that they want to sell.
But for ted, losing his passion is definitely not one of them.
Ted: I don't know if you still go to parks,
but over in knoebels grove in pennsylvania,
they still run these cars.
Mike: No way!
Ted: Sometimes I would take off early at noon,
come home and get my son and daughter,
put them in the car, we'd drive to pittsburgh,
which is an hour away, go to the park in kennywood,
and close the park down at 10 or 11 o'clock.
Then after drive an hour and a half back home.
They would fall asleep in the car,
but they had a good time.
Ted: I mean, it's a family thing, you know.
I take the grandkids every year to the parks.
Mike: Yeah.
And you want them to enjoy the same thing that you did.
Ted: Yeah.
Mike: You want them to feel something different than they
can just, you know, spending time on a computer or...
Ted: Right.
Mike: I'm 55 with an 8 year-old, you know.
So it's important for me to share some of the
stuff that I grew up with too.
Dave: See, mike grew up on the tea cup rides.
Ted: [laughs] mike: No.
Mike: Okay, so what are you going to do with this martin
house, is that what this is, a martin house?
Ted: Yep.
Mike: What's going on here, it's kind of looking
lonely over here.
Ted: Yeah, it's getting dilapidated. I-
mike: Yeah.
It looks like it needs some residents.
Mike: Grandchildren and kids are constant reminders
of what's important in life, and right now,
my little girl charlie, is into birds.
And she's talking about martins.
So if I get the martin house, I'm going to be
the coolest dad ever.
Mike: It's in good shape.
I mean, if you think about it, it's been outside
in the weather, it's wood, you know.
Ted: Yep.
Mike: So overall, it's in really good shape.
Usually if I find them, they're- they're pretty rotted.
What would you have to have for that?
Ted: I'll let you have it for 30 bucks.
Mike: Really?
Ted: Yeah.
Mike: Alright, I'm doing it, man,
I'm doing it, I love it.
It needs a little bit of repair, but you know what...
Ted: Oh yeah.
Mike: ...I- I wanted an old one.
Danielle: Does it ever freak you out that you can't
pump your own gas in jersey?
Robbie: First time I ever went to new jersey and a
guy came up to me at the pump, I about threw down on him.
I'm like, what are you doing near my car?
Danielle: Yeah.
Robbie: They need to put a freakin' hat on,
and an attendant's jacket on and say,
"hey I'm the guy doing your windows,
pumping your gas."
danielle: I have a little bit of a surprise for you today.
Robbie: Yeah? I like surprises.
Danielle: I'm going to take you to see my buddy, john.
So this dude actually collects movie cars.
He actually has the original robin go kart.
Robbie: Robin?
Danielle: And he's ready to let go of them.
From batman and robin.
Robbie: He has a go kart, robin, he got down on it, like that?
Danielle: He has a robin go- original robin go kart,
from batman and robin.
Robbie: Yeah, he like scooted off, he like
zipped down and sat in the sidecar thing, and like-
danielle: Yes, yes!
Robbie: - [makes driving noise] and away he went.
I remember the freakin' thing, they flash up on the screen,
robbie: Bang!
Danielle: Yeah... Kapow! Robbie: Yeah.
Danielle: Kaplash! Robbie: Yeah.
Danielle: Gazoom!
Robbie: That's what I'm talking about!
Danielle: Cha-chung! Robbie: Ha!
Danielle: Yes, that's it.
Robbie: You're kidding me.
Danielle: I don't know for how much...
Yeah, ahh!
Robbie: [laughs] woo!
Danielle: Man...
Robbie: I'm excited.
Danielle: You got a big ol' beef hand, ahh...
Robbie: Beefcaker.
Danielle: Walking into this day, I knew for sure this
is not going to be a textbook pick.
There is one thing potentially for sale if the money's right.
Danielle: Yep, we're in the right spot,
that's got to be him.
Robbie: That's him, that's john?
Danielle: Hey yeah.
Robbie: Alright.
Danielle: Alright.
Robbie: Hey, you john?
John: Yes.
Robbie: How are you doing, man? Rob wolfe.
Robbie: Nice to meet you.
John: Nice to meet you.
Danielle: How're you doing?
Nice to see you, oh my gosh.
John: Hey, how are you, nice to see you,
good to see you.
Danielle: I'm going to hand this to you right now.
John: Okay.
Danielle: You already know the stuff we're looking for.
John: Okay.
Danielle: There's a list for ya.
John: Okay.
Danielle: But I brought robbie here for one thing specifically.
Robbie: Yeah, I hear you got the... Robin.
John: Come on, let's take a look.
Robbie: Alright.
Danielle: Alright, already huh.
Robbie: Jump right in it.
Danielle: Ahh...
Robbie: What! Shh- holy cow!
Dude, you weren't kidding!
Danielle: It's like romper room for you, isn't it?
Robbie: I know, this is like crazy!
John: I was born into hot rods.
I mean, it's the way I sleep, it's the way I eat,
it's the way I breathe.
Danielle: All kinds of history, no big deal.
Robbie: Dani, dani, dani, this is the ricksha.
Danielle: It's gorgeous.
John: Totally original.
This was built by george barris for the
1970 japanese world's fair.
Robbie: How often have you taken this thing on the road?
John: Hmm... [chuckles] not often.
Danielle: Can- could you?
Robbie: Not often.
John: Not to- yeah, you definitely can.
Danielle: You could, you could tool it around
the neighborhood, maybe?
John: Yeah.
John: So as a kid, looking through magazines,
because my father had hot rod magazine everywhere.
I would open up a magazine,
and I would see the ricksha in there.
