♪ ♪ ♪
MIKE: Look at that, look at that view!
ROBBIE: Holy...
MIKE: There's Alcatraz!
[phone ringing]
MIKE: Dani D, what's up?
DANIELLE: Hey, so what do you think of Frisco, guys?
MIKE: Loving the oysters!
DANIELLE: Oh, well that's good.
MIKE: So what you got?
What's going on?
DANIELLE: Alright.
Today is going to be a good one,
so hold onto your britches,
'cause I am sending you to meet Robert.
ROBBIE: Okay.
DANIELLE: Okay, so Robbie grew up in San Francisco.
So like 50 years ago, he and his brother bought
the San Remo Hotel.
This place has been in business since 1906.
ROBBIE: Really?
DANIELLE: It's a beautiful hotel.
Not only that, but out back is where they keep all the cars.
MIKE: What kind of cars?
DANIELLE: Mini Coops, Crosleys, Woodies.
I mean, the guy's got-
ROBBIE: Guy's got Woodies?
MIKE: They've got that much room for that many
cars downtown San Francisco?
DANIELLE: So it's not just the hotel, it's also the warehouse.
MIKE: Man, it sounds killer.
DANIELLE: These brothers are ready to retire.
They're ready to just enjoy their life.
MIKE: Yeah, heck yeah.
DANIELLE: So I've sent you guys the coordinates.
MIKE: Thank you.
DANIELLE: Hey, you guys have a super rad time out there.
♪ ♪ ♪
MIKE: So you know what, every time I come to San Francisco,
dude, and start climbing these hills,
I think about Steve McQueen in Bullitt.
Remember that?
Uurr-aarrghhh!
ROBBIE: freakin' ramping off this, yeah.
MIKE & ROBBIE: [laughing]
MIKE: Alright, we're getting close.
So look at these buildings, man.
ROBBIE: Look at, look at that.
MIKE: The architecture here drives me crazy.
It's amazing.
Wow, look at this.
ROBBIE: Look at this alley.
MIKE: Look at that Woodie!
That's like a '47. Yeeeah!
ROBBIE: Dang!
[honks horn]
MIKE: Hey-hey! Man, nice wheels!
TIM: Hey.
MIKE: How's it going? I'm Mike, that's my brother, Robbie.
TIM: Tim... Nice to meet you, Hey.
ROBBIE: What's going on?
ROBBIE: Tim.
MIKE: Hey, what's going on, my friend?
TIM: Hey.
MIKE: This guy looks like he's important.
PAUL: I'm Paul.
MIKE: He's the one with the hood.
ROBBIE: Is this Robert?
TIM: No, that's Paul.
PAUL: Yeah.
ROBBIE: Hey, can we go in there?
I see all these cars in there.
PAUL: Yeah, then go up to Robert. Tim can take you to him.
MIKE: Can you introduce us?
TIM: Sure.
MIKE: Hey man, good to meet you.
ROBBIE: Thanks.
MIKE: So do you help keep the cars running?
TIM: Oh yes. Everything.
MIKE: Okay.
TIM: But I have help.
And it's like a family experience.
MIKE: Absolutely.
ROBBIE: I'm going to let you lead the way.
TIM: Let's go upstairs.
MIKE: Man, this place has a cool vibe already.
TIM: So much has happened.
ROBBIE: Wow, I love the photos.
MIKE: Wow.
TIM: A lot of history in this staircase.
Everyone comes up these stairs...
MIKE: No kidding...
I like all these little transom windows everywhere.
So was this like an exterior staircase at one time?
'Cause like, why is that window there, that's kind of cool.
TIM: We don't know.
MIKE: When you walk into a place like this,
you're trying to understand what the original
idea of the building was.
MIKE: Look at that skylight! That's cool.
ROBBIE: That's cool. [rings bell]
TIM: Sitlally(?), we've got guests.
RECEPTIONIST: Hey. Hi.
MIKE: Hey, I'm Mike.
RECEPTIONIST: Mike.
MIKE: This is my brother, Robbie.
ROBBIE: How are you doing, nice to meet you.
RECEPTIONIST: Nice to meet you.
MIKE: Here, give her a flyer.
We've been trying to give this flyer away for a while.
RECEPTIONIST: Alright.
ROBBIE: Looking for Robert?
RECEPTIONIST: Well...
TIM: Going back to the garage.
You guys are in good hands.
ROBBIE: Alright. Appreciate you.
TIM: Alright.
ROBBIE: Thank, buddy.
MIKE: Man, thanks, thanks for the introduction.
TIM: Alright.
RECEPTIONIST: Alright, let's... find Robert.
MIKE: Okay. This is interesting, man.
RECEPTIONIST: Yeah, this-
MIKE: The way this whole thing's laid out.
RECEPTIONIST: This building was built in 1906 by
A. P. Giannini, the founder of Bank of America.
It's a little bit like a pensione,
so you have bathrooms in both halls, and then...
MIKE: Okay, so each room have-
they have shared bathrooms in here.
RECEPTIONIST: They have shared bathrooms.
MIKE: Oh that's interesting.
RECEPTIONIST: Yeah, because lifestyle
was different back then.
MIKE: The building does have a presence,
and you feel something.
I mean, buildings have personalities, to me,
just like people do.
MIKE: Oh wow. I can't believe how much
history's on the walls.
RECEPTIONIST: There's a lot of history.
MIKE: Who decorated this place?
RECEPTIONIST: Basically Robert.
MIKE: Did he really?
RECEPTIONIST: Yeah, every single piece.
MIKE: So he's got that kind of eye?
RECEPTIONIST: Yeah. Robert!
ROBERT: Yeah? Hey.
MIKE: Hey, man! We finally meet!
Hey I'm Mike.
ROBERT: How are ya?
ROBBIE: How are you doing?
MIKE: That's my brother, Robbie.
ROBERT: Robbie.
ROBBIE: Good to see ya.
ROBERT: Good.
MIKE: And a flyer yeah.
RECEPTIONIST: Here'sa flyer.
MIKE: Actually, walking down the hallways here,
I've seen a few items on the walls.
ROBBIE: Oh yeah.
ROBERT: A little bit of everything, ah.
MIKE: I could see that.
ROBBIE: Amazing.
MIKE: She told me that you decorated this place.
ROBERT: Every inch of it, my brother, Tom, and I.
Renovation is what I love to do.
I like saving properties.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: Yeah, well you've done a great job with this one.
ROBERT: Well thank you.
ROBBIE: It's amazing.
MIKE: I mean, I've done a few buildings myself,
I'm walking around here and everything's meticulous.
ROBERT: My brother, Tom, and I, we're in
the renovation property business.
And 50 years we've been partners.
ROBERT: We actually started our-
our knowledge of renovations
through my dad.
My parents came here after World War II.
My dad was a hard worker and he studied,
he got his real estate license, and became very successful.
Truly the American Dream.
ROBERT: The hotel's gone through several
phases since we bought it.
Initially it was a, kind of like a men's hotel only.
MIKE: Okay.
