🎙️ Behind the Auction Block | Bodnar’s Bids and Banter Podcast – Episode 1 🛎️

In the debut episode of Bodnar's Bids and Banter, Joe Bodnar dives into the excitement of a high-stakes auction featuring rare vintage toys and unexpected treasures. Along the way, he shares insider tips for first-time bidders and reveals the surprising story behind a sought-after collectible.

Episode Transcript

(00:08):
Music Hey, welcome to the podcast. I'm Joe Bodnerof Bodner's Auctions and with me is my lovely wife.

(00:28):
Hi, I'm Maureen. Good to see you. Good to see you.Live with me. Yes, I do live with you. But hey, what
can I say? We're here today to talk about auctionsand bring the auction world to the world. Talk
about all kinds of great things that arehappening. What a day we had today, huh? Oh, God.
You talk about transitions. Today was anothertransition day, correct? Yeah. My goodness.

(00:51):
Yeah, we ripped the whole place apart. Our wholebuilding is ripped apart right now, if you can
believe that. This is exactly what happened fouryears ago during the pandemic. Yeah. We ripped the
building apart and started anew. And I feel likewe're doing that again today, right? Yeah, we are.
It's been four years since we've done an overhaul.It's time. Yeah, it's been four years since we kind
of did a live auction, too. Yeah, well, I'm goodwith that. Unbelievable. Actually, 30 years ago,

(01:16):
I started with live auctions and we transitionedduring the pandemic. But I really got into
antiques and auctions and collectibles as a youngkid. I don't know if you know this about me. You know
about everything about me. But I'm just saying, asa... Again, we live together. Yes, we live
together. As an eight-year-old, I bought and soldsome Star Wars items. I think I knew that about you.

(01:39):
And you used to run garage sales as a kid outsideyour house. Yeah. At eight years old, I sold off all
my original Star Wars and I got like $100 for it and Ithought I was rich. And now I think those same Star
Wars figures are worth about $5,000. Yeah, what amistake. Usually, it's... My parents sold my
comic book collection. My mom sold it. Now you soldyourself short. I guess I did. I guess you're

(02:01):
absolutely right. My goodness. My goodness, thatgot me... And my father always talks about... I
used to walk around with a little red wagon andcollect fireworks that were shot off after the 4th
of July. Did I ever tell you that story? No. What'sthe matter? So technically, I guess when I was like
6, 7 and 8, I actually went around with a little redwagon and would collect all the fireworks that

(02:23):
were shot off and I would save them and put them offto the side. I guess I just thought it was cool. So
you were a hoarder at eight years old. I guess I was.I guess my hoarding started at eight. I don't know.
You're a hoarder now. I am not a hoarder. I just liketo collect. I don't know. And the peanut gallery
over there is nodding in agreement. I guess so. Butall I can say is that I just love stuff. I love

(02:47):
buying. Is that a considered a hoardingsituation? I don't know. Then I guess I am a
hoarder. You're a hoarder. But I'm in denial. Youare, but no one else in your life is in denial about
it. I guess you're right. I guess you're right. Howdid you come across, how did you become hanging out

(03:07):
with auction? How did you come hanging out with me?I don't know. How did this happen? Actually, my
very first, well, the first auctions I went to wereat the Metler House, the charity auction that you
used to auctioneer. You were the auctioneer forthe charity auctions. And then when I worked over

(03:28):
on Rutgers at the Ag Museum, we did a plant auctionevery year, which was a lot of fun. See, me, plants,
I'm there. Can we do a plant auction? Let's do aplant auction. I remember when we used to sell
plants back at the Ukrainian Center. We used tosell plants. Yeah, back when we had a live, we
remember somebody would come from Maryland anddrop off like 200 plants and that load would smoke.