It was just a stunning piece of artwork.
Robbie: It's got a spaghetti exhaust.
Danielle: Spaghetti exhaust, look at how cool that looks?
Robbie: Hey, I love this right here.
George was hot-rodding this thing,
broke the case, welded it back up.
Danielle: Oh no way.
John: It worked.
Robbie: Ohh...
Danielle: Yeah.
Robbie: George barris was a pioneer when it
came to custom cars.
Robbie: The dragula, the batmobile, the munsters koach.
Robbie: How did you get this?
John: Throughout the years, my dad did a lot of
car shows back in the day with george.
You know, they became close.
Danielle: That's a hell of a family history.
John: Yeah.
And he was a craftsman himself.
It makes it easier throughout the years to acquire
things like this when you...
Robbie: When you have a connection,
yeah, so your dad had the connection and...
John: Yes... Yeah.
Robbie: Wow.
John: My father paved the way for hot-rodders
on the east coast.
He had the first hot rod in our area.
Danielle: When did it hit, that your dad was
friends with george barris?
John: Uh, when he took me to the new york coliseum
to see the batmobile for the first time.
Danielle: What age were you?
John: Had to be maybe seven?
And then he put me inside and I sat in it,
so it was even much more fun than just seeing it.
Danielle: Yeah.
Robbie: My brother and frank actually bought
the one from george.
Frank: Nice to meet you.
George: Frank, glad to see you.
Mike: It is an honor, my friend.
George: My son and I put this this together
to be a takeoff of the dragula.
Frank: Oh this is cool.
[screeching tires]
robbie: I actually got to drive it once. It was cool.
Danielle: Yeah.
Robbie: I mean, and that was nowhere near what this is.
John: Right.
Danielle: This ricksha is incredibly beautiful.
It just drips with color, it's very psychedelic.
George barris was a genius.
Robbie: Hooo-ly cow!
Danielle: Haa!
John: Right here.
Robbie: Woooww...
Danielle: There it is.
♪♪
ted: Yeah, this is a garage I probably haven't been in,
parts of it for 20 years.
Mike: Really?
Ted: Maybe you can get in there and...
Mike: Just push it open?
Ted: Yep, just shove it up.
And then grab the...
Mike: Alright.
Mike: Oh wow. Yeah. [laughs]
dave, check this out!
Mike: This is the first time that we're actually seeing
the scope of ted's collection.
Mike: What is this, an old strength tester?
Ted: Yes.
Mike: Yeah, test your strength.
Mike: And a lot of it's coin-op, a lot of it's taken apart,
but to get anywhere in this garage,
you have to climb over stuff.
And you really have to pay attention to what you're
walking on, and what you're looking at.
[crash]
dave: Whoopsie.
Mike: Wow.
Ted: I need to get you to sign a waiver that, if you fall...
Dave: Heh.
Mike: [laughs] I think I already signed it.
Ted: [laughs] dave: I won't fall.
Mike: Here's an old santa here...
Avalanche!
Hey ted, what about...
What about santa?
Do you have other pieces to it, you know like...
Ted: No, that's...
Mike: ...The elves or- here's some carolers
there it looks like.
Ted: I'm a big christmas fan, I used to decorate,
and I did put santa out a few times.
Ted: Carolers, oh boy.
Mike: Alright, so I got carolers and santa claus,
what are you thinking?
Ted: I'm thinking it's your turn, you name a price.
Mike: Uh...
It's- they're paper and the paper's peeling off on the
bottom on...
100 bucks.
Ted: Yeah. I got way too much stuff.
Mike: [laughs] okay.
Alright, we're doing- hey it's getting that time of year.
Ted: Yep.
Mike: A lot of this stuff that I'm looking at,
that I'm interested in, you have to remove everything
in the garage to even get to it.
Mike: Wow, there's that killer...
Highway patrol ride car, like it's a car you drive it...
Ted: Oh yeah.
Mike: It's 10 cents, so that's old.
Ted: Yeah.
Mike: But I'm seeing some really incredible pieces in here,
that I'm dreaming about trying to get out.
Ted: That's actually just a piece of a sign.
It is porcelain though...
Dave: Yeah, I see where somebody cut it.
Ted: Yeah, that somebody was me.
Dave: Was it? [chuckles]
ted: I bought that shell sign probably for like
25 bucks when I bought it.
Everybody saw it as a cut up piece of junk,
they were just going to take it to the scrapyard.
Dave: There it is. Ugh...
Ted: It was actually being used as a work bench.
Dave: Oh really.
Dave: Even though the sign's been hacked on and was used
for a work bench, the condition was amazing.
And if you really wanted to you can kind of
attach that small piece.
Ted: 400 bucks.
Dave: You know, I'm going to do that.
Thanks, brother.
Ted: Okay.
Mike: Let's see here...
Here we go, ted, look... Ahh...
Ted: Oh that- that's high-dollar.
[laughs] mike: I know, that's cool.
And you can see on the sides it has sockets.
Ted: Yep.
Mike: Where there were bulbs.
Ted: There's...
Mike: It's got like a cherub's face.
Is this the only one you have or is there more than one?
Ted: There's one in the basement.
Mike: There's one of these in the basement.
Ted: Yes.
Mike: That's a matching pair?
Ted: Well yeah. I...
I want to keep at least one of them.
Mike: Okay, what- do you know the history of this piece?
Ted: There was a small amusement park,
geneva-on- the-lake.
Ted: That's actually for the running boards of a carousel
and that operated in geneva-on-the-lake for 30,
35 years.
Ted: It's either 24 or 36 horse merry-go-round.
