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How are you doing, Frank? What's your name? Tricky Dick. Is this a story or what is it now? What do you want for something like that? This thing is sexy, man. The thing that makes Tricky Dick tricky is you never know if he's going to sell anything or not. Ah, I don't know. Ah. And I have a hard time understanding what he's saying. Hey, Frankie, check this out. Wow. I love that.
It's an Ingo Bike. It's like a big scooter. See the spring frame? Yep. These things are extremely hard to find. How long you been putting stuff in here? 30 or 40 years. Just follow me. I've got to make some money out of this somehow. We have a saying, "I needs the money." MIKE WOLFE: So, my last offer is $40. Telling you what, you better take and why you got a hot buyer here. I don't need no advice from you. All right. MIKE WOLFE: I'm Mike Wolfe.
FRANK FRITZ: And I'm Frank Fritz. MIKE WOLFE: And we're pickers. We travel the back roads of America looking to buy rusty gold. We make a living telling the history of America one piece at a time. All right, Mississippi, here we come. Aren't you glad we got up at 6:00 AM, Danny? No, I'm not. No. I knew you were going to say that, Danielle.
I don't like it. It's OK. You get an early start on the day. We'll call you. We'll call you when we get there. I'll bring you back a Po' boy. On no, it'll be bad by the time you get here. Keep it on ice. Bring me back some good blues CD's. MIKE WOLFE: Keep the leads coming, girl. We're on our way to Mississippi. We just crossed the state line into Tennessee. We're off the super highways, out of the sprawl, and into our office.
We're freestyle picking. What about that? Look at that. FRANK FRITZ: Some people gamble on lottery tickets, some people gamble on slots. Free styling is a gamble for us. Sometimes we might lose money on gasoline, but we have the chance of hitting the jackpot. Wait, what's this stop right here? MIKE WOLFE: This guy's got cars. FRANK FRITZ: Let's try this place. MIKE WOLFE: Is this a store?
FRANK FRITZ: I don't know, it looks like somebody's pad or something. MIKE WOLFE: Oh, he's got some multitudes. FRANK FRITZ: This guy's got the signs, he's got the gas pumps, he's got cars laying over. Looks like the perfect spot. Let's check it out. Hello. This place is cool. He's got some stuff around here. Look at all these toys. I walk up to the window and I'm looking in this place, I'm thinking it's a store. I mean, it looks like a junk shot to me.
Hey, how are you doing? Hey, man. It's Mike. Yeah. Saw your gas pumps and your cars. How you doing? Frank, nice to meet you. What's your name? A guy with a name like Tricky Dick, he must mean business. You related to Nixon? Yeah? Anyway, we were driving by, we see you got a multitude of stuff. Here's a little list. Yeah. Here's a list of stuff we buy. We're pickers, you know what a picker is? Right away, I'm getting a good vibe from Tricky Dick. But the question is, will he let us look around?
You sell stuff? Is this a store or what is it? Personal stuff? OK. I have a hard time understanding what he's saying. Can we look around a little bit? All right. What do you got? Give us a tour, man. Whatever you want to show us. Wow. MIKE WOLFE: Uh-oh. TRICKY DICK: Dang. Oh man, look at the Vega. TRICK DICK: Oh yeah. Tricky Dick's shed is packed with stuff.
He's got cars, toys, signs. It's a lot of stuff. TRICKY DICK: Right. I even spot a coffin. Oh, look at this, Frank. Hopefully this thing's empty I'm feeling pretty comfortable in here. TRICKY DICK: Oh yeah. Hey. What do you got on the big Texaco sign? It's a nice size piece and it's in really good condition. I've got clients that have really big garage spaces that would absolutely love to have a sign this big to cover the wall.
What do you got to have for that? I don't know. MIKE WOLFE: $800? Whoa. $800 is full on retail. I'm not smelling what Tricky Dick is stepping in. Dang, wait hold on here. I thought it was a heat. It might have been an $800 price tag. I'm hoping this isn't going to set the tone for the rest of this pick. It's nice. Well, we're just like you, Dick. Remember, we're pickers, you know? So if we buy something, we got to have a little money left on it.
Hey, what's that big grill off of back there? Oh, that's a Hudson terraplane grill? Yeah. The terraplane was a car that was built by the Hudson Motor Car Company in the 1930s. These cars were awesome. They had a lot of power under the hood and a great deco look. And you can tell that by the design of the grill. I've been buying these grills and hanging them on the wall because that's the car signature. I love this thing. What do you want for something like that? That thing's sexy, man.