(03:49):
It would bring like $8,000, $9,000 for some plantsout of the yard. That was great. Can we do that
again? I would love to do that again. Your firstlive auction. Yes. We can do a live auction. But
yeah, so I... I remember you. You were beautiful. Ithink I was the first Metler House auction I did. I
was, God, I was 19, I think. I startedauctioneering when I was 18, 19. I better not sit it

(04:14):
because that means you were like 13. Never mind. Iwas swell. I was swell. Okay. I was not I &U up at the
first sale. However, I do remind you, I do rememberat the Metler House auctions later in life, later,
much later in life. It's not like you're muchyounger than me. You're like six years younger
than me. So we, we, we, let's adapt that to maybewhen I was 26. Excuse me. No. I don't know. Anyway,

(04:37):
but I, I do recall the first Metler House auction Iran. As a matter of fact, I was working for, I didn't
even have my own auction yet. And I was working forEd Salts. It was A &E auction back in the day. And
when I was running the auctions there or helpinghim out, he actually taught me how to auctioneer.
And I started auctioneering and having fun. And Iwas a nervous wreck, obviously like for his first

(04:58):
podcast. I'm a nervous wreck. Yeah, clearly. Atany rate, I do recall doing the first Metler House
auction. That's how I knew how many... He's on thelawn. It was on the lawn in the stat away. The Metler
House was a, an old house, basically. Yeah. It's ahistorical house museum. Yeah. Correct. I used to
actually, I had an antique store in the basementthere. And I, and I ran a store there for about six

(05:22):
months or a year or what have you. And then got in anargument with the guy who was, he was there. And I
said, well, I'm leaving. He gave me an ultimate. Hesaid, he got, actually, he got an argument with the
auctioneer. We were both working for it. He quitand he came to me and said, you either quit this
auction or leave the store. And I said, okay, I'llbe right back. And I grabbed my truck and packed it

(05:43):
all up and I left the store. And that was the end,that was the end of that. And his mom made him come
and apologized to me for it. I'll never forget it.And I was like, well, listen, he gave me an
ultimate. I don't work well with ultimate. I'msaying, I'm not going to work good for that. So you
got involved with auctions, I guess. God. Sobasically you got involved with me
auctioneering. Yeah. Yeah. We, we, we, we did you ayearly auction over at the Ag Museum, the plan

(06:06):
auction. And I really liked it. And then mygrandmother had passed away and I had been
managing in a restaurant for a long time. And justthe idea of it didn't, going back to it didn't sound
good. And a mutual friend said, give Joe a call.He's always looking for new people. And I called
you up and you said, hey, I got an auction next week.You said you come in and work nine to about seven.

(06:30):
And I was there from about nine a.m. till two a.m.Any of you people listening or that work for Joe,
when he says you're going to finish it one time, addabout six hours to that. Yes. When it's a live
auction. And that was it. This is, this is just anendurance. I like to push people to see how far they
will go. But that's not even true. No, everybodycan be pushed to, to something. Absolutely.

(06:54):
Because, you know, I truly believe you could do 20hours, 30 hours. It can be accomplished. Anything
could, anything is possible. That's what Ibelieve. Well, that's how things started when we
first got together. Yes. Not how they are now. Oh,no, we're on a much more set schedule. Well, I
think, I think the auction starting from thebeginning up until today was just a constant. It

(07:15):
was a roller coaster going uphill and tick, tick,tick, tick, tick, and then coming down to in an up
and down. And it was a never ending. Maybe it wasmore like the roundup where you're spinning and
spinning and spinning and spinning. Yeah, no,well, that feels more like now we're on the hamster
wheel. Well, we're on a hamster wheel, but I think,I think things have changed so much since the
pandemic, you know, I mean, you have to keep in mindfor those listeners out there. We used to run a live

(07:40):
event, a live auction that had five auction ringsgoing all day long starting at eight o'clock in the
morning, running till one, two in the morning. Youknow, it was a, we sold 3000 items in a day, all
antiques and collectibles and personalproperty. And it was just, it was intense. But that
starts off, if you go back to my good old days, youknow, I started off at the Elks Club in East