Mike: Yeah.
Dave: Ooh.
Mike: You got that?
Ted: No.
[group laughing]
mike: So what are you thinking on this?
Ted: Ah geez, I would say 2-and-a-half.
I- I know that's a lot of money, but...
Mike: No, I think it's incredible.
Ted: I- I don't think you're going to find...
Mike: I'm going to get- I'm going to give you 300.
Ted: Good.
Mike: Alright?
Ted: Sure.
Mike: I appreciate it that much.
Dave: That's great.
Mike: A big part of collecting, is researching what you collect.
But ted has taken that a step further,
because he lived in this world as a child,
and he still does today.
Mike: I love it.
And I'm imagining this all lit up with some big edison bulbs.
Ted: I- I could get you some bulbs if you want.
Mike: Oh man, I love it!
Mike: Collecting is a passion, it's a mission,
it's a life-long journey.
And as you get older, you want to push that story forward,
and you want to bring all of this stuff back
out into the hobby.
Mike: Look at that.
Ted: Where did you find those?
Mike: It's just one.
I don't see another one.
You got more than one?
Ted: I didn't know I had one.
[mike & dave laughing]
ted: I was surprised he found some stuff
that I don't remember putting in there.
Mike: I'd do... 100 bucks.
Ted: 1-and-a-quarter.
Mike: 120.
Ted: Okay.
[group laughing]
robbie: Man, as a kid I watched this thing.
John: Yep.
Robbie: He- it like sat inside the side car of the bike,
and it had a bat wing on the side.
John: Yep. Signed by burt ward.
Danielle: I love...
Robbie: Okay.
Danielle: ...How front and present the "r" is right here.
John: Yeah.
Danielle: So clean, you can still clearly see it.
And I love the...
The bat ear...
Robbie: It's absolutely amazing.
Danielle: ...Effect on the wheel.
Robbie: Hey, can I get on it?
John: Uhh... Well you see how big burt ward
is right in this photo?
He was a little guy.
Robbie: Yeah, he's about as big as me.
I'm that size, come on.
John: What do you think?
Danielle: You're twice that size,
but you buy it, right?
Robbie: Are you kidding me?
Look at this thing, this is like childhood all over,
1966 right here.
Look at this?
Danielle: Ohh...
Robbie: What are you guys talking about?
Holy cow!
Danielle: It's perfect for you.
Robbie: Aahh...
Robbie: I remember watching that episode on tv as a kid,
the batbike, the robin go kart.
They're running down the strip, all of a sudden they split off,
they jump into the bat helicopter and away they go.
It pulled me in.
I can get this thing going, we need to take this home.
Robbie: Man, if I had a mask on.
Danielle: It's crazy, you know it's like,
it was so cool at the time and it was the bomb.
And then now you look back and it's so kitsch.
You remember like when they like,
split off and he would head to the helicopter.
Robbie: Yeah.
Yeah this was it.
John: I got a shot of that.
Danielle: Look at that, look at the copter!
John: This is it.
Danielle: Oh it looks so good.
Danielle: Seeing that 8-year-old twinkle in robbie's eyes,
as he was down on all fours on that go kart where he obviously
didn't fit 'cause he's not the same size as robin.
Those are the moments I live for on the road.
Robbie: Batman was one of those guys,
like I never really connected to him,
but robin, he was like a teenager,
he was a...
Danielle: 'cause he was a kid.
Robbie: ...He was a kid.
Danielle: Yeah, that makes sense.
Robbie: And he was like that- he was part of the... Pow!
Danielle: Yeah.
Robbie: Love it.
So this was something that george built also.
John: This was built by richard "korky" korkes.
Robbie: Okay.
What was the motor in this thing, john?
John: It's a 1966 single cylinder electric
start yamaha engine.
Robbie: So like a 125 or something, or...?
John: 50cc.
Robbie: Yeah.
John: With a 3-speed transmission.
Robbie: Ohh... It's so cool.
John: I have the original contract when this was
sent to 20th century fox to be on batman.
Robbie: Yeah?
John: If you want to take a look at it.
Danielle: Yeah. Man...
It's incredible.
Robbie: The original contract.
All that comes with it?
John: Everything comes with it.
Danielle: You got all that history.
Robbie: I mean, it's pretty simple designs, wow.
John: Yeah. And this is the contract.
Robbie: So in 1966, dani, they paid $350 for that.
Danielle: Are you kidding me?
Robbie: To have it made.
Danielle: This is a provenance dream, right here.
Robbie: Yeah, look- look at how thick the contract was.
They had to put- ooh, look at that,
look at the batman on there.
Danielle: It's like all of 4 pages.
Robbie: Yeah, look at that.
Danielle: [laughing] and that's one of them?
Robbie: Yeah.
Danielle: Research is what I geek out on,
that's my favorite part of my job.
The provenance is there, all the documentation,
all of the history.
I can't imagine the legwork it took for him to find that.
Robbie: Where was this found?
I mean...
John: This was found in ohio.
It was in a barn.
A gentleman named john button owned it.
And it was restored by a gentleman named eric seltzer.
Robbie: Okay.
John: And these are the original blueprints of it.
John: I've had it a while now, I've had it a couple of years.
And I just felt that I could past the torch on to
somebody else that maybe would want to put it in
their museum or their collection.
Robbie: In my mind, it's like computing,
all this, all that.
I mean, what is the number on it?
John: It is for sale.
Robbie: Okay.
John: But um...
I think I'm going to need a little time to...
Think about it.
Robbie: Well you got more stuff to show us?
John: Yeah, want to come take a look?
Robbie: Yeah.