What's that crazy number on it? I hear ya. Same way I am. $200. Nah, nah, nah, nah. $250? Ah, no. FRANK FRITZ: Uh-oh. Hey, I'm trying. Mike and I come across collectors all the time that won't sell stuff. The key is to find that one item. So I mean, a lot of this stuff you get at flea markets. Why do you go on Sundays? First time I met this guy, I was like, man, I could tell I was going to like him. MIKE WOLFE: Uh-oh, whoa.
Look at that. What do you got, Frankie? FRANK FRITZ: I got Rambler Service sitting here. MIKE WOLFE: Oh, this is cool. Would that be something you'd sell? Now we're 0 for three. All right. How about $275 on the grill? 0 for four. What's the crazy number on that? Tricky Dick may not be selling anything at all. FRANK FRITZ: What's this? MIKE WOLFE: You find something, Frankie? I look over, here's this Studebaker Jack. It says Studebaker right on the side.
I mean, advertising stuff is hot. And Studebaker, they didn't make that much stuff. I gotta have it. How about something like this? This could be sold to an advertising collector and anybody likes automotive stuff. I mean, this is a great piece. I'd do $20 on it. There's that look again. I mean, we've got to get something going here.
I'll do $25. I can't believe it, this pick just got a pulse. Let's see what else he's got. Look at all this stuff here. This is the man cave. So it looks like you've been hanging and collecting for a long time here. MIKE WOLFE: Yeah. I know. It's like a gambler's high. FRANK FRITZ: Man. You can tell this is Tricky Dick's version of heaven. A velvet painting of Bo Sefis, man.
So when you're in the doghouse, this is where you come, huh? Well, it was pretty apparent that Tricky Dickie was a beer drinker. I mean, he had over 400 beer signs in there. So I'm fitting right in here. This is a place we'd hang out. FRANK FRITZ: I could see hanging out here. MIKE WOLFE: Oh, that's neat. All of a sudden, I see this really cool aluminum horse.
I like that. It's an equestrian piece. There's a jockey. The closer I get to it, the more I could see it's age. I love this kind of stuff. What's this off of, do you know? This thing must have came off a gambling device, an arcade game. This would make a great piece for anybody that has anything to do with horses. How much you want for this? The thing that makes Tricky Dick tricky is you never know if he's going to sell anything or not.
$15. Ah I don't give rid of it. All right, $20. All right. I like it. It's cool. What do you got? You never know which way Tricky Dick's going to go. Oh, Frankie. FRANK FRITZ: And where'd you pick those up at? I see these two rides and I'm finally thinking game on. These coin op rides can turn this pick around. The horse is sentimental to Dick, and that's fine. The piece I'm focused on is the Candy Apple red wild boar. That's hot.
TRICKY DICK: Oh yeah. MIKE WOLFE: As a picker, you're driving around and you're trying to find things that are different, that spark emotion, things that you've rarely ever seen before. This is all those things. How much is the pig ride?
$600? Man, the price of pork is up there, huh? People love coin-operated rides because they can connect to their past. How about $300? You see horses and you see little trucks, but when's the last time you saw a Candy Apple red wild boar? Is the coin-op mechanism in here? Refurbishing the coin-op mechanism is going to cost money. Also, the bottom of it is roached, it's like growing out of the ground.
How about $325? Uh. How about $325 and a case of beer? FRANK FRITZ: See? You just eat how they ride. We got to speak the language, man. As it turned out, Tricky Dick wasn't so tricky after all. One, two, three, all right. I bought the wild boar coin-operated machine for $325 and a case of beer. I think we should get it appraised.
Don't treat it like a butcher. I paid $25 for the Studebaker jack, I can at least double my money. I bought the horse with the jockey on his back for $20. I'm going to ask $60. All right. Tricky Dicky. Nice to meet you, buddy. Overall, this was a great freestyle stop. We met an awesome guy and we got a few items. And the thing is when you're picking, you've got to try to buy something every single day. Thanks for giving us the tour. Yeah.
Thanks, buddy. Take care. If we're ever in the area again, we'll stop by and say hi. Keep on picking. See ya, Tricky Dick. Hey, buddy. Keep on picking, buddy. MIKE WOLFE: You know what? Johnny Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, these guys all wrote their songs down here. Me and Frankie are in the heart of the Mississippi Delta.
There's a lot of music history down here. We should write a pickers blues song. You got a couple of lyrics you want to start off with? How about like darkness has fallen on the picker man. What about barbecue sauce? You know what I'm saying? Is that Danny? - Hello. How are you doing? We're just talking about writing some lyrics, making our own picker song. Oh, you can't write the blues unless you feel the blues.