(08:02):
Brunswick and I know you weren't around for that,but we would sell 300 lots in a night and it was done
in three hours. And like every sale grew a littlemore and a little more and a little more. And then we
sold 400 and 500. And I know why you're laughingbecause we're 500 and 600 and 1000 lots in 2000 and
about 3000 and 3500 lots. And then before you knowit, I had all these employees, five auction rings,

(08:26):
24 hour day, 80 hour week, pandemic hits, hit thebrakes and it was a reset and we started all over
again. I know once the pandemic hit, this, thislovely set you see behind us is actually our home
and we emptied out the furniture out of our home,put up tables and ran off of, from upstairs in our,

(08:50):
in our office. That's very true. This became theshowroom. It was, it was, it was tables to tables in
here, stacked around the room and we hadmerchandise in here and we catalog from the house.
Once it started eating past, it didn't eat to theliving room. Once it started infringing on my
ability to eat dinner. Yes. Well, you could stillcook around your things. I mean, we see that with a

(09:12):
lot of horsey. I'm not a true hoarder like you'resaying because most hoarders, you can't use the
bathroom or the kitchen. You know, usually theyhave shit in the kitchen sink too, you know, and you
can't even wash your hands. We were pretty close.I'm not pretty. No, no, no, no, no. We were pretty
close to that during the pandemic. So we took, wetook what was our storage. Correct. And I, we

(09:32):
prettied it up. We emptied it out of all the items,cleaned it out, prettied it up, made it look good.
And we've been there ever since. And now we'retransitioning again because we are running out of
room again because somebody keeps adding more andmore items. I'm just laughing because I was saying
how it began in the beginning with 200 lots and Icreeped up. Well, I'm kind of doing the same thing.

(09:54):
So I guess an old pattern is how it is. Old habits diehard. I don't know. I don't know. I know. I know. I'm
trying to, I'm trying to relive the glory days, Iguess. I don't want to go back to a live sale.
There's a part of me that wants to go back live andthere's a part of me that wants to stay the way we
are, but growth is always good. You know, thingswork the way they are. You know, the things are
working now. We do them online. Joe's the face. Hedoes the acquisition. He auctions everything off

(10:22):
and I do everything else. No kidding. You canauction. I'm the wizard. No. Yeah, come on. I can
see you auctioneering, getting up there, takingthe spotlight. I'll go have you go behind the
computer and Quirk. Yeah, right. No, I don't wantto do that. No question to that. No, I, if you hear

(10:47):
anything about through email from us or anythingafter the sale of the invoicing, that's all coming
from me. You think you're talking to him. You'renot. You're talking to me. See, but, you know, but
then I get the aftermath of that. Yeah, well, He'sthe head that wears the crown. I guess so, but
that's okay. But yes, no, I think since thetransition and I think like with one of these

(11:11):
things I'd like to do with the podcast is really getpeople out there to understand how auctions work
and how you can obtain stuff at auctions and have agood time at auction. I know there's sometimes
stigmas out there about auctions. Yeah, thatthings are broken or there's something wrong with
them or it's, you know, no, it's not. It's justanother avenue to liquidate assets, whatever

(11:32):
your cases, you're moving, you're downsizing,you're, you need the money, a family member passed
away, whatever it is, it's just another avenue toliquidate assets. No, absolutely. And get top
dollar for it. I mean, a lot of people thinksometimes auction is a quick liquidation and it's
going to bring nothing. And I think quitehonestly, it's the total opposite. Sometimes

(11:54):
when you put things through auction, it can bringdouble or triple is what it's worth because people
get in bidding wars. I get in bidding wars all thetime and I don't know, I'm cheap, but I also pay. I
got in bidding wars last night. Exactly, exactly.Someone else's auction. So that can happen.
Absolutely. So I think it's a great way toliquidate your assets in times of transition. And