Robbie: I can understand john's hesitation to put a
number on this piece.
It's cool, it's a piece of television history.
I'll wait it out.
I want to see what else is in these buildings.
♪♪
mike: Oh god, dave, look at this.
Dave: I know.
Ted: This is as...
Dave: ...Crazy.
Ted: ...More than, it's smaller stuff stacked better in here.
Mike: You've been busy.
Ted: Busy.
Mike: You've been very busy.
Ted: Somebody else had told me one time,
you realize with all the crap that you got,
that if you sold it for $1 apiece,
you'd be a millionaire. [laughs]
dave: Ted, bicycle chain.
Ted: Yeah.
Dave: I could use that.
Ted: I don't have a bicycle.
Dave: 10 bucks?
Ted: Sold.
Dave: Alright, thank you.
Mike: Okay, you got a lot of chalk ware over here,
would you sell some of that?
Ted: Sure.
Mike: A lot of carnival chalk ware.
Ted: I probably have 50 pieces of it.
Mike: Here's a nudie.
Missing some paint.
Ted: That would probably be one of the more expensive ones,
unfortunately.
Mike: Yeah.
What- what do you want for her?
Ted: 40, 50 bucks.
Mike: Okay.
Mike: These carnival chalk pieces are a perfect example
of a time in america that will never come again.
A time when carnivals and circuses came to town,
and it was the biggest event of the year.
The challenges that you faced to win something like this,
shooting a gun, throwing a baseball,
throwing a dart, I mean, it was like a rite of passage.
You know, something that you never forgot.
Especially if you're standing next to your girl,
and she wants that special piece.
Mike: Oh yeah.
You got the hawaiian gal.
She's got a couple of little chips.
It's going to be h- hard to find any
that's without chips, obviously.
Ted: Right.
Probably if you take two of them,
we'll make 70.
Mike: Back then, they were inexpensive to make,
and that's why they were given out as prizes.
And they were a tchotchke, it was something simple,
but you know, when you look at them now,
they're art.
Mike: Look at her.
Ted: Oh yeah, that's like a sailor,
from the '30s, '40s.
Mike: I was going to say '30s.
Late '30s.
Ted: She's probably 35 bucks too.
Mike: Okay.
This, is this like screwed shut?
Ted: I can get you a screwdriver,
straight blade, isn't it?
Mike: Yeah, just a regular screwdriver.
Mike: Ted loves carnival stuff, he loves circus stuff,
he spent his lifetime collecting it.
The fact that he will even allow me to open the cabinet
and talk about selling this stuff, has got me on edge, man.
Ted: Yeah, when I was younger, we'd go to the carnivals or
the fairs, or the amusement parks, and the games of chance.
I would always play them and
I would never come home with nothing.
Mike: [laughs]
ted: So it was exciting to find out that later
years, garage sales and stuff, I could buy it.
Mike: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ted: I did that...
Mike: Yeah, you didn't have to win it.
Ted: ...Didn't have to win it, it didn't take no skill.
Mike: We're checking it all out, you know,
the chips, the scratches, the scars, whatever.
And then the subject matter -
horses, lions, babies, indian chiefs.
And it's just like, you know, circus-carnie-americana-folk
art artifacts.
Mike: Alright, dave, this is kind of heavy.
Dave: Oh boy...
Mike: You got it?
Dave: Sort of.
Mike: [chuckles]
mike: So fragile, so colorful, so beautiful.
I want this stuff, man.
Mike: So what are you thinking on all of this stuff?
I mean, it's... It's hard to...
Ted: Ohh geez...
Mike: You know for like...
Just throw a number out 'cause we- we could be here all day
going, okay well this one's 9 and this one's 50
and that one's...
Ted: I'll start at 4.
Mike: Yeah.
Ted: It's your-
mike: Well I'm already at what, 105.
Ted: 105.
Mike: I'm at 105 on the 3 pieces.
To be honest with you, those are the best pieces.
Ted: Oh yeah, I- I know that.
Mike: But like, like this piece right here,
if I had this in my shop, I'd probably have...
25, 30 bucks on that.
Ted: Okay.
Mike: You know.
Ted: Where are you at?
Mike: We're at 300 bucks.
Ted: Oh yeah, done.
Mike: Can we do that?
Ted: Yeah. Mike: Okay. Thank you.
Mike: If I don't buy anything else the rest of the day,
I will go home happy with all of this carnival chalk ware.
Mike: When I was climbing around in your garage over there,
I mean I saw some really cool wood rail...
Ted: Oh yeah.
Mike: ...Pinball machines, great subject matter.
Ted: At one time I had probably 18 to 20 machines working.
When the kids was in school, we would have parties.
Mike: Oh, that's so fun.
Ted: Birthday parties or church groups came over.
Mike: You know what, that's a- that's creating a unique memory.
That's the kind of memories I want to create for my daughter.
She's 8 now.
Ted: Yeah.
Mike: You did a lot, man, you saved all this.
Mike: All these parts and pieces and things that ted's collected,
they're like family to him, man.
They're also something that connects him to family.
And this is the second time that he's teared up
talking about his grandkids.
It's all about experiences, sharing your knowledge,
your passion, and your love for something that,
I guess you have always felt like is bigger than you.
Like you're on this mission your whole life to save all of these
things, and now you're sharing that love with your grandkids
and you're watching them enjoying it.
That's got to be an incredible feeling.
Mike: Imagine all this chalk ware,
this would be nowhere without you, my friend.
Ted: Oh, in a landfill.
Mike: That's right.
♪♪
robbie: Yeah?
John: This is where we keep all the movie cars that
go to all the car shows.
