Massive Collection of Rare Items (Season 27) | American Pickers | History

The crew a massive collection of rare bikes and scooters. See more in this clip from Season 27, Episode 1, “Turbo Pick.”

This place is huge. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
MIKE: There’s a garage bay open right there.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, that’s gotta be it. Let me get a flyer.
MIKE: Alright. JERSEY JON: Okay.
MIKE: Oh my gosh. JERSEY JON: Whoa.
MIKE: This place is huge, man.
Hello? JERSEY JON: Hello?
Hey, hey, hey.
WALLY: Hey, hello. How you doing?
MIKE: Oh my gosh! This place is massive!
(laughs) MIKE: Once you get to a certain age in life, you really go overboard when it comes to nesting, especially when you’re a collector. No matter how much space you have, eventually, you’re gonna fill it up. This building is incredible. MIKE: I’m Mike, this is Jersey. JERSEY JON: Hey.
WALLY: Oh, hi. I was expecting you.
MIKE: You talk to Dani on the phone?
WALLY: Yeah, I did. She’s a sweetheart.
MIKE: Where are you from? WALLY: I’m from Illinois.
Up there in Crystal Lake, Algonquin.
MIKE: Okay, I’m from Joliet. WALLY: We’re like old neighbors.
MIKE: I still got relatives in Channahon.
WALLY: Oh, that’s perfect.
MIKE: Us Midwesterners can usually spot each other in a crowd, especially if we hear each other speak. The first thing Wally and I have in common is that we’re Southerners by choice, not by birth. We both made that pilgrimage south like migratory birds. But if you spend any time in Chicago, it’s a place that never leaves you. I mean, you’re either going to talk about the food, you’re gonna talk about the Cubs, the Bears… I mean, there’s a comradery celebrated in the Midwestern way. MIKE: How long you been down here now?
WALLY: About three years. MIKE: Okay. So, Dani said your brother passed away? WALLY: Yes, he did, unfortunately, yes. JERSEY JON: Sorry to hear that.
MIKE: He was the collector? WALLY: He was the collector of everything.
MIKE: I see that, he’s got a big shop here.
Was this his place? WALLY: A collection of cars and bikes and all kinds of stuff.
WALLY: Well, I inherited it all from my brother.
He passed away about three years ago.
His name was Ron and he was very much, I’d have to say, like a hermit.
MIKE: So, this is his workspace, huh? What was he working on?
WALLY: Everything.
WALLY: He was a genius as far as building and doing everything.
All this machinery stuff down here and so forth. WALLY: The reason I called you is because I think I have a lot of material here that we’d like to sell.
MIKE: There’s a list here. You can see, there’s bicycles on here, there’s motor scooters. I can see you got some Helixes.
WALLY: Uh-huh. MIKE: There’s a Cushman.
Little Truckster going on there and stuff.
WALLY: We got some Whizzers up front you might– MIKE: Oh, you do? Oh, you got Whizzers?
Ah! Here’s the toy room! JERSEY JON: Oh yeah!
He’s got some bikes. MIKE: Woo! Dang…
JERSEY JON: Very cool. MIKE: Crazy, man.
He’s a Cushman guy. Look at this.
JERSEY JON: Whoa. Look at that three-wheeler.
MIKE: I know! He’s got the other three-wheelers.
JERSEY JON: Yeah. MIKE: He’s got the Heritage, man.
JERSEY JON: Yeah. MIKE: Look at this baby.
This thing is loaded down. JERSEY JON: Man, that’s cool.
MIKE: This one’s a little nicer than the one I have on the floor in my shop right now. I’ve had it for sale for about a year now, and I’ve got 15, 1600 bucks on it.
You know. This one’s nicer paint, though, so…
JERSEY JON: It’s definitely painted.
MIKE: Yeah. Uh, I’d do, uh, 3,000 on this one, and I’d do, uh…
1,200 bucks for that. That’s 42.
WALLY: Okay, what about the black one?
That’s all original stuff. MIKE: The black Cushman?