(12:14):
really, I mean, I think a benefit for us, which istrue, is that we are working for others and working
on commission and in so making a living and that'sone of my main goals is looking at helping others in
a time of need, helping others in a time of need,whether a lot of times it might be through divorce,
it might be through a death, it's through a change,you're changing into retirement age or whatever

(12:38):
the case may be, we're here to help you and make themost we possibly can for you. And I'm grateful that
we, or I should say, I'm grateful that we're able tomake a living in doing so and helping people. Yeah.
Even though a lot of people say, you know, theycan't stand it. They're not happy that no one's
ever happy with the prices they get. Sometimes Ishouldn't say you're right. Pre pandemic.

(13:01):
There's a lot more unhappy customers versus now.Now there's a lot more happy customers. That's not
true. There's a lot of people that I think wouldsay. They're gratitude. Another point of this
podcast is to take away the stigma of auctions forpeople who haven't bid before. Yes. You know,
there is nothing to fear. That is correct. Youknow, there's a lot of fear. But fear itself. You

(13:24):
know, but people are afraid. Yeah, no, I agree. Youknow, they don't understand it. What are the
rules? How do I do it? And part of this is to say, comejoin us. I see you all out there at Goodwill. I see
you all out there thrifting and doing your thing.Guess what? Those stores, they're going to kill me
to say this. They're the middle man. Cut out themiddle man. Where do you think they're getting the

(13:47):
items from? They're getting them from us. So, youknow, I agree when it comes to collections and
things of that nature auction is a much better way.I mean, you got to do your research. You know, we're
talking on the thought process of Bodner'sauction, but you really need to look at other
auction coming. I mean, could if you just look ateven the auction we were bidding at yesterday or
you were bidding at yesterday, they didn't reallyput in descriptions what was broken and what was

(14:10):
broken. You really had to look up photographs andsee what was broken, what was not broken or
whatever. Yeah, I looked through 430 somethinglots of photos. That was a lot. And with us, we stand
behind everything. You know, that's somethingthat I think we take pride in and lead the industry
in as far as we guarantee what we sell. There's notmany auction companies out there that will say

(14:30):
they stand behind what they sell and really meanit. Everything they look at is sold as is, where is,
you bought it, you own it too bad. If you find somefine fault with it, well, screw you. You know, and
you know, I think that was more of the case when anin-person sale and we stuck to a more policy of,
hey, you bought it too bad, sold go on. But eventhere, we were a little lenient sometimes on

(14:52):
taking things back. But now, it's really a wholedifferent ballgame. We've almost turned
ourselves into like a gallery where we standbehind what we sell. We give you a guarantee and you
can bid with confidence anywhere in the world andbuy these things and be happy with it. Oh yeah,
we're shipping all over the world now. I mean, whenwe first started online, it was a lot of our same
regular bidders that used to come to the in-personsale. Yes. You know, and they would, we'd do a

(15:17):
contact list pickup outside. I remember youstanding out there like so. We'd be looking
through the window waving at people. I would. Iwould talk to customers through the window. Hey!
It was crazy. It was crazy. But now, we're shippingall over the world. Well, what a transition. Think
about that. And I just bring that up today becausetoday we're almost in a transition because of what
we're doing in the back. We were moving thingsaround. We got five years of dust that was

(15:40):
discovered today. That's a true treasure. Weshould box that up and sell it. No. No? I don't know.
I can sell anything. I don't know. I don't know.Goes in the garbage. But so everybody always asks
this question. Yes. So I'm going to ask it to you.What do you collect? Everybody asks this
question. Take a look behind you. I don't know. Ithought you'd look around. What do I collect? A

(16:04):
good deal. Ah, good deal. No. I like everything.What's your area? What's your favorite? What's my
favorite? Wow, man. I don't know. I see. I like, Ilike, well, I definitely like Snoopy. There's no
question about it. I like Swarovski crystals. Ilove that kind of stuff. Yeah. Ship paintings. You
know that. Don't I? Yeah. I really love that. Idon't know. I think, you know, trains were a big

(16:30):
thing. You know, I don't know. I collecteverything. I think that's what my issue is.
Right? I guess I'm a hoarder. I guess you'reproving your part of my hoarding. That was not the
point of my question. The fact that it worked out tomy benefit. Well, it did work out to your benefit.
But I understand. A lot of people always ask methat. I always say I like collecting money. Money.