Robbie: What are you talking about?
Danielle: Oohhh...
Robbie: What! Holy cow!
Danielle: Wait a minute...
Robbie: The beverly hillbillies!
Danielle: The munster mobile!
Robbie: As john's opening up the door,
I am completely blown away.
Robbie: Holy cow.
Danielle: The delorean!
Can I get in?
John: Go right in.
Danielle: Ohh... What!
Mike and I actually pulled an original miles delorean
out of a barn.
Mike: Uugghh! Dani!
Danielle: Oh look how pretty it is.
Patty: There she is.
Mike: The delorean!
Danielle: Wooh! This is nuts!
Mefford: [laughs]
danielle: God, I love this car.
Danielle: This isn't the same one that was in the movie?
John: No, it wasn't in the movie.
But it was built by gene winfield.
Danielle: By gene?
John: Yes.
Danielle: I love gene!
John: Gene winfield, he's another very famous customizer.
He built a car called a reactor, it was on star trek.
And it was also on batman.
Danielle: Dude, he's so great.
John: He is.
Danielle: He's killer at what he does.
Nice guy.
John: He is, his emblem's on there too.
Danielle: Man, oh the hover board?
Robbie: I know, I'm like...
Danielle: Shoot... Can I get on it?
John: Yeah of course, try it.
Danielle: Yeah?
Here we go.
Danielle: There's sooo many cars from different generations,
spanning history.
The delorean is the perfect link.
Danielle: You know what I see that's really,
really getting me?
That eartha kitt.
John: Yeah, that's very rare.
Danielle: Eartha kitt embodies burlesque
and femininity and power.
John: Sure, yep, you're right.
Danielle: More than anybody else.
Danielle: Eartha kitt was formidable.
She created not only timeless music,
but a timeless presence on camera.
I mean, you can tell by just looking at this photo.
John: Yeah.
Danielle: She was, I think really the first black
superhero or super villain that there was.
I- I can't think of another before her.
And especially female.
John: And she's sitting in gene winfield's car,
the reactor.
That was the catwoman's.
Danielle: She's sitting in the reactor.
John: Right.
Danielle: It's such an important piece of black history as
well as car culture history, and comic book history.
It just- it- it checks all the boxes.
And so I...
I'd be okay to pay full price 'cause I know
how important your collection is.
John: Yeah.
Danielle: Full price on something like this would
be right around... 250.
John: Because it's you, and I know that it'll go to a
good home, you got a deal.
Danielle: It's going to stay with me too,
this will be my...
Thank you...
John: You got it, you got it, enjoy it.
Danielle: Ohh!
Oh I'm so happy right now!
John: Enjoy it.
Danielle: Oh baby you're coming home with me.
Look how happy she is!
John: [laughs] it's true.
Danielle: Purrrrr-fect!
John: That's it, yep.
Robbie: I know I don't look like jethro,
but I remember the episode so well.
This was the baddest hot rod...
John: Untouched, all original george barris.
Danielle: Well I mean this...
Robbie: This thing run?
John: Yeah.
[honks horn]
john: This runs good.
It's got a 400 olds motor.
Robbie: I remember jethro's hot rod.
He's on the drag strip with granny.
She's in the old jalopy.
She puts moonshine in there...
Robbie: ...That thing takes off like a rocket.
Danielle: [laughs] I remember that.
John: Yeah. This thing, yep.
Robbie: Can I start it?
John: Yeah.
[engine starting]
danielle: Whoa-ha-ha-ha!
[laughs] [honks horn]
john: Do you want to take it for a ride?
Robbie: Right now?
Danielle: He literally drooled on himself,
did you see that! [laughs]
robbie: I'm like, were you <?> me! Get in!
Danielle: We're getting in?
Danielle: It's really impressive to me,
that john can take these old cars that were meant for a movie
or a tv show, and make sure that these cars still have life.
John: Robbie, bring it back in one piece!
Robbie: Oh I will, trust me!
Danielle: Woohoo!
Here it goes, here it goes, here it goes,
here it goes! Here it goes!
[laughs] robbie: Yeah!
Woohoo!
Danielle: Ahh!
Robbie: How many people got to say they drove jethro's hot rod?
Robbie: I can see getting this thing on the highway,
it'd be like, wasssuuppp!
Danielle: Oh my god...
Robbie: I did. And I put my foot into it.
Robbie: Man, the more this thing warms up,
the more it wants to run.
Danielle: Yeah it does.
Oh, look at the deer!
[honks horn]
danielle: [laughs] yeah! Jesus, robbie!
Robbie: Yeeee -hhhaaaww!
Danielle: You... Boy...
Robbie: Damn...
Danielle: You know this is the only reason I hang out
with you and your brother all the time.
Robbie: Oh my god. [honks horn]
danielle: [laughs]
♪♪
ted: There's a few things in here.
Dave: Ooh.
Ted: It's not packed quite as big as that garage.
Dave: It's a lot to take in.
Mike: Look at that mountain lion, man.
Dave: I love that.
Mike: Ted is one of those guys that I literally
dream about picking.
My senses come alive, and my imagination
explodes when I walk into each room.
Because he has such cool stuff.
Mike: Look at that dave, how much is that?
Ted: [laughs] dave: Wow, that's killer.
Mike: How much?
Ted: 15.
Mike: Alright, I'll do it.
Mike: And his passion and his knowledge that he's willing
to share is truly incredible.
Mike: How long have you had this?
Ted: I don't know, 15, 20 years.
Mike: Okay, 'cause they re-issued this
model in the '90s.
Ted: Okay.
