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Models on American Pickers last night


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I was to busy messing around with the new model and watching baseball. I will have to watch this episode the next time it comes on and look closely. I love this show and I am always "watching behind" them as they pick!

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Were the kits in boxes or built? I have always hoped to see them find a big toy or model stash and see what they find! There's a show called "Toy Hunter" as well which is the same premise but he only searches for toys. I only watched one time! Very bad! The guy "finds" a super rare Bobaphet (hope that's spelled correctly?) Star wars figure that was a prototype. He tells the guy "oh my god!!! Do you know what this is worth???? I could sell this for twenty thousand dollars!!!" Then he asks the guy...."how much do you want for it?".......REALLY????? Your gonna tell him what's it's worth and then ask what he wants for it???? Supposedly, later in the program they were at a comic show and some sucke............uh....victim..........buyer bought it for 17,000.

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The show is scripted to an extent. When the show came to WV my son saw the hosts at the Charleston airport. They fly in and their truck is waiting for them....then they fly out. Places are scouted before hand too.

I did see Mike Wolf buy a Weird-o build up for $25 last night....guess he didn't know you can get them at Big Lots new for $5!!!! But after they paid $300 for the big collection of mint 1962 AMT kits.....a little justice.

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I did see Mike Wolf buy a Weird-o build up for $25 last night....guess he didn't know you can get them at Big Lots new for $5!!!! But after they paid $300 for the big collection of mint 1962 AMT kits.....a little justice.

I recall that episode featuring some models, and that was quite a score.

I'm sure we all would've paid him a fair price of $100 each, instead of $300 for the lot, right? They lose money on stuff and make money on other things, but the appeal of the show is the same thing which appeals to many of us- the thrill of the hunt. Whatever they make or lose is secondary to the "stuff" they find.

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I almost got in on a UK type bargain antique thing called Boot Sale Chalenge. Basically the show goes like this. They get a family to sell possessions for what they can at an outdoor market for secondhand good, not always collectables mind.

They then interview some of the buyers and film them making a deal.

I spotted a piano accordion I liked and the team moved in on me. I dont know US laws but here they have to ask permission to film you. I refused but they carried on filming. When the deal was done the crew thrust some kind of form in front of me to sign, but I asked how much I would get. Now £10 off the cost of my accordion would surly have been worth it but they would not pay up so off I went. The prize item of the stall over my shoulder and left on the stall? A large collection of reproduction Victorian oil lamps haha.

Oh! And just how many times can a guy say that is just so 'COOL' in one show?

Cheap TV Rubbish, but if thats what you like to watch, well thats no problem with me. We cant all have the same tastes or life would be so boring wouldn't it :)

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I'm sure we all would've paid him a fair price of $100 each, instead of $300 for the lot, right?

What I didn't like was at the end of the show when they do the 'Picked for....Value is...Profit is.....' Deal they did everything they picked that night EXCEPT the models which tells me even they were a bit embarrassed about what they paid that day.....I think someone on staff knew the value and wanted them himself. Thus it was just passed over. More power to them if they sleep well after that.....after all it's not a deal between two guys but a old guy and a multi-million dollar TV show.

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I did see the models in the background.

I don't understand why people are getting upset at the process of buying low and selling high. I would sell anyone a nickel for a dollar if that's what they were willing to pay. Both buyer and seller have to agree on a number and thus both sides were in agreement on what said item was worth. I've never understood why people allow their panties to get in a knot about an ebay price. If the price is too high in your opinion, simply don't buy it. Someone else perhaps will and then the seller looks smart. If no one does, he or she will have to lower the price until a buyer is found.

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If I see a bargain at a genuine bargain price, I usually pay the price. Ok this is not a model but I had no worries when I 'Picked' a pair of Rayban Wayfarers for £10, I just paid the price as they were as new and would have cost me nearly 10 times that. Yet some would try to get them a bit cheaper. But if they had been £50 and still had the tag on them, yes I suppose I would have tried to get them cheaper.