ROBERT: They only had one shower where the laundry room
is now in the downstairs where the vending machine is.
MIKE: So every other-there are no bathrooms in-in rooms here.
ROBERT: No. What do we call it?
A European pension?
MIKE: [laughs]
RECEPTIONIST: Pensione.
That's what it is, yeah.
MIKE: Yeah, you use that word, I didn't know what it meant.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
ROBERT: We call down the hall.
MIKE: Yeah okay.
ROBERT: The Americans seem to not understand
the concept too well.
ROBBIE: Yeah?
MIKE: Yeah.
[laughs]
ROBERT: Europeans totally do.
MIKE: At the end of the day, man, if you're willing to share
a bathroom with the couple down the hall from Nebraska,
you know, that ate too much lasagne the night bfore,
you're looking for the experience,
you're not looking for just a hotel.
ROBERT: We can across this building,
which was in condemnation,
and it was about to be torn down actually.
MIKE: Really?
ROBBIE: That's how bad this was?
ROBERT: It was in violation of so many things,
there was a question whether I tear it down, keep it...
ROBERT: We did not know in 1971 that
we were going to turn this old junky building
that needed so much work, into a trophy hotel.
RECEPTIONIST: It seems like you guys are in good hands,
so I'm going to go.
MIKE: Alright hey, thank you.
ROBBIE: Thank you.
MIKE: Nice to meet you.
RECEPTIONIST: Nice meeting you.
ROBBIE: Thank you.
MIKE: Thanks for showing us around.
RECEPTIONIST: You're welcome.
ROBERT: Let's pgo this way. ne!
MIKE: Okay.
MIKE: Robert has given us free rein to walk around this place
and just kind of experience it on our own.
And each room has a theme, it's very bohemian, it's very artsy.
You know, there's no consistency because
every room is so different.
You know, until you head into the hallways,
and you start noticing the concert posters.
When you look at one of these posters,
you're looking at a piece of art.
To me, these posters were less about advertising,
and more about the essence of the band.
And the condition of them is unbelievable.
And I'm like, are these real?
You know, because he just has them hanging on
the walls in the hallways.
These things are blowing my mind.
MIKE: You know, this being such a cutting edge key area,
that was amazing for music.
I'm understanding your- your vision, really.
ROBERT: This hotel, after being here for 50 years,
really resembles... my life.
I grew up in the '60s when the whole rock world started.
I was very blessed to be here for so many different events...
Jefferson Airplane...
MIKE: So the posters that you have on the walls...
are they from the shows you went to?
ROBERT: Yeah.
Bill Graham's nephew worked for him.
MIKE: Uh-huh.
ROBERT: And he went to my high school.
MIKE: Bill Graham was one of the most famous and
influential concert promoters in the world.
And Bill Graham owned The Fillmore -
one of the coolest music venues ever.
ROBERT: Bill Graham's nephew would bring in
posters fresh off the press every week.
I saw value in them even in 1968.
So I wound up getting a large poster collection,
which I still have. I have never sold a poster.
MIKE: This is one of the posters I'm interested in.
Love the colors, love the graphics.
And one of the things I think that's really cool about it
too, to me, is it's easy to read.
Is this one of the posters that you got from his nephew?
ROBERT: No.
This was from Avalon Ballroom. The Fillmore Auditorium started
first, and then Avalon Ballroom started some time later. So...
MIKE: Okay. I love that, and then...
ROBERT: Uh-huh.
MIKE: I also love this Howlin' Wolf poster right here.
ROBERT: Yeah, that's really something.
MIKE: That thing's awesome.
ROBERT: It is.
That's a Bill Graham one, I saw this concert too, so.
MIKE: So this would have been Fillmore?
ROBERT: Fillmore.
MIKE: Okay.
ROBERT: So many groups developed and got their
start by Bill Graham.
He put them on the map.
He brought the Rolling Stones, the Beatles,
Jimi Hendrix came here, Janis Joplin.
I saw them all in the '60s.
MIKE: What was it like, seeing Janis Joplin in a small venue,
man, when you were that young?
I can't even imagine.
ROBERT: It just, yeah it was just,
to have gone through that was just...
MIKE: I mean, he's... he's speechless!
You know, it's-it's... how do you put into words
seeing Janis Joplin belting it out,
or Hendrix play with his teeth.
MIKE: And then I love...
I'm a huge fan of Big Mama Thornton.
Ain't Nothing But a Hound Dog, she cut that before Elvis.
ROBERT: Really.
MIKE: You know, but that was a big hit for her too.
MIKE: Big Mama Thornton's sound is something that
was straight out of the Americana Music Triangle.
When you look at Memphis, Nashville, and New Orleans,
that small piece of real estate,
and what it delivered to the world musically -
it changed everything.
MIKE: Okay, so these are the post- and this Grateful Dead,
obviously.
ROBERT: That's a good one, yeah.
MIKE: I mean, I'm interested in that as well.
ROBERT: Um-hm.
MIKE: So this guy named Mike, he's from Colorado,
he specializes in... like classic postrs.
If I could call him and talk to him about this one, this one,
that one, and the Holding Company one down there...
ROBERT: Uh-huh.
MIKE: I wanted to ask you first if you would
even entertain selling any of these?
ROBERT: I-I would, I would.
Yeah I would-
MIKE: Alright, then why don't I give him a call?
ROBERT: Sure.
[taking photo clicks]
ROBBIE: I got a piece in here I wanted to ask you about.
ROBERT: Sure.
ROBBIE: Every room is like a theme room around here,
I noticed.
ROBERT: That was my having fun.
I created 65 rooms of themes.
Usually I gather a bunch of items that
I think are one theme.
ROBBIE: are going to work together.
ROBERT: And I create a room out of it.
I don't like new items, I don't like reproduction items.
Everything's got to be old and unique.
Some are old fishing things, some of the rooms
are themed San Francisco.
I did each one by myself and I have a great time doing it.
ROBBIE: This is all World's Fair in here, 1939, 1940,
it says on some of these pieces.
ROBERT: Yeah, yeah.
ROBBIE: But license plate topper.
ROBERT: Pretty neat, huh. Uh -huh.
ROBBIE: Yeah, I've been collecting those for probably
about 10 years now.
I probably have...
a little over, maybe 500 to 750.
ROBERT: Really?
ROBBIE: So the World's Fair I don't have.
ROBERT: Oh so if you're interested in that,
I would, you know...
it'd be nice for you to have in your collection.
ROBBIE: With the... yeah.
The '39 plate with that topper, I'd want to go...
175 bucks.
ROBERT: 2-and- a-quarter?
ROBBIE: 200.
ROBERT: You need it more than I do.
ROBBIE: One thing that I collect license plate toppers.
And a '39 World's Fair license plate, I got to buy them.
[phone ringing]
MIKE S.(ON PHONE): This is Mike.
MIKE: Mike, this is Mike Wolfe.
MIKE S.(ON PHONE): How are you?
MIKE: I'm doing well, man.
Did you get any of those photographs I sent you?
MIKE S.(ON PHONE): I did.