Mike: But initially, it was made by a company called park,
and this was the "born losers" series.
Ted: Okay.
Mike: A satire of hitler pointing the gun at his head,
this tank is supposed to be stuck right there on there.
Ted: Okay.
Mike: Parks made this model in the 1960s.
The reality is, this is dark humor.
But it's a caricature of a very real part of history.
Let's face it, hitler was the world's enemy,
he was the face of evil, so it's not surprising that there
were things produced that celebrated his demise.
Mike: I've seen parts and pieces of these,
and I've seen photographs of complete ones,
but I've never seen or held a complete one.
Mike: Would you sell this?
Ted: Yes, if the price is right.
Mike: Yeah, I mean obviously it's very amateur -ish.
Ted: Right.
Mike: Who painted this.
Ted: Sure.
Mike: I mean, very amateur-ish.
Ted: I didn't do it.
Mike: Yeah. Ted: [laughs]
mike: I don't know, like 50 bucks the way it is.
You know it's just...
Ted: 60.
Mike: Alright, I'm doing it, I love it.
Ted: Okay.
Mike: Alright, thank you.
Ted: Sure.
Mike: See, I love your eye.
I love like, that you even bought that.
Dave: Ted. Flash gordon.
Ted: Flash gordon or buck rogers, I'm not sure.
Dave: I'm sure, you're right, it's buck rogers.
Ted: [laughs]
dave: Buck rogers was so popular from the '30s.
He was like elvis back then.
Dave: It's a pop gun, and you cocked it like this, oop...
Ted: Ha!
Dave: It might be able to be fixed.
Dave: The head had been laying out in somebody's yard
and rusty and somebody picked it up and bead blasted
it and took it apart.
Dave: It's been repainted.
Ted: Right.
Dave: I'd be a player at 50 bucks.
Ted: I... I'd take 50 bucks.
Dave: 50?
Ted: Yep. Dave: Deal.
♪♪
robbie: Some stuff in here... Monkees.
John: Yep.
Robbie: Yeah.
John: Original monkees sign. Robbie: Yeah?
John: Dad toured with the monkee mobile.
Robbie: Wow.
John: The monkees sign was given to me by a friend
of mine named tony wood.
Tony worked with george barris.
John: When george took the monkee mobile out,
that was the sign that was set up next to the car.
Danielle: Nice.
John: Yeah.
Robbie: Is this something you'd sell, john?
John: If the price is right, and it's going to a fan,
or somebody that'll appreciate it.
Robbie: It's pretty damn cool.
I mean, it's...
Danielle: I mean, it's the monkees.
Robbie: The monkee mobile was created for the show
as the band's ride.
And almost became as famous as the band.
This piece has a lot going for it.
It has the connection to the band,
the monkees, the tv show, and the car.
Danielle: Looks good on both sides too.
John: Yeah, the painting on it is...
That's gold-leaf.
Robbie: The painting is incredible.
Danielle: Yeah, gold-leaf.
John: Gold-leaf.
Robbie: Yeah. 2,500.
John: Umm... I don't know.
I mean, it is an original.
Robbie: Yeah?
Danielle: Is that a batmobile pedal car?
Robbie: Yeah.
John: This batmobile was in the sears catalog.
Robbie: Right.
Danielle: Okay.
And I'm guessing it probably was like fully painted and...
John: Yeah.
Robbie: Yeah. It's faded over its time.
Danielle: Sure.
Robbie: I mean, there's no cracks in it.
Looks complete.
John: There's not.
Danielle: But look at them, look at the face where you
got batman's face, boom!
Right there with his little eyes.
Danielle: The condition was rough,
obviously, 'cause this thing has been sitting around for decades,
and it got played with hard.
So it's missing the decals, it's obviously kind of sunbaked.
But really to the right person, if they see this and they fall
in love with it, they can take it home and buy new decals.
John: 800.
Danielle: Robbie, I don't know.
Robbie: At 800, I think...
I know they make the sticker kit to go back on it,
but to repaint it and do all that,
we- we just, we don't do that.
Danielle: Yeah true.
Robbie: Yeah, I mean, I think...
3,000 on the pair.
John: Alright.
Danielle: Yeah!
John: I'll do it.
Danielle: Yes, look at that!
♪♪
mike: How about the wooden horse heads?
You got a pink one and a black one.
Ted: Uhh...
Mike: They're profiles.
Ted: 75 for the pair of them.
Mike: Yeah... I wouldn't do that.
I mean, I think...
Ted: Well, make me an offer.
Mike: I would do 50 bucks.
Ted: Sold.
Mike: [laughs]
ted: That- that's where I was at, but I figured if I told...
Mike: Alright, I got you, I got you.
Ted: [laughs] mike: Yeah, I'll do that.
Ted: I bought this stuff right, I made money on it,
and it's going to a good home, and it's probably
going to get restored.
And somebody's going to appreciate it
and have fun with it too.
Dave: What's this?
Ted: [laughs] oh this is from, during the war and in the
service, a lot of guys smoked but didn't buy smokes.
So they would say, "can I bum a cigarette off of you?"
"chiseler!" [ted & dave laughing]
dave: That's funny.
Ted: Oh yeah, look at the, this is the size
the packs used to be.
Dave: Non-filtered.
Ted: Non-filtered.
Dave: They hold them up here.
Ted: In your sleeve. 75 bucks for it.
Dave: Throw in this little devil head guy so I can
hang it in my hot rod.
Ted: Okay.
Dave: I'll do it.
Ted: Sold.
Dave: Bye. Thanks, ted.
Ted: Sure.
Dave: I love that.