Hey, I'm feeling it, man. I'm down in the Mississippi Delta. It's a good day. So what's going on, girl? OK. I have a lead for you. And I want you to remember, it's all in the name. The name, Bubba O'Keefe. So he's an Irish Hillbilly? I was going to say, that sounds weird. DANIELLE: Exactly. But what's he got? He has a 15,000 square foot building, which is pretty rocking. This place used to be a bank. But before it was a bank, it was like a Delta Blues radio station.
OK, that's cool. Maybe it's got some memorabilia. I mean in my mind, this is the coolest pick in the world. But hopefully it translates that way. You had my attention at 15,000 square feet. All right, girl. - We'll let you know. Bye. Frankie and I are cruising the Blues Highway. What more perfect of a pick than to hit an old radio station? We're in the center of it all, my friend. FRANK FRITZ: This looks good, looks good.
I need to buy a T-shirt. All right. FRANK FRITZ: Aw, this place is huge. Man, look how big it is. Hello. Hey, you Bubba? That's me. All right, I'm Mike. How's it going? - Good to see. Good to see you too. You talked to Danielle on the phone? How you doing? Frank. I saw the sign out front. This is a museum, huh? It is. It's been in the works since '99. This building was built in 1920 and is on the historical registry because WROX Radio station was located upstairs from about 1946 to 1955.
Ike Turner started out as a janitor here and then he became a disk jockey upstairs. Right here? Yeah. I'll be darned. Well here, you talked to Danielle on the phone. Here's one of our flyers. This is just kind of a general list of the types of things we buy. She said that you had maybe a few items that you might be interested in turning loose. This place looks like a small town museum. But as I'm looking around, I realize this guy's a picker too and I know he's got to have some stuff.
What's the significance of the automobile neon? I found it in another building. I buy buildings. All right, so you were a collector before you even started this place? Oh yeah, since I was a kid. I picked for my museum. And so to see people that really appreciate one's passion of collecting and picking, it just makes me feel good because not many people understand that. I didn't tell you that Elvis played upstairs twice. - What? - Really? Yes, yes. Best I can figure is to promote his concerts here, local concerts at the auditorium.
It was in 1955. The second floor is where the studios-- So Elvis walked up these steps? These right here. - Just like me. - This is it. All right. You just put your hand where he did. - I did. - Don't touch that. MIKE WOLFE: So this is laid out the way it was? Even if you don't like the blues, I mean just being in one of these rooms, it's remarkable. That's the broadcast room. FRANK FRITZ: When he told me that Elvis Presley might have been here, when I was standing in that recording room, I felt like I was a kid.
Sit down there, Frankie. All right. Ike Turner could have been spinning some stuff here. This is where it was all recorded. This is it. I imagine there, looking through there and looking at Elvis playing there. We walk into the sound room and you're thinking to yourself, wow, did Elvis stand here? Did Johnny Cash stand here? And I'm trying to take in everything he's telling me, but I'm in awe. Listen to your voice in here now.
I know. Sound proof. MIKE WOLFE: This is deadening. It's a lot more elaborate than I thought it was going to be. I can't help to think that this place is inspiring my song, "Picker Man." All right, this is where the 15,000 square feet comes into play. Now we're up to 10,000. The room of mistakes is a lot of stuff that's broken or maybe it's not good enough to be on display. Every museum has one of these rooms. Oh, those are beautiful. They came out of school. This is a big boy right here. The bird cages are great display items and need a little bit cleanup, but they're not broke. And these things are hard to find.
What do you for the small one here, the two small ones? You've got to give me a reference. Tell me. $40. Apiece? No, that'd be for both. I'm thinking $25 and $15. Does that take-- I get to keep the cup? FRANK FRITZ: Yeah, you can have the bird turds on the bottom too. How much you say? $40 bucks for both. We'll do it. All right, let's shake on it. I want to make sure. I just totally fell in love with these.
These are all handmade. You just do not find these kind of things anymore. They're in great shape. I had to have them. MIKE WOLFE: I like that WROX. Someone actually cut this sign out of a piece of canvas. That's original. I know. Where did you find that? Well, I mean, that was where it was. Oh, that's where it was? They had a barn dance in his room. Oh, they did? The Fire Marshal made them quit because of all the hay bales and people were smoking.
Said you can't do that. Where these lights in here? I'm not sure where they came from. I see these white, porcelain, service station shade lights. They're very cool, they've got an angle to them, they would probably would have came off the front of a building and had the illumination come down and light a sign. Would you sell these? You got two of them. - Two of them? You've got one over there and one here. Name me a price. Uh. They rotate. It's threaded in there.
