American Pickers: Superman #9 and Amazing Fantasy #15 2 2

[atomised]

53 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

The market for a lot of what they pick is still VERY strong. Old motorcycles and cars are all over my town. They have car/motorcycle swap meets that draw huge crowds. Advertising items especially signs, are also very strong. They are hard to find here and sell real quick for real good money. Toys are also quick sellers for the right stuff at fair prices. General antiques and furniture not so much...

I think Carbo did a few pilot shows at comic cons. I don't know what ever happened with them. They were kind of fun but then, they were, Mike...

for sure, they are good pickers.   I don't group cars into general antiques although I lost money restoring a 74 Corvette Stingray but it was a fun ride! 

[thehumantorch]

3 hours ago, Robot Man said:

I had a local friend that they picked. He is a building demo guy that collects toys. On the show it was portrayed as a random driving down the street pick. In reality, my friend contacted the show and they set up a time for Mike and Frank to come over. The show asked for random pictures of his 3 warehouses. They quizzed him on what kind of stuff he had. And that was it.

According to my friend, once they got there the pick was on. There was no "staging". They dug through the place and pulled out stuff they wanted and did the dance for price. He's got great stuff and a ton of it so it wouldn't be necessary any way. They stayed all day and spent about 8K with him. He felt that at least Mike was pretty honest with him, Frank, not so much. He enjoyed the day and said how real and down to earth they both were. He was amazed at their passion and knowledge about the stuff. 

I watched the episode. It was fun. It was highly edited I'm sure. They highlighted about 4 or 5 items when in reality, they 1/2 filled their van with smalls. They barely scratched the surface of what this guy has.

I would kill to spend a day picking with them. TV stars or not, their love of junk and the people they get it from really shows through.

I love the show.  I know it's got to be staged to some degree and heavily edited but it's always felt the most real of all the reality shows.

I don't believe they've pre-scouted the pick beyond some pics and a list of big hitter items -very similar to the information I would try to get before going to look at a comic collection.   As they go through the pick it's obvious that they're going through a process of discovery - I'm sure they know the show is more compelling this way - and they're doing the work themselves.  For contrast, on Storage Wars they often rip through the locker and leave with everything lying in the hallway.

Their fame must also generate leads, who wouldn't contact the pickers to come by and dig through their stuff and get on TV?  I'll bet their phone rings off the hook with leads.  Their fame must also be influencing collecting trends.  When they showcase some form of rusty gold I'd imagine it resonates with collectors and prices rise..

Lastly, what they pay for items at this point isn't really important beyond telling a reasonable story.  American Pickers is a huge hit TV show and they make far more for producing the show than they could ever make buying and selling items they buy.

[Robot Man]

3 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

I love the show.  I know it's got to be staged to some degree and heavily edited but it's always felt the most real of all the reality shows.

I don't believe they've pre-scouted the pick beyond some pics and a list of big hitter items -very similar to the information I would try to get before going to look at a comic collection.   As they go through the pick it's obvious that they're going through a process of discovery - I'm sure they know the show is more compelling this way - and they're doing the work themselves.  For contrast, on Storage Wars they often rip through the locker and leave with everything lying in the hallway.

Their fame must also generate leads, who wouldn't contact the pickers to come by and dig through their stuff and get on TV?  I'll bet their phone rings off the hook with leads.  Their fame must also be influencing collecting trends.  When they showcase some form of rusty gold I'd imagine it resonates with collectors and prices rise..

Lastly, what they pay for items at this point isn't really important beyond telling a reasonable story.  American Pickers is a huge hit TV show and they make far more for producing the show than they could ever make buying and selling items they buy.

Yeah they make a lot money doing the show but the discovery and thrill of the hunt never goes away. You can just see it when they did something cool out. I'm sure it's a lot easier to get into places they might not if it wern't for the show. I would kill for their job!

[thehumantorch]

10 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Yeah they make a lot money doing the show but the discovery and thrill of the hunt never goes away. You can just see it when they did something cool out. I'm sure it's a lot easier to get into places they might not if it wern't for the show. I would kill for their job!

Absolutely, they love what they do and I'd love to do what they do.  I always get the feeling Frank is more of a businessman and Mike is more emotionally connected to what they buy but I think they both love it.

[1950's war comics]

American Pickers,..The show is scripted , but still more entertaining than other scripted shows (like storage wars)

[mosconi]

On ‎7‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 9:19 AM, elibowman said:

The AF looked way better...maybe an 8.0 or even higher? No chipping, no noticeable creasing at all, great color. The expert on the phone estimated $850 for the Supes, and $40-50K for the AF. Both seemed low to me, but again, I don't have a great feel for grades...just guesses.

 

The guys apparently don't know much about comics, because the owner wanted $10K for the AF before they talked to the expert on the phone. I was thinking to myself, YES. That was pretty much the end of the tease. It airs Monday night. I know I saw an ASM 1 sitting in the background at one point. There were also comic boxes all around (most that could be seen had things  other than comics in them). I just don't see the guys come across comics very often. It will be interesting to see what they give for it.