MIKE: They're mounted to the walls.
MIKE S.(ON PHONE): The only thing I can't tell is
if they're glued to a backing board,
which would affect the value?
ROBERT: Honestly, I can't say for sure.
MIKE: Mike Storeim's encyclopedic knowledge
of concert posters is unbelievable.
MIKE: The first one I'm looking at is the
Big Mama Thornton piece.
MIKE S.(ON PHONE): The artist for this poster was Wes Wilson.
He's considered to be like, the grandfather
of psychedelic poster design.
MIKE: Okay.
MIKE S.(ON PHONE): It's in pretty nice condition,
what we call 'near mint'.
It's number 31 in the Bill Graham series,
so it's pretty early.
It's a first print, and you can tell that by the silver ink.
MIKE: So, what do you think the value is?
MIKE S.(ON PHONE): Right at $300.
MIKE: Okay.
So we've got the Big Mama at 300.
And then the Grateful Dead, the-it's a yellow fade.
MIKE S.(ON PHONE): Yep.
These posters normally have a little more pink in them.
This one is what we call a 'yellow variant'.
It's actually a little bit scarcer variety,
because it's more yellow.
Value about 5 to 600.
MIKE: Okay, so the next poster I'm looking at,
Howlin' Wolf with the nude.
MIKE S.(ON PHONE): Well, it's a pretty common poster,
retail value is about $100.
MIKE: Really!
ROBERT: Oh!
MIKE S.(ON PHONE): Yep. You know, there's a fair number
of them out there, you know.
I always have this poster in stock,
and I do sell them for $100.
MIKE: Alright, well...
[laughs]
ROBERT: I'm surprised on this one.
ROBERT: He gave some pretty good information.
I was kind of surprised at some of the prices though,
I thought he was way low, but he deals with this every single
day, so I'm not going to question his knowledge.
MIKE: This is one of my favorite ones that I've seen so
far - the Oxford Circle, Big Brother & The Holding Company.
MIKE S.(ON PHONE): It's a very popular poster.
Popular enough that it was printed 3 times.
The one you're looking at is an original printing.
It's a very popular, not a super rare poster,
but it commands a pretty good price.
Somewhere around 750 and possibly as much as 1,000
if it's really nice.
MIKE: Alright, buddy, you have been more than
gracious with your time.
I appreciate your knowledge.
MIKE S.(ON PHONE): You bet, happy to help.
MIKE: Alright, buddy, thank you.
MIKE S.(ON PHONE): Okay, thank you.
MIKE: Bye.
MIKE S.(ON PHONE): Alrighty, bye-bye.
MIKE: What would you feel comfortable selling this at?
He said 750 to 1,000.
ROBERT: Retail, right?
MIKE: Yeah.
ROBERT: 550, 6?
MIKE: I'd do 550 on this.
ROBERT: Let's do that, that's fine.
MIKE: Okay.
ROBERT: I-I know you have to make some money.
MIKE: Yeah.
ROBERT: I've got so many of these posters.
Once they're off the walls and gone,
I'm not going to miss them, no.
MIKE: So I know you weren't happy with this number.
He said it was a smaller number just because
there's so many of them around.
But I'm with you, I mean, you've got it framed,
you've got it matted, and then obviously, you know,
Howlin' Wolf, man, I mean come on.
Can you even-did you see Howlin' Wolf?
ROBERT: A couple of times.
MIKE: Did you really!
ROBERT: Hm.
MIKE: What was that like?
What was that like?
ROBERT: I saw them all, it was...
I can't remember!
MIKE: [laughs] Would you do 200 on it?
I mean, that's 100 over what he said.
ROBERT: I'll do that.
MIKE: Okay.
MIKE: So he said on this one 5 to 600.
But he did say this was the rarer color, the yellow one.
ROBERT: 450, I think. It's...
MIKE: Okay, 450. Alright, so 450.
And then, you know, Mike said on this one 300.
ROBERT: You shouldn't have told me how much you like it.
MIKE & ROBERT: [laughs]
MIKE: How, okay how about if he said it was worth 300,
it's framed, it's matted... 2 -and -a -quarter.
That's 875 for the 3.
ROBERT: I'll do that. Okay...
MIKE: Alright, man.
I can't-I can't believe, to be honest with you,
I can't believe these have never left Frisco, man.
MIKE: Robert isn't just honoring the original history of the
hotel, he's also created a tribute to San Francisco,
and the eye of storm it was when it came to music,
culture, and politics in the '60s and '70s.
MIKE: Let's catch up with my brother.
♪ ♪ ♪
MIKE: What the heck is that?
ROBERT: That's a... Volkswagen.
MIKE: So it's a kit?
ROBERT: It's looks like a Bentley, but...
ROBBIE: Bentley!
ROBERT: It's a VW in the back.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: Wow. Have you driven this?
ROBERT: Never.
I don't have time, I'm working too hard.
ROBERT: I've got so many cars,
I can't drive them, I never did.
You know, you have one favorite car,
you get in it and drive it on Sundays.
[engine starts]
MIKE: Oh yeah. Woo!
Let's see it outside, man.
Robert: [laughs]
ROBBIE: You have pretty good steering on it.
MIKE: [laughing]
PAUL: He can rob a bank with that one.
[laughs]
ROBBIE: This is a reproduction car, it's on a VW chassis,
but whoever built it did a great job.
ROBBIE: I had to make sure it had brakes.
MIKE: What, you interested in this?
ROBBIE: I'm not interested in this.
MIKE: Back in here then.
[ahooga horn]
MIKE: My brother takes off in this car,
and he's ready to buy it!
I'm like, 'are you interested?' 'No.'
MIKE: I love Volkswagens too.
And they make so many different kits,
but I've never seen this one.
ROBERT: That's why it's rare, yeah.
MIKE: Wow. I mean, this is nuts in here!
So looking around here, immediately,
you're way into European cars more than American cars.
ROBERT: I decided I want more cars.
So I sold most of the big ones, so I could get small ones.
ROBERT: I didn't want to burden my 2 daughters with
the task of selling all these cars if something
happens to me, so and then I keep my few favorites,
and sell the rest of them.
MIKE: This is nice. That's a solid ride.
ROBERT: I bought that from the original owner.
MIKE: What about the Mini Cooper, man.
ROBERT: Well, you picked another one that
I have would consider keeping.
MIKE: How does it run?
ROBERT: I've never driven it.
MIKE: [laughs]
MIKE: It does not surprise me that Robert hasn't
driven a lot of these cars.
ROBERT: Honestly, I don't think I've driven...
9 out of 10 of these.
That's my problem, I want to retire so I can enjoy my cars,
the ones I'm going to keep.
MIKE: It takes a tremendous amount of hard work
to acquire this much stuff.
MIKE: What about the truck here with the canvas top?
ROBERT: Oh that's a Morris Minor.
MIKE: Have you driven this one?
ROBERT: No.
MIKE: [laughs]
MIKE: And then once you acquire it, you have to maintain it.
And that doesn't leave a lot of time.
MIKE: What about the Motorette?