Yeah. The porcelain is nice on them. They need to be rewired. But you know what? They're still awesome. How about $30 apiece. Yep. That was fast. Oh, apiece? Yeah. You said, "Yep." What is that? I'm teasing you. What do you mean? Well, I'll let some things go because they weren't so important for my mission here at the WRXO museum. Let's go up to the third floor. This place keeps going on and on. He finished this off a little bit more up here. Yeah. I got a lot of different tastes.
MIKE WOLFE: I see that. The one thing great about this pick was you just didn't know what you were going to find. MIKE WOLFE: All right, Bubba. Found a sign, man. What's up? No way on that? No way? That's Highway 1 Is this the Blues Highway? Well, I mean, 61 is the Blues Highway. OK. But Highway 1 is the River Road.
You know, you don't see a Highway 1 sign like that anymore. Won't find them. All right, I'm going to put it down. I'm walking away. It's one of a kind, and I got it. It's very cool. Nice paperweight. Yeah. You know, I'm not sure where I picked that. It's nice, man. Bubba, what do you get for these shirt displays? What are you thinking? This is kind of a simple one, you know? Yeah. It adjusts up.
These old times shirt displays, I mean, these probably came out of a men's fashion store or something. And they're really cool. You just don't see stuff like this anymore. How about $20 a piece? All right. I'll take these two then. I bought two of them for $20, great buy. So this is kind of like that the Bubba man room. Hang out, chill out. Oh nice. That's cool. Oh yeah, New York. He's got a really cool wooden rail, wooden leg pinball machine from the '50s. And with pinball, it's all about the subject matter. And this one is New York, not just New York, Times square.
Lots of color, the playing field is nice. It's missing the coin mechanism, it's missing the glass. But you know what? It's great subject matter. You don't have this piece, do you? No. Where'd this thing come out of? Found it in an old and just-- - Here locally? - Yeah. - Local? - Yeah. This is a good piece you saved. This thing's rough, but the only thing I'd be interested in it for is the subject matter.
Right. And that's the whole point. MIKE WOLFE: That's what it's all about. What do you thinking on this? I mean, the thing needs to be completely restored, but I like stuff that's rusty, dirty, and has a life before us. I'll lay an offer on you. Deal. $75. $75? Yeah. I mean, if this thing was up and rocking and rolling, what would it be, Frankie? $600 or $700. I was going to say, that's the highest. Yeah. MIKE WOLFE: Anybody that lives in New York or somebody that just has a connection to New York City, this is the perfect piece.
I made an offer, tell me where you're at. Well, I was up in the stratosphere. I was up at $200. $200? Yeah. Would that be delivered to Iowa? You know what? That might work out. If you deliver it. I'll tell you what-- This is a beautiful machine. It's got wooden legs. I'd up a little bit. I'd do $100. That's not too far apart. I mean, we got some cash flowing here, you know? And you know what?
Let me rephrase. Where's the cash flowing? I'll do this, how about $135? Mike and Frankie, they were pushing me a couple of times, but it's picking, you know? What was it? FRANK FRITZ: $135, out the door, cash and carry like they do with roses. Cash and Frank will carry. You're breaking my heart. All Right, $135. It was very hard to let go of the pinball machine, but I'm glad to see it going to people that are going to make sure that somebody that really likes that will get it.
FRANK FRITZ: Look at all the records, all those record. A lot of those came from WROX. Hey, Frankie, check this out. It's an Ingo bike. Oh, is that one of those kind of a woom, woom, woom. Yeah, you jump up and down on it. It's got some great stuff on it. It's got the original front wheel, the frame's nice. These things are extremely hard to find. They were made by a company called Randt Ingersoll from like '34 to '37. And you actually jumped up and down on this bicycle to propel yourself.
The offset rear wheel would throw you forward. You see how that's laced in there? Mhm. One side of the wheel, one side of the spokes are shorter and the hub is offset. So when you jumped up and down on it like this-- That's what kept you going. You see the spring frame? Yep. It's like a big scooter. A big kid's scooter. Big time. It's funny how it really attracts people's attention. Oh, I know.
Well, it's just so massive. Yeah. Bubba, would you sell this bike? You know, I don't know. We're going to have to soul search on this. You're going to have to-- we're going to have to figure it out. Make you an offer on it? Well, with anything, it's all about condition, you know? The bike is solid, the frame is solid. It's got the wrong rear rim. It's missing the tread here. These are the wrong grips.
I mean, it's got some issues on it. But overall, the hardest thing to find is this head badge where it says "Ingo Bike." Those are really hard to find. So those are always gone. I'd be into it for like $300. It hurts it that it's got the wrong rim on it. Actually, it's a Schwinn rim, that's why it's got this neural on the center. So you're saying this is the-- The rim itself.