WALLY: Yeah. MIKE: Um…
MIKE: The Cushman, this is what they call a Super Eagle. It’s original paint, it’s missing a few parts, but a lot of guys that collect Cushman, they alter them. They’ll beef them up by putting bigger engines in them, chroming them out, accessorizing the heck out of them. I mean, I love the Cushman guys because they’re usually older, they’re mentors, and think about it, they’ve lived this passion since they were kids. They remember the Cushmans on the road riding them, but unfortunately, a lot of these guys are aging out. But now, there’s a market here for younger people, because this like an open door for an entry-level collector to enter this world. Getting on something that’s two-wheeled, vintage, that you can ride and go, “Okay, I get it. This is bad to the bone.” MIKE: This one right here. This is bone stock.
JERSEY JON: Yep. Original paint. MIKE: So… but, it’s missing the primary cover here.
So, the retail on this thing would be like 3,500 bucks.
You’re rolling, riding down the road, you know, you’d have to spend a little bit of money on it.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, you gotta go through the motor.
MIKE: 2,000 bucks.
WALLY: Okay, so what do you got? You got 3…
MIKE: 3, 42, 52, 62.
WALLY: 65, you got a deal. MIKE: Ugh…
WALLY: That big seat, it’s good for people like me, you know.
MIKE: Yeah. Oh, they all got big seats. Yeah.
Why don’t we do this… 6,250. WALLY: Why don’t we do 63?
MIKE: I want to buy other stuff in here.
WALLY: Okay, let’s do it. 6250. MIKE: 6250.
JERSEY JON: Alright, cool. Thank you, buddy.
MIKE: Dang, man! Woo! JERSEY JON: Thank you.
MIKE: Thank you, my friend. Woo! Cool.
MIKE: Alright, what’s going on with the claw machine?
It’s got a great look to it.
WALLY: Put a nickel in. MIKE: It’s got the tower.
Let me see here.
MIKE: Early claw games with this kind of action were called Diggers. This one is from the 1930s, and it was called The New Yorker, and you can see embossed in the metal the Empire State Building with the radio tower on top. These games were in train stations, carnivals, barbershops, anywhere you were standing around and you had a coin in your pocket, chances are there was a machine like this. MIKE: Am I gonna get it? Am I gonna get it?
Ah…
Haha! That was it. Oh yeah.
I’m interested in this.
Do you have any interest in selling it?
WALLY: Yeah, for about $1,000 it’s yours.
MIKE: Alright. We’re doing it. Thank you, buddy.
WALLY: Okay. MIKE: Appreciate it.
JERSEY JON: Wally. What’s going on with this slot machine?
That’s cool! That’s got the look right there, dude.
First off, it’s the Poinsettia machine and what really attracts me is it’s a 25-cent machine.
WALLY: Correct.
JERSEY JON: This is Mills Poinsettia slot machine. 25 cents to put in that slot was a lot of money back in 1936 when this thing was made. 30s, The Great Depression. A dozen pulls on this machine would’ve been the average workers entire day’s pay. JERSEY JON: Here’s a quarter.
Let’ see if we can get it to work or not.
WALLY: Oh, look at this. It works.
JERSEY JON: I got a cherry. So, it’s a working machine.
JERSEY JON: It’s got the gooseneck on it. That’s where you put your coin. Visually, it’s stunning. That’s what pulls you in. That’s what gets the customer to put his quarter in there. JERSEY JON: I mean, the cabinet that it’s in really makes it special. Because look at this, I mean, this is cool. Here you go.
You can lower it down. It goes down.
Look at this thing going. So, the Vice Squad is down the street and somebody says, “Hey, the Vice Squad is coming!
Let’s lower this thing down here!” And all of a sudden, it’s down there.
Pull the table up.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.
There’s no slot machines in this building.” WALLY: Right, right. JERSEY JON: You’re safe, you know?
And then you throw a cash register on it.
WALLY: Right. JERSEY JON: And then when they’re done, there you go. Crank it up. Get your quarters out, people.
WALLY: And it works. JERSEY JON: And the darn thing works still.
Ah, look at that.