♪♪
robbie: Look at that, dani, drivin' deuces,
east coast round-up entry.
Danielle: Drivin' deuces.
John: You know, I really can' t get rid of that,
because that goes with that.
Robbie: This goes to this car?
John: To the mailman special.
My dad started building it in 1959.
He built it in the backyard.
Danielle: Is this your dad right here?
John: Yes.
Danielle: He looks, you look so much like him!
Robbie: Wow. Wow.
Danielle: [sighs] that's crazy.
John: Yeah.
John: My dad built this car strictly for racing.
That was his passion.
And it just evolved into being a show car because
of the way he built it.
And the way he put it together.
John: It was just an eye-catcher.
John: He was asked by general tire to display his car at
the 1964 world's fair in flushing meadows park, queens.
Danielle: Okay.
John: Oh a Saturday, my parents were there and
brian wilson of the beach boys walked in...
Danielle: Stoppp...
Robbie: Wow... Wow!
John: Yeah, and he wanted to buy the car off my parents.
But my father was no, he wasn't interested in selling it,
'cause this was his baby.
Brian wilson asked him, he says
"we're going to be on the ed sullivan show,
and we'd like to have this car on the ed sullivan show."
danielle: Ohhh...
Robbie: And that's it, right there.
John: And that's it.
Danielle: That's nuts! Robbie: Wow.
John: Yep.
John: Everybody watches the ed sullivan show.
Because there were only 3 channels to watch.
All the neighbors came over and they would all congratulate
him and it was, you know, it was a great feeling for him.
Robbie: Wow...
Danielle: Well see no wonder you don't want
to get ride of that plaque.
That's like, that is...
Robbie: I understand that, I mean, heck
I could offer you 2 grand for it,
you're like no it's got to stay with the car.
John: No, can't, yep.
♪♪
dave: Holy crap...
Mike: Oh you guys finally made it down here?
Dave: Really?
[group laughing]
mike: There's just a menagerie of everything in this basement.
Anything from neon clocks to barber poles
to pinball machines.
This is where the high test stuff is.
Mike: Alright, it actually worked with I plugged it in.
Ted: Neon. [laughs]
mike: I know. In green.
Ted: Christmas is coming.
Mike: Ahh... [laughs] I hope so.
Ted: 450?
Mike: Ah it's so cool.
Ted: Oh yeah.
Mike: Alright, I'm going to do the 450.
Dave: Ted.
Ted: Oh yeah, the lady was a professional skater
and traveled all over the country.
Dave: You don't see those skating rinks anymore.
For the most part, they're gone.
Ted: The round one up on the right hand side,
I think that's riverview.
Dave: Oh I see that, that's riverview, yep.
Chicago. 250.
Ted: 275.
Dave: Alright, I'll take it.
Ted: Okay.
Ted: That's for blowing up balloons.
I'd probably have to have 60 bucks.
Mike: What year do you think it's from?
Ted: Oh it's got to be from the '40s.
Mike: I'm going to take it.
I love it, I love it!
I'm just as passionate about you with this stuff,
but you know, you were fortunate enough to live through it.
Ted: [laughs]
mike: You know, I wasn't.
Dave: Ted.
Ted: 20?
Dave: How about 15?
Ted: Okay.
Dave: Alright.
Ted: I hope you brought a big truck.
Dave: Oh we got a big truck.
♪♪
danielle: John.
So much of my childhood right here.
My grandma, I used to go over to her house,
and used to sit on her floor and we'd watch the munsters.
I always felt like a freak, I always felt like
a bit of a weirdo as a kid.
And I loved that I could watch this show,
and all the weirdos are represented.
John: Could I get you a ladder, you want to look inside?
Danielle: Yeah! I would love to, yeah.
Danielle: I was just a freaky weird kid who felt left out all
the time and really felt at home when I watched this show.
Danielle: Whoa...
Robbie: Can you feel herman?
He's right there, he's in the front seat.
Danielle: Oh I feel herman.
Robbie: Yeah.
Danielle: Can I sit in it?
John: Yeah, of course.
Danielle: Yeah?
John: Yep.
Danielle: I got to get up close, I got to feel the
fabric inside the munster koach.
Danielle: Whoa...
John: For herman to get in there,
he would take the seat out.
Danielle: Yeah, he'd have to.
Robbie: He sat on the ground?
John: Sit on the floor, yeah.
Danielle: We actually have the original
munster's koach sketches...
John: Really?
Danielle: ...From barris' collection, for this car.
John: Wow. The ones that tom daniels did?
Danielle: Yeah, yes.
John: Oh wow.
Danielle: Yeah.
I mean, seriously, they belong with this,
they belong with this.
Robbie: Yeah.
John: They do.
They really do.
Robbie: Yeah.
John: So I was very interested when danielle said that
she had the original artwork with the munster koach.
And I would like to maybe try to strike a deal
and keep that together with the car.
Danielle: Well what do you think?
Do I look good in here?
Robbie: You do.
Danielle: Yeah?
John: Yeah.
Robbie: But... We came for the robin mobile.
John: You want to go take another look at it?
Robbie: Yeah.
Danielle: Right.
Robbie: One more time.
John: Let's go check it out.
♪♪
robbie: Ho-ho... Will you look at this.
John: This is comic book history.
Robbie: I didn't think, you know what,
I never even thought about that.
John: And it also has the original agreement,
when it went to 20th century fox in 1966.
Robbie: Every time he opens his mouth,
I'm thinking that he's adding a zero.
Danielle: Cha -ching! Hehe... Cha-ching! [laughs]
robbie: Seriously. I mean, you held me in suspense,
I got to have a number on this thing,
I mean, is it something that...