Someone re-laced this wheel with this rim. Oh, I got you. This hub is original to the bike. What about $375? I mean-- Yeah, I couldn't do $375 on it. I'd come up to $325 on it and then that'd be maxed out on it. What if I have a picture of Tennessee Williams on this bike? I'd probably give you a couple hundred more. $325. $325? All right. - Yep. - All right. - All right. Thanks. I'm a bicycle guy.
I love bicycles. This is going to be something easy for me to sell because I'm plugged into the antique bicycle community. That's cool, dude. You see the back wheel? I know, I love it. It's not broken. It's supposed to be that way. For a day of picking down here in the Delta, I think we had a great day. I bought some awesome stuff today and I feel confident that we can make some cash on. I bought the Ingo bike for $325. I'm going to ask $600.
FRANK FRITZ: I bought two antique birdcages for $40. I think I can get at least get $200 for both. There it is. That baby's heavy. I got the Times Square pinball machine for $135. I'm going to ask $400. - Y'all come back. - Good luck with everything. Yeah, thank you for coming to the museum. It's a great project. I feel like having Mike and Frank at our WRXO Museum was a great blessing. And it was just a great experience to walk through the building and look through things, pick through things, and hear their take on it.
And I love for them to come back. - See ya, buddy. - See ya, man. Bye. All right. MIKE WOLFE: You're supposed to be riding a blues song. What do you got? I got barbecue on my shirt. I got the barbecue on my shirt. That's what writing blues is all about. I mean, it's life experiences. That's my experience. And I've got a working title. I've got "Picker Man." You want to hear this?
- Yeah. - All right. Then give me some beat. I need a beat one. One, two, three. [knocking] Was down the alley. [knocking] In the garbage can. [knocking] It looks like a Honey Badger. [knocking] No, it's the Picker Man. [knocking] That's all I got so far. That didn't sound too bad. I liked the part about the Honey Badger. You like the Honey Badger? Cause he don't care.
Hello? Hey. I have some information for you in regards to the appraisal. Danny found us an appraiser for the metal pig. We're going to head over there and see how we did. All right. Thanks boys. FRANK FRITZ: Have a great day. Take care. Flag says this is it. This looks like it is because it's an auction place. "Please use wood beside door to knock." I'm knocking. [knocking] That's all right, man. Hello. - Are you Chuck? - I'm Chuck.
- I'm Mike. - How you doing? I'm Frank. - Glad to know you, Frank. Hey, you the pig appraiser? - I'm the pig appraiser. - All right. Can we grab it? Bring her on in. All right, we'll get it. My name is Chuck Ryan, I'm a real estate broker and auctioneer. And I've been in the arcade game business since 1967. All right, Chuck. We're going to blow your mind. All right. We buy, sell, trade, and restore all types of arcade games. There.
Look at that. Well guys, let's see what you've got here. It's a Sandy pig, made by the Sandy Company from 1951 to 1954. They also produced a riding horse. The Sandy horses were much more popular. The pig just didn't go over as well as the horse did. And so they ultimately quit making them. They made some out of fiberglass, some out of metal. This is metal instead of fiberglass, makes it extremely rare. When he said it was super rare because it was a metal one, not the fiberglass one, I was thinking the number, who knows, could be up to $1,000.
Of course, you're missing the range, the saddle is in rough condition. You're missing your coin-mech. The bottom box will have to be rebuilt, as well. The condition of this one is pretty rough, but it can easily be restored. He's had a hard life here. He's just sitting outside for 15 years in the cold and the wind and the rain. It's in great condition, considering the age and from it being outside, obviously. You guys have done really well. I don't think I've seen another one at auction.
This guy's been around the block. He does coin-operated stuff, he does appraisals, he does auctions. When he says he hasn't seen the pig very much, then we know we got a rare item. Well, you've seen it. What do you think it's worth? Well, if you restore it, finished out one of these would be worth $2,500, $3,000. In its current condition, I would guesstimate maybe $600 to $800. - Really? - Yes. That's good. I'm into it for $325. Right. I think you've done extremely well. In fact, I may know someone who might have interest in it.
Really? Yep. He does restorations. And we use him all the time. And just about a week or so ago, he had said he was looking for a metal pig. He's a very good friend of mine if you want me to give him a call? That's the guy we need. A guy that does the restoration. Somebody that is going to bring it back to life so it can be in its full glory like it was when it was outside the 5 and 10.
Give the guy a call. Hey, that'd be great if we could get it out of the back of the van. $1,600. I mean, hey, $700. Money is money. This is the perfect scenario for us. We roll up, we get the appraisal, and then the appraiser knows a guy that might buy the item. Hey, Mark. Remember you told me you wanted a red metal pig? I happen to have one in our place right now. It's the original red pig, metal one, not the fiberglass.