JERSEY JON: Back when gambling was illegal, they had Vice Squads that would come in and take your stuff. I mean, if you had a bar, you weren’t in business anymore. You had to go underground in speakeasies across the country. Perhaps this machine was in one of those speakeasies. This cabinet was made for this machine. You bought this as an accessory. JERSEY JON: Yeah, it’s pretty neat.
Looks like it has its original finish on the side and the wood.
I love the nickel-plating on the top here, on the quarter piece. That’s really interesting.
Yeah. I mean, the Poinsettias are cool. It’s different.
And it’s a high value slot.
That’s what’s cool about it.
If this was a nickel machine, or a dime machine, the value wouldn’t be as much. WALLY: Oh. Okay.
JERSEY JON: Like, a nickel machine or dime machine would be 800 to $1,000.
But because this is a 25-cent machine…
WALLY: Right. JERSEY JON: This is like a $2000 machine.
The base is here, so that adds another, like, 200 bucks to it. So, I think the machine retails like $2,200.
WALLY: Okay. JERSEY JON: Um…
1,500. Would you do that?
(Wally sighs) WALLY: 1,750.
JERSEY JON: 1,600.
WALLY: Okay, you got a deal. JERSEY JON: Alright.
Thanks, buddy. Man, I really love it.
It’s a really cool machine. It’s got the case.
You know what, the Vice Squad is right around the corner.
WALLY: Okay.
MIKE: So, I’m looking around. A lot of these tether cars are real deal. Some of them are reproductions.
Like, that car is reproduction.
Someone made that car.
But, if you’re interested in selling the tether cars…
WALLY: Okay. MIKE: I’m interested in buying them.
WALLY: Yeah. MIKE: Some people call these tether cars, other people call them spin dizzies. Basically, there was a stake in the ground, there was a concrete track, there was a wire extended to the car, and the car ran on that track. To me, they’re incredible because things have engines, spark plugs, fuel, and believe it or not, some of these cars would hit 200 miles an hour. JERSEY JON: This is really cool. MIKE: That one’s missing a tire.
Let me grab one of these chairs.
Grab some of this stuff down, Jersey.
JERSEY JON: You’ve got to have mechanical knowledge to use these things. They have a little internal combustion motor in them, like, you know, small chainsaw motor almost running these things. MIKE: Alright!
MIKE: There’s a lot of guys that collect tether cars. Some of them can be extremely expensive. I mean, there’s clubs, there’s guys that still run these cars. I mean, these things are epic. See the Tornado Racer? MIKE: Yeah, let me see it.
JERSEY JON: That’s for this. That box is for this car, which makes it a little bit cooler.
That’s a Tornado Racer from Woodettes Incorporated.
It definitely adds value. WALLY: Yeah.
JERSEY JON: Which is cool. MIKE: Oh, hell yeah.
So, then, we’re at 8,000, what? 50? 8,050?
JERSEY JON: With the box.
WALLY: Okay, let’s do it. JERSEY JON: You’ll do it?
WALLY: Yep. JERSEY JON: Thanks, buddy.
WALLY: I think you give me a fair number at 8,050, so I’ll take it. JERSEY JON: Thank you so much.
MIKE: Man, I’ll tell you what. It’s getting harder to find any tether car.
This was a lot of leg work that he did to accumulate this stuff over his lifetime. Brilliant.
MIKE: Wally is not a collector, and with the loss of his brother, I can see how he’s feeling overwhelmed. But hopefully, today helped him take the temperature of what the value of a lot of this stuff is. His brother was such a large collector that when all this stuff hits the market again, it’s gonna make so many people happy. MIKE: Wally, you wore us out! JERSEY JON: Yeah, man.
WALLY: You wore me out! JERSEY JON: We did a lot of work today.
Thank you so much. WALLY: Okay. You’re welcome.
JERSEY JON: Thank you. Man, it was a real pleasure.
WALLY: Dealing with the guys was a very, very good experience and I felt that they were fair and polite. It kind of lit a fire for me to start moving some stuff and let it go, so I thought it was great. (honking) MIKE: See you later, buddy!