Many buyers of collectables these days of course want everything as cheap as they can get it simply because they wish to maximise profit when selling on the 'bay'.

There are some funny fellows on that show though, remember the guy with a field full of junk saying he was going to do up all the motorbikes etc, another would not sell anything that had belonged to his dad. In the uk there was an old farmer that used an aircraft gun turret perspex dome to grow plants under, he was always being pestered for it. Eventually I think he said he would donate it for a suitable replacement if it was to be used on an aircraft.

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I lost interest in the Pickers show when they offered 20 grand for a beat up knucklehead....the seller wouldn't part with it for less than 40. I sold mine (running and in good condition) for 10 large 5 years ago and felt it was a fair price. Whatever........I figure if inflated ridiculous prices blow your skirt up, that's fine with me.

In other words, if it works for you...that's all that matters.

Edited by GrandpaMcGurk
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On the episode where they bought the early 60s AMT/SMP kits, he purchased (IIRC) 27 kits for $540 or so dollars - or about $20 per kit. Some were started/built. They never talked about the kits after that and didn't share what they "made" on them. The guy had other models too, but the only ones they bought were the AMT kits.

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Oh, and yes, the show is scripted. How else does a cameraman get there and start filming before the truck arrives? It is just for entertainment and to get people thinking their piles of trash are actually worth something.

This is for our viewing entertainment. If there were no controversies it would be less entertaining. These kinds of shows have made the re-sale businesses a good market to be in today. Not so good for the buyer. Note: just because it is old does not mean it is valuable, desirable, or collectable. Edited by JunkPile
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I have no issue with getting a DEAL!!! About 15 years ago I found a hardware store in a really small mountain town in NC that had 30 model kits from 1962-1966. I bought them all at the $2 or so marked on them....exactly what the store owner wanted.

But I am not making $$$$ doing it....and I don't start my TV show with a 'Telling American history on pick at a time' slogan. I still maintain that they skipped the 'picked - Value' thing because if they showed the difference it would be embarrassing and could affect future picks / shows. No one would trust them.....

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Well, yeah it's scripted... just like American Chopper. Remember the Dream Bikes episodes, where they knocked on the winner's door, and the winner came out acting all suprised, even though they had already been fitted with a microphone when they opened the door? (Battery pack clipped to the belt is a dead giveaway). All 'reality' shows are scripted to some degree.

Well, yeah, they haggle down the price... they're in a business, and the whole point of a business is to make money. Buy low, sell high, remember?

And of COURSE they're going to make a few bad calls and pay too much for a stinker or two every so often. And if you were on a show, would you want to let many of those bad deals out there for public record? Doubt it!

Main reason I watch is because of Danielle- take her off the show and my interest would drop by a good 70-80 percent. B)

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Guest Johnny

I have no issue with getting a DEAL!!! About 15 years ago I found a hardware store in a really small mountain town in NC that had 30 model kits from 1962-1966. I bought them all at the $2 or so marked on them....exactly what the store owner wanted.

But I am not making $$$$ doing it....and I don't start my TV show with a 'Telling American history on pick at a time' slogan. I still maintain that they skipped the 'picked - Value' thing because if they showed the difference it would be embarrassing and could affect future picks / shows. No one would trust them.....

Mike had said recently that they were going to stop getting on show appraisals because of the backlash the show was seeing because of them talking down the prices on the old folks they are dealing with.

Nothing wrong with making a profit, but they always want to double or triple their return.

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Of course they want to double and triple their return. I manage a golf shop. Almost everything in here is at least doubled. The company has to pay all kinds of bills. If they buy an old lamp for 50 and sell it for 100, they don't have 50 in "profit". They have 50 in margin. Then from that 50 comes all kinds of expenses before we can talk about profit. The man who owned the old lamp was obviously content to get 50 for it or he wouldn't have agreed to sell it for 50. He shouldn't then turn around and be upset because it was sold for 100 on the retail market. When I go into my LHS, should I be upset I paid 75 for a kit that they got for 30? No. That's business.

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