(16:52):
Because we would make money on people's stuff. Icollect money. But obviously I've proven myself
wrong because I collect things now, I guess. Youcollect things. Well, what I really like to
collect, and you know this, I like to buy somethingfrom every big collection we've sold. Yes. And
have one piece of history from each collection.Because I could look around the room and go, yeah,

(17:14):
that came from... That came from this estate.Yeah, that came from that estate. Especially if
it's an old customer. I'm sorry? Especially ifit's an old customer. Absolutely. And that's the
one thing about doing it now for 30 years. I've hadcustomers of mine who bought from me and now have
passed and we've sold their collection. And soldsome of their kids' collection. Now I'm starting

(17:37):
to sound like my father. Because my father, he'sbeen obviously a minister for 52 years. And he
always talks about the people who he baptized, thepeople he buried and the generation. And he's
right now doing fifth generation weddings andfunerals and stuff like that. Unfortunately,
he's had to bury people that he's baptized. This isvery true. Absolutely. That's full circle. Yeah.

(18:00):
But, you know, yeah, you do collect a little bit ofeverything. I collect historical. Yes, yes, you
do. Well, two things. I like historical items.Yes. Anything, documents more specifically.
Anything American history is also more of myfavorite area, you know, war, revolutionary war,
but all kinds of historical documents. Andthere's a second thing I'd like to collect.

(18:24):
People. People. That's true. People. Speaking ofpeople. Yes, speaking of people. I like to bring in
our guests tonight. That was a good transit on. AndI should prefer say I like to collect people that
have different areas of knowledge. Well, that'svery true. Different experience. And they fit
within our little fun family we've got going onhere. Hey, just wanted to interrupt for a second to

(18:48):
let you know our next upcoming auction isThursday, December 5th. Online at Bodner's
Auction.com. Don't miss out. Be there. Be square.Back to the show. Welcome back to the podcast. We
are here with our two employees slash familymembers, Danny and Erica. What up? What's good

(19:09):
bitches? And I just kind of want to get, you know, anidea of you guys, how you got started in the
business, you know, what areas are you interestedin? Employee of the month. That's what you guys are
here today. Employee of the decade. Erica'sreally the employee of the decade. I ain't that
bad. I think I, Erica, I remember you came to theauction and you were a buyer. Big time buyer. You

(19:34):
were a big time buyer at the sale buying Disneyitems, Disney items, collectibles. I really
loved Nintendo at that time and video games for myown personal collection. So I was like scouring
like everywhere for all that stuff. I was alsoplanning a wedding. And I was purchasing a bunch of
tea cups. So when you guys had that really big teasale from like the closed down store, whatever,

(19:58):
you know, what's amazing? I know we just found outrecently about 30 days ago that I worked with your
grandmother. So yes, unbelievable. It turns outthat Joe worked with my grandmother. What was it
then? Edwards? At Food Town. When it was made forFood Town. One of my first jobs. Worked with my
grandmother. So a small world. Gladys, man. Itjust shows it's such a small world and how people

(20:20):
all come together. You know what I'm saying? Yourgrandmother was a wonderful person. Because I'm
connected. She was great. I'm connected. Oh,flower department. If you wanted flowers, Gladys
was the woman. But you better come. Yeah, but youbetter come correct. Yeah. And it was made for Food
Town. It's because my dad also, he used to run FoodTown for, well, he retired with them. I mean,