I mean...
John: I mean, I got to get...
Robbie: Come on...
John: I couldn't go no lower than 100.
Danielle: Yowsa!
Robbie: I knew it was going to be a high number,
but I did not think it was going to be that high.
I mean, that's so out of our reach,
it's not even funny.
Robbie: Is this the first time you've tried
to sell something like this?
John: Yeah.
Robbie: Okay.
So I'm like the first guy to hear that number.
John: You got first dibs.
Robbie: Can you pretend I'm the second guy?
Danielle: [laughs] john: I could try.
Robbie: I got to pass, I just- I can't do it.
John: Alright.
Robbie: Seriously.
John: You know where it is.
Robbie: I know.
John: If you ever need it.
Robbie: Thank you, man.
John: You know, maybe the robin's go kart was
a little out of robbie's range.
But that's no problem, it'll eventually go to the right home.
Robbie: I love you taking the time to show us
the history of this stuff.
John: No problem, my pleasure.
Robbie: I mean, your passion, I can't imagine waking up,
being able to pick what I want to drive like that every day.
Danielle: Today wasn't just another pick.
Today was a trip down amnesia lane.
We had an opportunity to come face to face with
some of our best childhood memories.
Robbie: You got it in your blood.
John: Yep.
Robbie: It's in your veins.
John: It's in the veins.
Robbie: I can feel it.
John: Yep.
Danielle: I know, I told you you'd love him, didn't I?
John: [laughs]
danielle: Told you you'd love him!
Robbie: Yeah, its awesome.
♪♪
mike: You got all this stuff in here from down the stairs?
Ted: By myself.
Mike: Oh my gosh... Even this thing?
Ted: Gravity was on my side. Oh yeah.
Mike: Wow...
Ted: Even the video, the video is all whole
lot heavier than that.
Mike: Oh my gosh...
This just makes my back hurt
just thinking about you doing all this.
Mike: Now I'm seeing a lot of pinball machines,
but I'm really pulling towards the cowboy,
the western stuff.
To me, that's great subject matter.
Something that's timeless.
Mike: This is one of the earliest machines that I love,
because it's wood rail, probably had wood legs.
It's the wagon train.
Ted: It is in extremely nice shape.
The thing that impressed me was the backglass.
Mike: I know, the backglass is not peeling at all.
Ted: No.
Mike: So it turns out that the one I love the most,
is actually something that we could get out of here!
Because it's on caster wheels, it could be pulled out,
the back board, wagon train.
Native americans, cowboys, it's very colorful,
the paint is not peeling.
Ted: What really killed them a lot of times was they
left them plugged in day and night.
Mike: Yeah.
Ted: And it built up too much heat and it dried the paint off.
Mike: Ted's knowledge and his passion for
pinball machines is so contagious.
Mike: This is a dime machine.
Ted: Yes.
Mike: What- what time period's this?
Ted: I would say... Late '40s.
Mike: Um-hm.
Well, what are you thinking on something like that?
Like what's that, what's the value of this machine?
Because I know...
Moving it the way we're going to move it if we even did a deal...
Ted: Right.
Mike: It's going to need to be repaired.
Ted: Yeah.
Mike: All the contacts, and all that stuff.
Ted: Yeah.
Mike: I mean, do you have the legs, the correct legs?
Ted: I can't say correct or not.
I've got wood legs for it.
Mike: When you walked into an arcade,
there were machines that you gravitated towards just because
you like the colors, you like the subject matter.
Whatever clicked with you, you know what I mean?
This one clicks with me.
Mike: You know, with your all your knowledge of pinball,
if this machine was up and rolling,
you know, had the correct legs on it.
What would the value of that be?
Ted: I would think that probably a $1,200 machine.
Mike: That's what I was thinking.
I was thinking 12 to 15.
Ted: Yes.
Mike: These all look like a set.
Let me see...
Now these aren't the legs that were on it.
Because the leg that was on it was peaked.
Could it have possibly had a metal leg too?
Ted: It could have had metal legs.
Yeah, if it was peaked, it was metal leg.
Mike: Okay, so I saw a stack of metal legs somewhere.
Mike: I look around, and I find the metal legs.
Mike: Alright, let me see these, I think these might work.
Mike: Okay, with the peak on the top.
Mike: Right there, that's lining up.
Mike: And they look perfect on the machine.
I'm diving into this deal.
Mike: Alright, how much you want for the machine,
with the bolts and the legs?
Ted: I would probably say... 550.
Mike: Alright, well considering the work that needs to be done,
I think that's a good price.
Ted: Okay.
Mike: Alright, man!
Thank you.
Ted: Good.
Ted: Everything I sold today, I made money on it.
All my friends thought I was crazy,
but I never would have made this much in interest if
I put that money in the bank.
[laughs] and I wouldn't have had the fun of going and doing it.
Mike: Hey buddy.
Thank you for sharing all that amusement park history.
Ted: Oh yeah.
Mike: You know what.
Ted: There's more up there if you...
Mike: Oh my gosh.
Ted: ...If you got time.
Mike: I'm going to call you and pick your brain sometime.
Ted: Let me know.
Dave: Thanks, ted.
Mike: Alright, buddy.
Mike: Ted had a vision that all of this stuff was important,
and it needed to be saved.
He's the kind of guy that I looked up to as
a picker my whole life.
The guys that saved it when it was worth nothing,
and just saved it for the passion.
Ted: Have a save trip!
[honks horn]
mike: See ya down the road, ted!
Dave: See ya, ted.
Ted: Yeah, take care!