Metal is in pretty rough condition, but it's something you could restore if you have interest in it. I'll let you talk to the fella that owns it and you can find out from him. Wants to know how much you want for him. Hey, Mark. How are you doing? When Chuck put me on the phone with a potential buyer, I was a little bit skeptical. I mean, this is going to be too good to be true. An appraisal and a sale? This is perfect. So he gave you the overall general idea of what the shape the pig is in?
I'd take $600 for it. And that's where I'd have to be on it. I'm from Iowa, we're just driving through here. So if I can get $600, I'll leave it here. And if he can pay us, that'll be great and it's yours. If not, we're going to toss it back in the van. Chuck, he said if you think it's worth $600, he'll take your word for it. Even I heard that. Tell him I think it's worth every bit of $600. He says it's worth every bit of it. All right, my friend. We're going to leave it here. - Sounds like we got a deal. Hey. Thanks.
It's good doing business with you. All right. Buh-bye. We got a deal. At $600, I don't have to restore this, it's not taking up any space in the van, I don't have to haul it all the way back to Iowa, and I'm making a little bit of money on it. Thanks, buddy. Who said pigs don't fly? That's exactly right. Great doing business with you guys. All right. This is just one more instance that Danielle did a great job. We got some more room in the van and more cash to spend. Yeah. Sweet picking.
MIKE WOLFE: Hey, I've already wrote two verses. What have you done? I got my one verse, "Barbecue on my shirt." Let's hear it. Wrote a song about it, like to hear it go. You got gates, cookies, Frank's special sauce. I'm going down the road going to use my horse. Come on people try my sauce, I'm doing it now. Oh no, I'm in the bathroom, how? I think you should lose "Frank's special sauce."
The special sauce works out in the bathroom. That's a little bit edgy. And two, that's rap, not blues. Oh that was rap. If we could get into Phil's place, this is going to be amazing. We're in Mississippi here today and we're going to go see an old friend of ours. Hey, Phil. We saw those. - The gas pumps? - Yeah, yeah. What do you thinking on these? Couple of thousand for both of them.
Whoa. I'm glad I was hanging on here. MIKE WOLFE: Phil was kind of like the local historian, man. He was buying architectural stuff. He was keeping the stuff here in the community. MIKE WOLFE: Advertising stuff. There's his car. MIKE WOLFE: Where? The white car, remember? MIKE WOLFE: That's his car, yeah. FRANK FRITZ: You know what that means? MIKE WOLFE: What? FRANK FRITZ: He's home. All right.
This is it. Think he's going to remember us? FRANK FRITZ: He'll remember us. MIKE WOLFE: This place looks the same. [knocking] Hello. Yes. Remember us? How can I forget these faces? We're pretty unforgettable. I was just glad to see that Phil was in a good mood. Last time we were here, his house burned down. The reason we stopped back is because last time you said you had a building down at the end there and we didn't get a chance to get inside there.
I thought you went in the building. No. We went in the building next door, but we never got into that one. It's kind of rough. It's rough in there? - Well, the ceiling is. - All right. We're used to that. We're like honey badgers, we'll dig forever. All right. Let's go down to the big building and then work our way back down. OK. Phil owns a building that's just down the street.
He's been storing stuff there for years. You're going to see a lot of stuff in there. - Oh yeah? - All right. We're looking forward to it. Phil is a really eclectic collector. So it's driving me crazy to actually see what he has inside this building. Look at this place, Frankie. It's old and it's falling apart, but it's big and we can't wait to see what's inside. It's made of stone. I mean, it looks heavy duty.
It was built from salvaged material from the old King's Daughter's hospital, which is like 1923. And how long have you been putting stuff in here? 30 or 40 years. All right, Frankie. Just follow me. MIKE WOLFE: Oh, you're going to need a flash light, Frankie. FRANK FRITZ: I got mine. MIKE WOLFE: No way. Walking in that front door was incredible. This is the kind of places we love. Darn right. I love architectural stuff, and Phil is an architect.
He's been collecting architectural items out of this town in the South for many years. When you walk into this place, you can see old doors, old windows, old stained glass. This is exactly why we came back to Phil's. Wow. So much stuff in here, I really lost track of it. MIKE WOLFE: So you still buying stuff? I'm still collecting stuff. Are you? It never leaves you. You can't get it out of your system. When I say something interesting to me and I can afford it, I'll buy it. From yard sales to estate sales, but I never sold anything. And that was my problem.