(20:41):
literally ran it for like so he could have ran intoyou at some point. That's crazy. He's probably in
my family too. Yeah. Connected exactly. So crazy.I'm odd-minded. And you? But no, because you...
No, because we worked in the same restaurant.Well, I didn't even know it. Erica and I worked in
the same restaurant, Applebee's. Oh, God, wewere, I was so young. We were so young. Half price.
Half price. And don't remember each other. Halfprice apps. And we were definitely there around

(21:07):
the same time. Yeah, because we knew the samepeople. I don't know if we were there at the same
time or we just missed each other. But one day Ihappened to mention it. She was like, shut up. I
worked there too. Yeah. It was so crazy. It's justamazing how people's lives all intertwine and
when it's meant to be, it like all rises up. Theuniverse works in crazy ways. It really, really
does. Yeah, it really does. You never know whereyour path is going to lead. No, and I truly believe

(21:29):
that. And I truly believe, I know we're talkingabout we collect people, but we do. I really feel
like... They're in the basement and buried in thebackyard. And we're getting a look from behind the
camera. I truly believe that everyone, and I'vealways felt this passion that you're all my

(21:50):
family. All right, not... I need to correct mystatement from before is that I love finding
people with passion for their area of expertise.That's true. For what they're doing. Yes. And that
will fit into this Motley crew that we have.Because we're not... We are... We're not normies.

(22:15):
We're not... Speak for yourselves. I am not ahoarder. I am not a hoarder. We strive for
professional catalogs. We strive forprofessional auctions. Stop it! I am not a
hoarder. I swear to God, I am not a hoarder. Look athim! What is it? What is it? I am a hoarder though.

(22:36):
But I agree, we're always striving. We're alwaysstriving to find people that are in the business.
If you look at everyone who works for us, and I feellike we all work together, but I know we give a
paycheck and whatever. But, Disney, that's whatyou specialize in. That's it. That's what you
love. That's my life. Besides newercollectibles. And I think we've gotten you into

(22:57):
looking at other stuff as well. Other areas.Right. I've become so much... My brain has
exploded with knowledge since I started this.It's unbelievable. Danny is too with a huge
jewelry background. Jewelry background andtextiles. And antique and vintage textiles. I'm
going to get his certification. I will be on the GIAin January to become a graduate gemologist,

(23:24):
specializing in diamonds and fine coloredstones. A big treasure hunt. Yeah, big treasure
hunt. But I think that's the beauty of working inthe auction industry. Being someone who's fairly
green still myself, I think it's you're alwayscoming across the most fascinating pieces.
Through that process, you're inevitably meetinginsanely interesting people. Yes. To say the very

(23:48):
least. Yeah. And it really, as somebody who, foranyone who has an expertise in a certain field, it
just... It helps things branch out. Right. You endup learning so, so much more. And granted, it isn't
possible to know everything about everything.Right. But there's so many niche markets. There's
so many cool little things that you just neverexpected to see or things that you'll discover.

(24:13):
And I don't know. It's always kind of a treasuretrove, if you will. You never know what you're
going to see when you come into work. You know,every day is something different. But I love
seeing people with a passion for something. Youknow what I mean? I'm not just hiring someone to sit
in a cubicle and you know, like someone who reallyenjoys what it is they're looking at, you know?
Right. And not all of us can have that at the sametime. True. I have been begging for a historical

(24:38):
sale for years now, if anybody's listening. Yes.You know? But doing jewelry, Disney doing, you
know, toys, I have learned to love the toy sales.Love, love the toy sales. Well, the pop culture
part is fun for everybody. I think it brings youback to your memories of a child. Brings you back.