ROBERT: Well...
MIKE: Does this thing run?
ROBERT: It did run, does run, should run.
MIKE: If we start it up, it'll just drive right out of here?
ROBERT: Well it just might...
MIKE: Ugh...
ROBBIE: Push on it...
ROBERT: We can-we can get Paul over here.
[engine turns over]
[engine starts]
ROBBIE: There you go, hold on, Mike.
There you go, hold on. Keep going...
ROBBIE: Keep going...
MIKE: brake, why do I want to step on the brake?
ROBBIE: Keep going, I'm pushing you out, keep going...
keep going, I'm pushing you out. There...
what are you doing, go the other way.
MIKE: [laughs]
ROBBIE: Where are you going?
MIKE: If someone's going to let me drive something that
I've never driven before, I'm going to drive it.
I mean, this thing is cool, man.
MIKE: Whoa!
[group laughing]
MIKE: It's interesting, until you drive it,
and like the left turn, I mean, this... [laughs]
I rolled it, man.
It was just to a dead stop.
MIKE: [laughing]
ROBBIE: That looks like it's a lot of fun,
I should drive that one day.
MIKE: [laughing]
ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: Woo!
MIKE: You got this massive turtle shell back end,
and you open it up...
ROBERT: It's a lawnmower engine.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: Yeah. There ain't much to it.
ROBBIE: Ain't much to that.
MIKE: Engine's about this big.
[honks horn]
MIKE: Whoa!
Robert: [laughs]
MIKE: It was cool but it was-it wasn't for me.
MIKE: So what about the Woodie here then?
Paul, you were trying to get this running when
we rolled up on it.
What was wrong with it?
PAUL: It needs a manual choke on.
When I start it up, they forget to put the choke in it,
fouled the plugs out.
ROBBIE: Right. Oh.
So you think it had a fouled plug.
PAUL: Yeah, it does, yeah.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
ROBERT: This blue wagon has been the logo
for this hotel for 35 years.
It's been part of the history of the hotel as well.
ROBBIE: Did you guys do any work to the wood on this?
ROBERT: A couple of spots replaced,
but it was just really varnished.
ROBBIE: Any time you're looking at a Woodie,
you have to look at the condition of the wood.
ROBBIE: And you look at all the gaps that are in these doors.
ROBBIE: How the doors open and close, do they sag at all,
and these were notorious for all those things.
ROBBIE: Here right there, look at this.
MIKE: I know, I saw that.
ROBBIE: The rest of the body, that can be played with.
But the wood itself, condition means everything,
'cause you could end up dumping 50 to 100 grand
in trying to fix wood.
Yeah.
ROBBIE: Was this something you want to sell?
ROBERT: One car that I thought I would never sell, but...
getting older, it's time to make the break.
It's not perfect, but it's in good shape.
35,000.
ROBBIE: Not in this shape.
The guys that want these Woodies, man,
they want them nice, nice, nice, nice.
And to put this back to what it'd be and not-I mean,
you've already used 25 years of advertising,
so it's already been written off.
MIKE & ROBERT: [chuckles]
ROBBIE: So what, what's the buy-it-now price on it?
ROBERT: 30.
ROBERT: Whatever they picked apart on the car,
they were right.
ROBBIE: It's got some issues.
ROBERT: It's not perfect, I-I'll admit that.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: My brother is totally interested in this Woodie.
MIKE: Look at this, Robbie. Here's a situation.
ROBBIE: That's why it's moving, right there,
there's no bolt in it.
MIKE: So I'm just trying to help him out,
by looking over the vehicle.
[starting engine]
ROBBIE: There it is.
MIKE: What's that noise?
MIKE: If I see something that I need to point out, then I will.
[loud clunky engine noises]
MIKE: Here it?
ROBBIE: Back here. You hear that?
MIKE: Hear that clacking?
PAUL: A little, a little squirt will do ya, a little...
MIKE: A little squirt where?
PAUL: On the belt. See what happens...
ROBBIE: the belt.
MIKE: It's definitely not the belt.
ROBBIE: Paul thinks it's a belt.
ROBBIE: Stand back here and listen.
Run that throttle and you'll hear it.
ROBBIE: I think the engine needs to be rebuilt on this thing.
♪ ♪ ♪
[loud clunky engine noises]
MIKE: What do you think, is it a valve?
PAUL: If it was a valve, it'd be a steady staccato.
ROBBIE: Even if it's a valve job, it's still money.
MIKE: I'm going to let my brother and
Paul sort it out whether or not
it's a belt or a knock in the engine.
[laughs]
MIKE: What about, I saw you had a really solid
'65 Volkswagen Bug over here.
ROBERT: Yeah.
MIKE: I'm more interested in the Volkswagen.
MIKE: That thing's solid, man.
ROBBIE: How long have you had this, Rob?
ROBERT: 7, 8 years.
MIKE: It's getting to the point that any car from the 1960s
in this good a shape, is basically a unicorn.
MIKE: Pretty solid car, man.
MIKE: Underneath the spare tire, it is rock solid.
The pans are rock solid.
The car has not been painted.
This is what they call a survivor.
PAUL: Let me try to pull it by hand.
C'mon, baby!
Don't step on the gas!
Crank it!
MIKE: Here, you got sparks.
PAUL: Okay.
[engine starts]
MIKE: Yeah, baby!
[laughs]
MIKE: I'm telling you, if you've ever driven a Bug,
there's just that certain smell when you get in,
and then it's the sound.
And then it's being so close to the dash.
MIKE: I'll never get tired of the sound of these things, man.
ROBBIE: Hey, you want to take it out, Mike?
MIKE: Yeah, let's take it out.
MIKE: This is a sun roof car, it's an original paint car,
it's a California car, it's been here its whole life.
This is a car I'm interested in.
ROBBIE: Dang.
MIKE: [GIGGLING]
ROBBIE: He's driving it like he stole it.
ROBERT: Let him steal in. In fact,
why don't you steal 6 of them?
ROBBIE: Let's go talk about that Woodie,
since we ain't got any distractions here.
ROBERT: Alright.
MIKE: I love driving these cars, man.
This is like, my whole life.
ROBBIE: The problem is that, Paul, he's a great mechanic,
but he's only putting it to the front of the hotel.
I mean, this thing's never even really been heated up.
ROBERT: Not for a long time.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: Feels like it needs shocks or something.
Driving straight down the road.
ROBERT: I'm thinking... 28.
I'm not wanting to ever sell it to bottom line 35 to now to 28.
ROBBIE: But you keep telling me you're retired.
ROBERT: You know, and I should- I should listen to my own...
ROBBIE: And that's...
I look around here and I'm thinking to myself, okay,
at what point are you going to be there?
ROBERT: It's time to retire.
I want to be with my 2 daughters.
My goal is to make life easier, to get rid of things, you know.
MIKE: I mean... I'm barely...
something wrong with the synchronizer or something...
PAUL: Take it up a steep hill.
MIKE: Which way?
PAUL: Go to the right a couple of blocks.
ROBBIE: I still think you got to be at 26-mark,
and I'm just trying to figure out how to get it down there.