See, that's why this building is so full of stuff. It looks like you've got a leaky roof. Yeah. MIKE WOLFE: When's the last time you were in here, Phil? I haven't been in a couple of months. Phil is one of those guys that we call "loving it to death." The conditions of the building are so bad, the roof is caved in, there's tons of water coming in on it. I mean, he sees the condition a lot of this stuff and he knows that he's got to start turning loose of it. What's that? Recruiting service stuff.
MIKE WOLFE: Yeah. That's cool, man. Hey, Phil, what about these cards here? You got little cards of Uncle Sam. Oh my God. They're like in mint condition, you know? There's a lot of roof damage in this place and there's a lot of things getting wet, but these are one of the things that survived. They got great graphics and I'm sure somebody that collects military stuff or any kind of Americana would love these. How much you got to have for these? About $5.
$5? I broke the ice. All right. Phil brought all this stuff into one area and preserved it because he saw the history of it. But now, he's really got to start selling some of this stuff. And I think he sees that me and Frankie are red hot and we got cash. Man, this place is killer. How about some of these signs over here? Any of those for sale? Oh yeah, I like that. Yeah, it's cool. MIKE WOLFE: It was a 12 foot hot woman painted on galvanized metal with a wood frame. What about this woman? Looks like she's water skinned.
Oh God. It came off of a motel. That was a feature, they had that out front. She's in the bathing suit. And at that time, it was kind of risque. FRANK FRITZ: I could see, I'd pull in. MIKE WOLFE: That'd make me want to stay there. It was a piece of advertising. Someone hand-painted this piece. Now, it's a piece of art. How much is that? You ain't going to like this. All right, hit me hard. PHIL: $200, you can have it.
$200? It's a beauty. Yeah, it's pretty faded out though, you know? How about $125? $150 you got it. How about $130. No. I've got to make some money out of this somehow. We have a saying, "I needs the money." Work with me here. PHIL: I'm trying to get some money. Hey, I'm trying to give you some money. Phil hasn't changed one bit, he's still tough as ever. But I really want this sign. I said $150 and that was the bottom line.
$150. That's the bottom line. Now get it out of here. All right. I got it. I think my eyes are very close to the picker's eyes because they like my stuff. Got some engine blocks, pistons. The packet of hub caps is over there. I see those, yep. Let me see that one right there with the Indian face on it. - It's broached. - Oh yeah. When me and Frankie are digging around this room, I find a really cool Pontiac hood ornament.
It's still got the plastic face of the Indian. How much is that? It's a Pontiac. Let me see it. - Yeah. How much? That's $100. That's $100? It's just too pitted for me because a guy is going to put this on a car, he's going to have to re-plate it. I'll let you have it for $50, how about it? $40. It's been oxidized, but it's still got the look. Phil, my last offer is $40. I'm like $40, going, going, going. Telling you what, you better take it why you got a hot buyer here.
I don't need no advice from you. All right. I'll let you have it. MIKE WOLFE: You let me do the $40? For the Indian. MIKE WOLFE: All right. I'd do the $40. Let me grab it. FRANK FRITZ: I think Phil thought in the back of his mind, I'm never going to get $40 for this. It's going to sit here and rust away. I better take his money while I've got a chance. Hey, Phil, what about this sign? It's a laxative sign.
Nature's Remedy. Right. It's porcelain. The subject matter, laxative, it's going to go to like a pharmacist guy, somebody that runs apothecary shop. PHIL: How much? $35? $50. $40. $50. All right, I'll tell you what, good deal. Now we're talking. Once it's cleaned up, on the market, it's gone. - Get on up. - Let's see what we got here. What's this? - What is it? Got a big hole in it. This big wheel's cool. That's a gorgeous thing there.
It is gorgeous. This is something that's early, probably had a strap that went to it, had it belt, and it probably drove some piece of farm equipment or drill press or something. See, that thing would be an eye-catcher. Like in a restaurant? In a restaurant, anything like that. Put a clock in it and put some numbers on it, hell. It's cool. It was broken a little bit, it was off-centered. It's got a little bit of damage around this side here. Well, don't poo-poo my stuff.
I'm not poo-pooing it. How about $35? No, hell no. You tell me. I got to start somewhere. We're not even close. $100 for that. That's a beauty there. I think I'm going to pass at $100. All right, $80. How about $60? $80 is my bottom figure on that. All right, well I'll tell you what, let me look around or something and maybe I can put something with it. I like to bundle. I like to buy two or three things at a time. I don't like to do that with you. When we're walking around and we're negotiating with Phil, one of the things that I'm going to stop doing is mentioning the condition of things.
I mean, he had his house burned down. The building that we're digging in, the roof is caved in on it. I mean, this guy's been through a lot and I forgot about that. FRANK FRITZ: So Phil, how do you get upstairs? I don't want to go on those steps. MIKE WOLFE: Hey, neither do I. We can go up the fire escape. Fire escape? We came all the way to Mississippi to check out this building. There's no way we're leaving without seeing the whole thing.