Any chance that AF 15 has resto?  Super sharp edges and corners, hardly any spine wear.  Expert's estimate of 40k to 50k without seeing the book in hand  Could the boys could be in for a grading surprise?

Edited July 18, 2017 by mosconi

[Fan Boy]

I have enjoyed this show for some time. It is entertaining to see what they find in the wild or in domestic wild. It is astonishing how much stuff human beings can pack in their dwellings. 

[Bunky Brian]

The show is big enough, that not only does "Danielle" make lead calls, in the area they are in, but the History channel show producers have a staff of people calling and posting on social media, before the boys land in a specific town, to generate any possible visits,

I like the show, love the passion that Mike and Frank have for rusty gold, I'm sure there show fee, exceeds there store sales at this time.

 

[snowman28]

Just set the DVR, thanks for the heads up

[F For Fake]

23 hours ago, Robot Man said:

I had a local friend that they picked. He is a building demo guy that collects toys. On the show it was portrayed as a random driving down the street pick. In reality, my friend contacted the show and they set up a time for Mike and Frank to come over. The show asked for random pictures of his 3 warehouses. They quizzed him on what kind of stuff he had. And that was it.

According to my friend, once they got there the pick was on. There was no "staging". They dug through the place and pulled out stuff they wanted and did the dance for price. He's got great stuff and a ton of it so it wouldn't be necessary any way. They stayed all day and spent about 8K with him. He felt that at least Mike was pretty honest with him, Frank, not so much. He enjoyed the day and said how real and down to earth they both were. He was amazed at their passion and knowledge about the stuff. 

I watched the episode. It was fun. It was highly edited I'm sure. They highlighted about 4 or 5 items when in reality, they 1/2 filled their van with smalls. They barely scratched the surface of what this guy has.

I would kill to spend a day picking with them. TV stars or not, their love of junk and the people they get it from really shows through.

That's a great story, and I'm happy to hear that they're pretty legit. I'm probably too cynical for my own good. I still love watching them unearth that rusty gold.

[thehumantorch]

On 7/14/2017 at 1:12 PM, F For Fake said:

This show is staged as hell, and these dudes are total goofballs, but for some reason this is my go-to guilty pleasure watching when I'm goofing off in the basement. I guess I just like seeing the old junk they dig up, even though I'm sure 99% of it is planted.

I really don't think there's any reason to plant items.  They're well known now and they must get a lot of opportunities to look at stuff whether it's a collector looking to show off their collection and get on tv or a hoarder who can't take care of their collection any longer or who have died.  I'm sure they go into a pick with a good idea of the heavy hitter items, why waste their time, but I'm sure they often find stuff they didn't know was there.

[elibowman]

Well, that was kind of a letdown. 

[mosconi]

36 minutes ago, elibowman said:

Well, that was kind of a letdown. 

Saw the episode again, and I have a feeling that AF 15 has some type of trimming going on   Any opinions?

[HighRadArt]

5 hours ago, mosconi said:

Saw the episode again, and I have a feeling that AF 15 has some type of trimming going on   Any opinions?

I thought the cover looked really nice and that the owner was lucky they took a look at it.  Hard to tell if it was cropped or had any resto and how many buyers would have said it's worth more than 10k?  A 5.5 just got listed here for way more than that.  I also liked the movie posters. Werewolfs on wheels?  Staged or not, I enjoyed this episode.

[CKB]

5 hours ago, mosconi said:

Saw the episode again, and I have a feeling that AF 15 has some type of trimming going on   Any opinions?

If you buy the guy's story he has had it for 30 years, it looked good.   The trimming being done in the 80's was pretty obvious today.  Of course, in hand it's a whole another perspective and anything is possible. 

[HighRadArt]

What gets me about these shows are the people that have stuff stacked everywhere and can't let go of anything.  I like seeing the stuff they uncover like the John Wilks Booth family album but to me it's nuts holding on to everything.  I guess if you have money to burn it would be easier to leave it for your kids to let them deal with selling it.

[elibowman]

6 hours ago, mosconi said:

Saw the episode again, and I have a feeling that AF 15 has some type of trimming going on   Any opinions?

So hard to tell. I didn't think that while watching, though. 

[HighRadArt]

Was the Superman 9 at $700 a good deal?

Edited July 18, 2017 by HighRadArea

[snowman28]

The AF15 looked really really nice.  Would be fun to see where that actual comic lands.  Also saw they had an ASM 1 in the stack ...

[ygogolak]

On 7/14/2017 at 7:26 PM, atomised said:

everytime I see this show I think I'd how much more I'd rather see a reality show following Metropolis Comics or Heritage Auctions.  The market for general antiques is pretty much dead, but I guess it lives on with American Pickers.

There is already a show like that. It's called Comic Book Men. Way better and it's totally not scripted!