ROBERT: Keep coming down a bit but... 27,5.
ROBBIE: I think we just got to stick to our number.
ROBBIE: I got to get it across country,
and then I got to get it in the shop.
I got to stick to my number - 26,000's it.
ROBERT: Well, almost there, but...
ROBBIE: I know. We're so close.
MIKE: Alright, here's the steep...
PAUL: There you go.
MIKE: Here's the steep one.
We're like going straight up this friggin' hill...
PAUL: [laughing]
MIKE: Holy !
[laughs] This thing is popping a wheelie, man.
[laughs]
MIKE: There is no better place to test drive
a car than in San Francisco, because you're going
to find out real fast how much power
it's got, how the brakes work, and how it shifts.
MIKE: Holy crap! [giggles]
ROBBIE: We're only 1,500 bucks apart.
What's that among friends?
ROBERT: Not much anymore.
ROBBIE: Yeah, it's a cup of coffee in San Francisco.
MIKE: Get the horn working.
Oh it's got to have a horn, man.
In an old car, you got to be on...
PAUL: Well the horn might be...
MIKE: Beep, beep!
MIKE: Woo! Whoa...
ROBBIE: Where the hell've you guys been?
MIKE: This thing brings back some memories, brother.
I went over one hill, it was like...
it was like this. [laughing]
It's awesome, man!
It's really awesome.
ROBBIE: I imagine Paul's face when he was going over the hill.
PAUL: I, listen...
MIKE: What are you thinking on this thing?
ROBERT: You know, I hadn't thought about it too much.
Give me an idea of what you're thinking.
MIKE: The cool thing about this is,
is that it's California car, salad car,
it's got a sun roof, it's presentable.
Um... straight up, synchro's out.
It's kind of a big deal to do.
ROBERT: Take the engine out.
MIKE: Oh yeah, you got to take the engine out.
[sighs] 6,500.
Where are you guys at on the Woodie?
ROBBIE: I told him I wouldn't do any more than 26.
MIKE: And What'd you guys come up with?
ROBBIE: He was at 27,5.
ROBERT: What I'm thinking on this is 35 for both.
And I'll buy you a beer.
ROBBIE: [laughs]
MIKE: So you're talking 8 grand on this thing.
ROBERT: Well we...
ROBBIE: I'm not coming off the 26 number.
I think 26 is...
MIKE: I would do-I would do,
I would do 7,000 bucks on this thing.
ROBBIE: Right.
ROBERT: And where does that put you...
ROBBIE: 26. That puts you at 33...
where you're at.
You're at 35, we're at 33. Done?
MIKE: Aarrgghh!
ROBERT: 'Cause I like you guys.
MIKE: [laughs]
ROBERT: You just cannot not make this deal
when you're only $2,000
apart. I'm not going to fix this car up.
I'm never going to do it.
It's only going to go to someone like these guys.
I want this car to be saved.
It was not a hard decision then.
MIKE: Is this the San Francisco Bug?
ROBERT: Pretty much.
MIKE: Alright. ROBBIE: Well...
ROBERT: California car, for sure.
MIKE: My first one.
ROBBIE: Thank you, man.
PAUL: Okay.
ROBBIE: Appreciate ya.
MIKE: His brother and him have done a
great job of being the caretakers
of this building for over 50 years.
MIKE: So Danielle will get a hold of
you on shipping both cars.
Let's load some rock posters, man.
Head down the road, baby!
ROBBIE: Appreciate it.
ROBERT: Real San Francisco coming.
MIKE: Alright.
ROBBIE: Thank you.
MIKE: Their passion has been shared over
and over and over again, not just
by the people that have stayed here,
but the community, the neighborhood, the city.
The impact this place has had and hopefully
will continue to have, is huge.
♪ ♪ ♪
[phone ringing]
ROBBIE: Hello.
DANIELLE: Good morning.
ROBBIE: What's going on?
MIKE: Dani D, what's up?
DANIELLE: I'm sending you to meet Brian this morning.
Say, I don't know if you boys are familiar with a
little item called the ShamWow.
ROBBIE: ShamWow?
MIKE: What, the guy-the guy's got old ShamWows?
DANIELLE: Haha... no, but you're close.
He was actually the original pitchman for the ShamWow.
MIKE: Get outta here!
You're talking about like late-night television
infomercial stuff?
DANIELLE: So way before it was on the infomercials,
Brian would travel around to these car meets and
have these guys buy the ShamWow.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: I remember that!
ROBBIE: Oh yeah, I know what you're talking about.
MIKE: I remember going to swap meets and the guy,
the ShamWow dude was there.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
DANIELLE: So while he was out selling these ShamWows,
he developed a bit of an addiction for antiques.
He'd leave his house with a van full of ShamWows,
and he would come back with a van full of junk.
MIKE: [laughs] That's awesome.
DANIELLE: Okay, Brian's been sending me these photos.
He has this massive storage unit,
and it is just box -on-box-on-box,
like stack-stack- stack to the ceiling.
But then listen, on top of that, his mom's a collector too.
So he's got all of her stuff as well.
MIKE: Perfect.
ROBBIE: Alright.
MIKE: So this, this is all in a storage unit?
DANIELLE: Yeah, it's like a huge place,
you can just drive right on inside.
MIKE: Wow. Front row service.
DANIELLE: So he will be in unit A10.
ROBBIE: Alright.
MIKE: Alright.
DANIELLE: Hey, have fun out there.
I'll talk to you later.
ROBBIE: Thanks, coordinates.
MIKE: Bye. ROBBIE: Bye.
♪ ♪ ♪
MIKE: Alright. Drive right in here.
ROBBIE: Yep. A, right here, it's coming up.
MIKE: A10. ROBBIE: Yeah, right here.
[honks horn]
MIKE: Oh check out the Polly Gas sign.
ROBBIE: Ha!
MIKE: Hey, Brian!
BRIAN: Hey-hey-hey, how're you doing?
MIKE: What's going on, man?
I like this, you can just pull right up to your door.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
BRIAN: That's it, that's it.
ROBBIE: It's really nice and easy.
How're you doing?
BRIAN: Nice, easy run.
MIKE: My brother, Robbie. Give him a flyer.
BRIAN: I collct a myriad of things.
I'm a real history buff.
I like old things and grew up in a house of antiques.
So for me, it was natural to collect what I did,
because that's the way I grew up.
ROBBIE: Dani talked to you about a couple
of things on there?
BRIAN: She did, she did, yeah.
MIKE: She said that your collecting blossomed when
you were doing ShamWows at swap meets and stuff?
ROBBIE: Car shows.
BRIAN: I make 80 bucks, and I'd buy 2 or 3 Coke signs.
MIKE: [laughs]
BRIAN: That was my 80 bucks.
I'd make another 100 bucks, I'd buy 4...
MIKE: I love that.
BRIAN: 4 more signs.
MIKE: So you're just re- you were reinvesting in
your business and yourself.
BRIAN: Yeah, we worked a lot of car swaps.
You know, we'd do Model A...