FRANK FRITZ: This looks easier than the other steps, Phil. Whoa, there's all kinds of stuff up there. Whoa. Be careful. This place is full on backwoods guerrilla picking. The roof is caved in, the floor is falling in, it's like 100 degrees in here. That's how we roll. When you moved in up here and had this stuff up here, was there one day when the roof was still good? Yeah, it was a wonderful place at one time. The first thing that happened is that trust broke. Oh yeah. They framed it the wrong way.
They should have framed it to the centerline. MIKE WOLFE: It looks like the roof has been down for quite a while. It has been. I got hot up there. If I had known I was going to be doing this today, I got my things to do. FRANK FRITZ: You know, Phil gets around pretty good for an older gentleman, but he's starting to run out of steam. We need to get as much picking in as we can get before he throws in the towel. How much for the fire buckets? PHIL: $10 apiece?
$10 apiece, I'm your guy. The further I dig into this place, the more cool stuff I find. Look at those. Oh my God, my monkeys. $10 for both of them. All right. I like them because they're all rusty. This building is trashed beyond repair. I'm glad we can buy some of this stuff and get it off Phil's hands before it's totally toast. That's good.
Those are nice. FRANK FRITZ: They're like little that you would put on the cigar box. That way you can have the back of it open. There are glass tops and what you did is you opened up the cigar box and you put them down. It was to keep them fresh. It was also so you could be able to see the cigars. These are really cool items, but they just weren't in the best shape. Since I have an extra piece of glass, how about these five here? And the box?
I don't care about the box, you can have the box if you want it. There's like five of them. I like $10 apiece. I'm going to do you a favor. OK. $60 for all of them. OK. So the whole lot, $60? $60. OK, you got it. These are classic, great things. Anybody that collects cigar stuff, humidors, anything to do with that, they're going to love this. These are shelf brackets here. What do they say on that? Peoria, Illinois, right about where I live. Whoa. I almost fell through the floor right here, dude.
It's rough being a picker. I'm about ready to fall through here. Look at this. Found this hay carrier. These hay carriers are really cool. They're cast iron, they're ornate, they've got wheels on them, and a lot of people are starting to repurpose them as light fixtures. How much for this hay carrier? God, I haven't seen nothing in a while. MIKE WOLFE: Remember, I had to risk life and limb for this piece.
I know you did. So I'm going to give you a good price, $100. $100? Man. You make your own price. $50. Uh-uh. That thing is really valuable. MIKE WOLFE: Phil says he doesn't like to negotiate, but you know what? I think he loves it just as much as we do. I should be getting first cousin price now. I've been stepping up. $60. Work with me. $60 and let's get out of here. OK. I can stay here and pick all night. I'm talking full on sleep here, but I can tell Phil's getting a little bit tired so I'm backing off.
I don't want to overstay our welcome. Get that stuff loaded up. You bet. They enjoyed being with me and I enjoyed being with them. Well, we got through this place without it caving in. Come on, you poured it on me, dude. What did you pour it on me for? I bought 15 fire buckets for $150. I'm going to double down and double my money. FRANK FRITZ: I bought the recruiting cards for $5.
I couldn't see why I couldn't get at least $35 to $50 for them. The cigar tops, I got 10 of them for $60. That's like $6 apiece. I know I can get at least $15 or $20 for the good one. All right, Phil. PHIL: You're breaking my heart. Several of the things that I've let go are hard to get rid of, but I just decided that it's time to do it. You're always rough on us, but we always enjoy doing business with you. That's why we keep coming back. Come back any time.
Coming back to see Phil was totally worth the trip. We walked away with some great little items. And you know what? I think Phil had a good time too. You know it's a good pick when you're this dirty. Boy, you are filthy. I just wish I could go in that truck with them and help them. All right, Phil. Thanks, buddy. PHIL: Goodbye. Come back any time.
What are you doing, man? Writing a blues song. This is going to be a good one, dude, I'm telling you. This is like Albert Collins is going to come back from his grave. FRANK FRITZ: What about BB King? MIKE WOLFE: Play this thing. You know what? He's too mainstream for me. I'm more Howlin' Wolf. I am the Howlin' Wolf. I want to hear it, man. Let me hear a couple hits. All right. You give me a beat. Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.
What's that down the alley. Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba. In the garbage? Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba. Looks like a honey badger. Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba. No, it's the picker man. Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba. He's coming at you looking long and lean. Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba. He got something to sell. Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba. It don't have to be clean. Ba-ba-ba-ba That's all I got. That was pretty good.