(25:01):
You know, we were singing the Muppet Song the otherday. You know what I'm saying? Na na na na na. Na na
na. Do do do do. Na na na na. Exactly. Every day islike a remembrance of your childhood and what
brings smiles to your face. I think that's reallythe key. And I agree. So, I think that what we, the
last year and almost two years plus, we've beenselling one single person's toy collection right

(25:28):
now. And we're finally down to the last bit. Thelast bit. Like two years. The truck guy? No, not the
truck guy. This is, this was the stuff, thisgentleman, he was a younger gentleman.
Everything factory packed brand new. Star Warsand Indiana Jones. Yeah, he was a local guy. A local

(25:49):
guy right down the road here. He wanted to open up anostalgic toy store when he retired. And
unfortunately. The market did not agree. Well,no, unfortunately, he didn't make it. Oh, family
had to sell off. But hey, that's part of thisbusiness. Four storage units and a half a house.
Okay. And there's the true hoarder because thebathroom, the shower was full of side showed Star

(26:15):
Wars figures. I'm not the hoarder. He was. See, I'mstriving to that. Can you imagine if I filled the
bathtub up with Star Wars figures? Come on. No, youwould. That would be painful. One of us would move
out. You have some Disney in your bathroom. No, Iactually don't. Oh, no. How about you, sir? You

(26:36):
have something in your bag. Do you have diamonds?Do you bathe in diamonds? Shit, if I collected
diamonds, damn, that would be great. I got abathtub of diamonds. Yeah, I would complain. But
I'm not being bathed in, but I'm not being bathedin, you know, buttermilk with rose petals and then
perfuming myself with exotic oils. Right, right,right. No, I do not have anything in my bathroom.

(26:59):
But yes, we are winding down that collection. Man,I'll tell you what, too. I don't know how much that
grossed it right now, but I would have to say it'sprobably close to a half a million dollars. He
probably did. It has to be. And I have to say, I knowthey don't sell super well. And they don't compare
to, well, they do, but they don't compare to whatthey're going to have. One of the last big parts of

(27:20):
the collection we have left, the Funko Puffs.Funko Puffs. I know they don't, they're not the
hottest thing on the market anymore. But there area few that are fairly rare. And he has some really,
some good ones. Do you remember that secondpickup? Yeah, he has some originals, which still
do hold value, some rails, so that's good. But forme, they're just so fun. So when we talk about pops,

(27:47):
literally, there's enough pops to fill this roomfor the ceiling. I mean, listen, we say he has a
collection of pops. He has thousands. And they'reall different. I mean, I shouldn't say that. We
don't know what's there yet, because we have notunpopped it. I know a bit. But there is thousands of
pops from the start to the end. That's the only wayto exploit it. Yes, true. Various sizes, various

(28:13):
genres, a lot of, there are some very, very earlyones, which makes it better. They got so mass
produced, that's what happened to them. Theyflooded their own market. They flooded their own
market. They literally tanked themselves.Didn't they bury some in the Nevada or something?
What, like a time capsule? No, no, like, do you knowhow to ET with the Atari games? They killed the ET

(28:36):
Atari games. I think they need to bury any. There'sgoing to be gazillions of them. No, but I was going
to say, what, wasn't there like, they had, they hadso many. Didn't Funko actually go out to the desert
and like, dump them? Yeah, they burned them. Oh,they burned them. Yeah. Oh, shit. Speaking of, you
know what's going to be worth money? I'll come backto Funko Pops, but just just reminded me. Did you
see that Wicked the doll? They had the wrongadvertising on it. And it actually says that it

(29:02):
takes you to Wicked the porno's. Yeah, it takes youto Wicked the porno's. They actually, they
actually, so I'm telling you all out there rightnow, it's going to be worth money. Pay attention,
go out and get it right now. If you bought onebecause they pulled them from the shelves, that
means it was only out there for a day. Just like thatpregnant Barbie doll. Yeah, it's like pregnant
Barbie doll. It's going to be worth money. Weactually, the day that it came out, Joe and I were

(29:23):
like, let's go to the store. We should have got themfor the toy drive. What? No, because we could have
seen money awful. That can you imagine? Not likethat. Like, I see you guys have the world. Surprise
kids. It's not me. Surprise. Hey, here you go kids.What I'm saying is, imagine if we bought 100 of them
for the toy drive. And we got lucky and now I couldsell them off one at a time in the next two years. I