MIKE: Yeah.
BRIAN: We'd do Auburn shows.
MIKE: Yeah, yeah.
BRIAN: Because they were all specific, but...
ROBBIE: The Pomona hot-rod show?
MIKE: Man...
BRIAN: I did Pomona.
MIKE: What's going on?
ROBBIE: What do you got going on in here?
BRIAN: Well, you know, I've got a little bit of everything.
MIKE: So Dani said you had a huge wareouse space.
BRIAN: This is my space right here.
MIKE: Oh this is it right here.
ROBBIE: This is it.
BRIAN: This is it, right here.
MIKE: Oh okay.
ROBBIE: Oh.
BRIAN: I knew that the location that
I was at was very underwhelming.
BRIAN: Big things come in small packages.
MIKE: When you're a collector in a major
metropolitan area, space is a luxury.
So it's a lot harder to collect.
MIKE: I saw the Polly Gas sign when we walked in.
BRIAN: Right, right.
It's 2-sided and it's, the chalkboard on the bottom
where they could write the price on it.
MIKE: Yeah, yeah. Wow, look at that.
ROBBIE: It was hanging on a wall.
MIKE: So did you find this on one of the ShamWow trips?
BRIAN: No, that one was part of my brother's collection,
and he's had that since the late '60s.
MIKE: Really!
BRIAN: So I know it's not a repop.
MIKE: So your brother's collecting too?
ROBBIE: Yeah.
BRIAN: Yeah, this, yeah.
MIKE: 'Cause Dani said, your-your mom collected.
BRIAN: Oh yeah, she was the original picker, yeah.
MIKE: No kidding.
BRIAN: Yeah, oh yeah.
I- I grew up in the back of the station wagon
going from antique store to antique store.
MIKE: [laughs] I love that.
BRIAN: She gladly would run and pick the church rummage sale.
ROBBIE: As I said, the church is...
BRIAN: Always a volunteer to run the rummage sale.
MIKE: Oh yeah, the church ones are the best.
BRIAN: Yeah.
MIKE: Brian was lucky at a young age to have a mentor
when it came to junking and collecting -
and that was his mom. Junking was a part of
their family's life, to the point where it's something
that you feel so powerful about it,
that you want to do it the rest of your life.
MIKE: What are you thinking on that?
BRIAN: You know, I don't know.
Polly Gas stuff, I've never seen anything but
reproductions, I've never actually...
ROBBIE: Yeah, Polly Gas stuff is, is...
BRIAN: That's the only original piece I've seen.
ROBBIE: I was going to say, Polly Gas stuff is very hard.
The West Coast is where you're going to find this stuff.
BRIAN: Yeah.
ROBBIE: We're in California.
Polly Gas is one of the rarest companies out there.
When you find their advertising, you try and buy it.
ROBBIE: This is... masonite.
BRIAN: Right.
ROBBIE: So this is pre-War.
BRIAN: Yeah.
MIKE: What do you think the retail number on it is, Robbie?
ROBBIE: 5 grand.
BRIAN: Yeah, I knew it's a-it's a rare bird.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
BRIAN: So to speak.
ROBBIE: Yeah, it's rare.
MIKE & BRIAN: [laughs]
MIKE: Starting around 1901, there were over 1,000
small gas companies in America.
A lot of these companies went away real fast,
others stuck around and got bought out later on.
MIKE: It's cool, man.
ROBBIE: Yeah. I love the look of it.
MIKE: I do too.
MIKE: But Polly is one of those brands,
it's regional to the West Coast,
and it's extremely sought after because they
weren't around for a very long time.
MIKE: Okay, so...
what-what would you feel comfortable selling it at?
BRIAN: Boy, I don't know...
You know, my wife's real...
she's not fond of much of my stuff.
MIKE: Uh-huh.
BRIAN: But she really likes that particular-her
grandmother had a parrot when she was a kid.
MIKE: Ohh okay. So that's the connection.
BRIAN: So...
MIKE: You want to think about it?
BRIAN: Yeah, let-that- that one I can think about.
ROBBIE: Yeah, alright.
BRIAN: But to tell you the truth, Robbie,
that's more than I thought it was worth.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: Alright, there's the little man himself, right there.
BRIAN: There he is.
MIKE: When I first see this piece across the room,
I'm looking at like a deranged Johnny Roventini,
because he's got a bellhop uniform on.
MIKE: Can we pull them out?
BRIAN: Yeah.
MIKE: But as you get closer, and if you know what
you're looking at, then you know it's a Brownie.
BRIAN: It's a Palmer Cox Brownie.
MIKE: Brownies were characters in children's books.
They were like... little toad goblins.
They were known for being mischievous,
but also doing good deeds.
MIKE: Wow, look at his face, Robbie.
MIKE: At the end of the day, they're like downright scary.
But that's what's cool about them.
MIKE: Is this something you'd sell?
BRIAN: That I would sell.
My mom bought that in late '60s.
There's a place in San Francisco called the Cliff
House, which has been there since 1800s.
And at one point, they had a collection of
these tall Brownie figures.
BRIAN: Mine was made by a company named Shoenhaut.
MIKE: Look at him, he's anatomically correct.
[group laughing]
ROBBIE: He's got knees!
MIKE: Look at his little legs.
BRIAN: And they made large Brownies for storefronts.
Extremely rare.
MIKE: I look at a lot of this early store display stuff,
and it's amazing that this exists. It's-it's art.
BRIAN: Right. My mom had a great eye.
MIKE: That's killer. So what are you thinking on him?
Sounds like you've given it some thought.
BRIAN: Uh...
I've seen him go at auction for 6 grand and over.
So... they're super- they're super...
MIKE: Wow.
So if they're 6 grand, are you talking
like super clean, super perfect?
ROBBIE: Yeah.
BRIAN: Well, all he's- he's pretty much there.
He's dirty, but... there's not much wrong with him.
MIKE: No, I know that.
Well, his clothing's definitely faded tremendously.
BRIAN: Yeah, yeah.
MIKE: If you look at the, just this coloration here...
BRIAN: Right.
MIKE: and then the top of it.
You know, I'm just saying that if something's going to
warrant that kind of money, it's going to be...
pretty damn nice.
And what year is this from?
BRIAN: From what I can see, it looks like turn-of-the-century.
MIKE: Um-hm.
BRIAN: Late 1800s.
You know, I think he's at least 3 grand or so.
MIKE: Yeah. 2,500. I mean, it's not mint.
BRIAN: Right.
MIKE: Mint is, mint is mint.
BRIAN: Yeah. ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: But here's, here's where this falls into the category.
Good stuff's always good.
BRIAN: Right. ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: This is good stuff.
So what's the bottom number on this?
BRIAN: You know, I-I, like I said,
I think the bottom number really is 3 on this.
MIKE: Alright well...
make me feel like I'm getting a good deal - 2,900.
BRIAN: You got it. MIKE: Alright.
BRIAN: There you go. MIKE: Okay, man.
MIKE: This wasn't made for the consumer.
This was made for display.
The fact that it still exists, is such a large and is in great
condition - all of those things make it extremely rare.
MIKE: It's brilliant.
♪ ♪ ♪
MIKE: What are these from?
Where are these clowns from?
BRIAN: Those clowns were from a defunct amusement park in
San Francisco called Playland at the Beach.
BRIAN: Playland at the Beach was San Francisco's
version of Coney Island, they actually called it
the Coney Island of the West.
ROBBIE: You would put the ball in his mouth or something?
Is that what it was?
BRIAN: Exactly.
The head would turn, and you'd throw ping-pong balls in them.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
BRIAN: That's something that my brother
picked when he was really...
MIKE: Like what time period do you thnk they're from?
BRIAN: Probably '40s.
ROBBIE: '40s, more.
MIKE: God, these are killer.
BRIAN: They're unusual.
MIKE: They're a slice of America that we all romanticize about,
that's gone forever.
The American carnival, the American circus.
ROBBIE: How long ago did your brother buy these?
BRIAN: He got those when Playland closed down...
that would have been early '70s.
MIKE: The remnants of what's left of that is really a
shadow of what that industry used to be.
MIKE: Look at those guys.
MIKE: So when you find artifacts from that time period in
it's hey-day, especially scary spooky clowns,
you got to buy them up.
You know, this is the kind of stuff that's always good.
MIKE: What are you thinking?
Just throw me a number.
I mean, all I can do is say no.
BRIAN: Ah man... I would say...
probably I mean I think they got to be
worth about 1,200 apiece.
MIKE: Yeah, see I was thinking they were
worth about a grand a piece.
BRIAN: Yeah.
MIKE: So we're not that far apart.
BRIAN: Right.
MIKE: 14 for the pair. If they're 2,000 bucks.
Gives me a little room.
BRIAN: Right. Um...
what if I kept one and sold you one for 8?
MIKE: Ugh, they got to be together!
Brian: [chuckles] They got to be a pair?
MIKE: They got to be together.
BRIAN: B... I can't separate B from E?
ROBBIE: I wouldn't separate them.
BRIAN: Yeah. ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: 2,000. BRIAN: I'd do that.
MIKE: Made it easy for ya.
BRIAN: I'd do that.
MIKE: See? Making it easy for ya.
BRIAN: I'd do that.
MIKE: I got to, I got to... these things are nuts.
BRIAN: Yeah.
BRIAN: With all the things I already have in my house,
there was really just no place for them.
I think they're better off in somebody's collection
that can really appreciate items like that.
ROBBIE: Make sure the lever's down.
MIKE: It's been a while since I've been
at the meatpacking house.
ROBBIE: Yeah, exactly.
BRIAN: Can I see your license on this?
BRIAN: I have so many items and
I have so many things,
that I just don't want to see them continue to
be in cardboard boxes, packed on pallets
in my warehouse. They need to be displayed.
MIKE: Hey, slow down there, bro.
ROBBIE: No, no, no, this has got to come out here.
MIKE: [laughs]
ROBBIE: We got to get this out.
MIKE: Whoa, hey!
Whoa... easy, easy.
There, here's the base.
BRIAN: There it is. Red Goose Shoes.
MIKE: Yeah, there we go.
ROBBIE: Oh yeah. That's cool.
This is Red Goose too.
MIKE: Yeah.
ROBBIE: Right here.
BRIAN: Yep.
MIKE: I know, here's another piece Red Goose.
ROBBIE: Red Goose began selling shoes in the late 1800s.
MIKE: Red Goose stuff's hard to find, man.
BRIAN: Yeah.
ROBBIE: Character advertising has been
around since the turn -of-the-century.
This was Red Gosse, and its competitor was Buster Brown.
You saw the Red Goose, you knew they were quality shoes,
and you always wanted to wear them.
ROBBIE: What are you thinking on the Red Goose stuff?
BRIAN: Uhh... I was thinking maybe 60 for all 3.
ROBBIE: I can do that.
BRIAN: Okay, great.
ROBBIE: I'll do that. Appreciate it.
BRIAN: Yeah.
ROBBIE: Whoa!
MIKE: So what's the deal with all the Tom Thumb stuff?
BRIAN: He was P.T.
Barnum's biggest, probably his biggest sus...
MIKE: Or smallest.
BRIAN: Smallest, yeah right.
ROBBIE: Biggest, but smallest.
MIKE: Yeah, yeah.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
BRIAN: His biggest smallest success story.
BRIAN: As we all know, P.T. Barnum
was the world's greatest showman.
He decided to make a character from a gentleman named
Charles Stratton, who at the time was
the smallest man in the world.
Well, Charles Stratton was soon renamed Tom Thumb,
and traveled the world as a goodwill ambassador
for P. T. Barnum.
MIKE: 'Born in Middleborough, Massachusetts,
Mrs. Tom Thumb taught school there.
She was only 30 inches tall.'
BRIAN: Right.
MIKE: These are her shoes?
BRIAN: Yeah, those were the shoes that she,
that fit her feet.
I have a whole box full of her clothing.
ROBBIE: What about him?
BRIAN: Most of the stuff I have for him is photo-related.
ROBBIE: Photo-related.
BRIAN: But I have a piece of their wedding cake in there.
MIKE: This is a piece of their wedding cake?
BRIAN: They put it in a wooden box,
and they sent it out to dignitaries all over the world.
ROBBIE: Wow. What was it, a fruit cake?
[group laughing]
BRIAN: The Tom Thumb collection came to me
from an advertisement that I had seen for somebody
selling items from Sutro Baths.
You know, late 1800s, they built these pools,
people would come in, rent a bathing suit.
MIKE: Tom Thumb's stuff was on display there?
BRIAN: Yeah, there was an atrium,
and just this incredible museum collection.
And it was, it was very...
MIKE: Wow...
so it was almost like a roadside attraction bathhouse.
BRIAN: It was.
BRIAN: And unfortunately, it burnt down in the 1960s.
MIKE: Is this her wedding dress?
BRIAN: Yeah, her wedding veil.
MIKE: Her wedding veil.
ROBBIE: Wow.
MIKE: The research has been done, the provenance is there.
But unfortunately, there's no Tom Thumb items.
MIKE: I haven't seen anything Tom Thumb,
this is all Mrs. Thumb.
BRIAN: Right.
MIKE: So how do you judge the value of something like this?
BRIAN: It's been difficult because I've talked to a
few dealers about the collection,
and... it-there's just no comparables.
The value is really in the historical value.
MIKE: To hold some of these pieces in my hand,
and to see the documentation, and then to think about where
they were on display, it's pretty heavy stuff,
it's very cool.
MIKE: This is extremely significant.
ROBBIE: Oh, 100%.
MIKE: You know, I don't even know what to offer you on it.
Would you consider selling it?
BRIAN: No, I think it doesn't make any sense.
I would like to see this end up in a museum.
MIKE: I think you're right on it.
I would want to research the heck out of it...
ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: and make sure it went to the right place.
BRIAN: Yeah, exactly.
BRIAN: This is a collection that deserves to be seen by
people in more of a museum -type setting.
MIKE: This is all museum quality, next level stuff.
MIKE: I mean, to be honest with you,
I just like handling it for a second.
BRIAN: Yeah, they were the Beatles of their day.
♪ ♪ ♪
MIKE: Look at this...
MIKE: Alright, let me see, let me get up here
and see what's going on.
ROBBIE: He's going to get the forklift, Mike.
ROBBIE: This is a little different pick.
Normally we're in a barn with stuff scattered all over.
This stuff's all stacked in boxes, all on racking.
ROBBIE: Oh yeah. Your fortune, 10 -cent.
Push coin, pull chute.
MIKE: That's cool, dude!
Here he comes!
BRIAN: comes the lift.
ROBBIE: Tilt those forks back.
BRIAN: Yep.
ROBBIE: Up... right there.
Up, up, a little bit more, there you go.
[beeping]
MIKE: Yep you got it, you got it.
ROBBIE: Keep going... right there.
MIKE: Be easy on it though, because the only
thing's holding it is this shrink-wrap.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
You're good.
MIKE: Yeah, so be real cautious.
ROBBIE: Keep go-ho, ho -ho... ho, stop.
Side shift it that way.
BRIAN: Yeah.
ROBBIE: Keep going, there...
MIKE: There you go, you got it.
ROBBIE: Right there. You got about 8 inches, right...
right there.
BRIAN: I'm clear?
ROBBIE: Start coming down...
BRIAN: I'm clear?
ROBBIE: Yeah, you're clear. Yeah.
Clear on the floor.
MIKE: Yeah, she is kind of cool.
BRIAN: She's a beaut.
MIKE: Wow.
Let's see what it looks like there, there we go.
What do you know about the history of the piece?
BRIAN: Madam Ruby's another one of those items that
just been knocking around the family for 40 years.
MIKE: Okay.
BRIAN: We think it's a San Francisco piece of some sort.
BRIAN: Madam Ruby always kind of had a
special place as one of the family.
You couldn't have anyone come in to my brother's house or
my house and not be wow, what is this?
MIKE: She's got my attention right now.
BRIAN: She's beautiful.
MIKE: Her hands aren't cracked, fingers are...
BRIAN: She's pristine.
MIKE: case is not cracked.
You know, and you can obviously see the age of the piece.
It's a 10-cent machine, but it's a very simple cabinet for
a very elaborate subject matter.
BRIAN: Right.
MIKE: You know, I mean, the only detail in it is here.
BRIAN: Right.
MIKE: It's a Chevette of fortune tellers,
it's not the Cadillac.
BRIAN: Right.
MIKE: But it's-it's still amazing, it's still incredible.
BRIAN: Yes.
MIKE: What would you feel comfortable at on it, you know?
BRIAN: 3?
Just from the condition?
I mean, she's- she's in fine shape.
MIKE: Here, why don't we do this, Robbie?
ROBBIE: Yeah, I'll pull it out of here.
MIKE: Yeah that's, let me-let me-get, let me get on one side.
BRIAN: It's not- it's not super heavy.
ROBBIE: It's right there, we're good.
We're good, right there.
MIKE: Come over here.
ROBBIE: Yeah, right here.
Alright there, put it down. There.
Look at this coin mechanism on here, Mike.
So when it comes in, what's it hit?
MIKE: Is there a card in there?
ROBBIE: No, 'cause I'm-that's why I'm looking at the
coin mechanism. So what it did, shine it right here...
right there.
What it did was hit this, and that pushed...
BRIAN: Coins were in here.
ROBBIE: And the card dropped out.
MIKE: What I'm trying to do now, is establish how
much of the coin-op mechanism is there.
Because if it works, it's going to take it to a whole new level.
ROBBIE: I mean, the cord looks like it's in great shape,
have you got any power?
BRIAN: Yeah, I do have some power in here, I can get a cord.
ROBBIE: Yeah, let's plug this thing in.
BRIAN: Okay. Let me get one.
MIKE: You know, it almost looks like,
it looks like it was knocked around a carnival.
It looks like a carnival piece, you know what I mean?
ROBBIE: It could have been.
MIKE: Some of these are extremely elaborate.
You know, they're very, very detailed.
And the movement of the piece itself, the automaton,
is much more sophisticated.
They are a moving piece of art.
MIKE: Alright, here we go, man...
There it goes, she's got the bulbs going.
Here's a dime.
ROBBIE: Let's put it in, see if it works.
MIKE: The beauty of it is, which is remarkable,
is that she's not all busted up.
You know, the silk that's around her,
the clothes that are on her, her hands aren't chipped and
cracked, her face is still intact and looked beautiful.
ROBBIE: No.
Yeah, you don't want to touch that thing.
MIKE: Oh you can-it's- it's all locked up, man.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
BRIAN: If you move that arm, is there like
an arm connected to that?
MIKE: Yeah.
ROBBIE: Oh yeah. Oh there it is.
MIKE: What's she doing?
ROBBIE: Lowering her head.
BRIAN: Her head and her hand. There it is.
ROBBIE: Yeah, so that motor must have spun somehow, there.
BRIAN: There, yeah.
MIKE: Wait.
ROBBIE: Yah.
BRIAN: There it is, easy fix.
MIKE: Well, there's a little bit of life there.
With a little bit of life means more money on the back end.
ROBBIE: Look at the front case, Mike, it's completely brokn.
Someone kicked this.
MIKE: No, I know. Someone's been...
ROBBIE: They weren't happy with their fortune.
MIKE: Well yeah.
MIKE: The cabinet being very simple and busted up,
painted blue the way it is, really echoes the environment
that it would have been in, which was, you know,
maybe a circus sideshow.
MIKE: I don't know, I think 3 grand is...
BRIAN: I'd be comfortable somewhere in the 2s.
MIKE: With the cabinet the way it is and it doesn't work...
I'd do like 27.
BRIAN: Will you give her a good home?
MIKE: Oh absolutely, yeah.
BRIAN: Okay, I-I would do 27.
MIKE: Alright, man.
BRIAN: Yeah.
MIKE: I appreciate you.
MIKE: This collection wasn't curated,
and it was not planned in any way.
MIKE: So awesome!
BRIAN: You got B and I got E.
MIKE: I love these.
MIKE: Brian and his family's passion is the
reason why all of this stuff is here today.
MIKE: Thanks for sharing some Frisco history with us...
BRIAN: Thank you, thank you.
MIKE: and your family's history.
ROBBIE: Ahh...
BRIAN: Thank you.
ROBBIE: Appreciate ya. Thank you.
MIKE: I'll tell you what, when we walked in,
it wasn't a big space.
ROBBIE: I was like... yeah.
BRIAN: Right.
MIKE: But you got a great eye, man.
You really do.
BRIAN: Big things come in small packages.
BRIAN: I think that the overall prices were very fair.
They offered on some of the items to pa more than
I thought they were even worth.
[honks horn]
BRIAN: Alright!
ROBBIE: See ya, Briaaannn!
BRIAN: We'll see you down the road!