(29:48):
see his point. Because I shop at Target. I shop thesales at Target. Gotta get all the games good. What
the heck? We do a toy drive every year. I shop thesales at Target. I see what he's saying. Had I
purchased, I will purchase as many quantities asthey'll let me on a certain item. Correct. A gross
of items if you look. So you wish that you got them,didn't know about it. You weren't trying to give

(30:10):
the little kids that. And then you're going to keepthem like, some rich in 20 years. Think about it. I
mean, could you think about it? I've sold HarryPotter. There was a wand that was like in the form of
a dill though. And they pulled it off the market.And that sells for like $3. $300 because it was only
out of in production for like a week before. Younever know. There's something for everyone. So

(30:31):
that that's the case. But back to the pops. Yes. Thepops are wonderful. There's actually a great pop
sale. Make sure you check that out. That's going tobe up online for the end of January coming up. So
that's coming up in the auction. The end ofJanuary? Yes. No. No. No, it's not. But it'll be.
So, so, so, so, so, no. I think it actually, so beit'll be in March. That's correct. Pops will be in

(30:55):
March. But the rest of his toy collection will bethe second sale in January on January 16th. Yeah.
There's like G.I. Joe's. G.I. Joe's. Yeah.There's definitely military stuff in there.
There's a lot of like unique and interesting likethings that didn't go with like the superheroes
and whatever. So yeah, we kind of pulled all thatstuff. I believe there's some Lego sets. Like

(31:15):
there's a lot of different things. It's kind of agood mishmash. And Star Wars. There is Star Wars.
Oh yeah. And we have more Star Wars. There's alwaysStar Wars. There's always Star Wars. There's
always Star Wars. But there is definitely StarWars in that sale as well. So that's coming up. And I
know just we just came off of a big pickup inBrooklyn. Oh, I think that could be honestly a

(31:37):
podcast by itself. Honestly, no, like theBrooklyn Chronicles. Yes. But I just wanted to say
Brooklyn was a was a coming up is like. Wow. Yeah.Like wow is right. It's nothing but the best. It's
nothing. Honestly, as she says, as full as you canever picture an area where you literally had to

(31:59):
walk sideways and it was full from floor to ceilinggoing straight back. I do have a video. I mean, it.
Oh, you do from the first day that we were there. Ihave pictures too. And it was just a pan. So
basically. Because I forgot to do. So basicallyfor your listeners out there, it literally
imagine an area. It's like a antique store. 4,000square feet. And you literally had five feet on one

(32:26):
side, five feet on the other to get around. That'snot even. It was like on the three feet, two to three
foot walkway with incredible breakables allaround you. Things on top of things on top of
things. You couldn't even use the bathroombecause it was boxes in the bath. The light didn't
even work. That's right. The light didn't evenwork. It was. It was like, oh, I love you. That's the

(32:47):
toilet paper. Yeah. And it took so long to clear. Ifeel initially because. Guys need to picture the
fact that like imagine like, like, you know, ageneral old school box kind of store. There's
cabinets and things against the walls, but wecouldn't even get to those because there was like
five to six feet of stuff in front of them. Cheers.We clear out one cabinet and then we move the
cabinet and there would be another full cabinetbehind it. I was like, oh, good. Let's get this

(33:12):
cabinet out of water. We were like, what? It wasnuts. But there was literally the Facebook live.
When I tell you, when I tell you ladies andgentlemen, though, there's there's eight to ten
sales. It's going to take us a half a year to sell.And there's incredible stuff. I mean, there is
some really great stuff in that collection.There's tons of Victorian, tons of Victorian

(33:35):
style and porcelain and, you know, nothing but thebest, nothing but the best job. That's just a
reference. And I will say as somebody who loves andcollects and specializes in 19th century and
Victorian decorative arts, there are some piecesthat, you know, somebody my age, we missed out on

(33:55):
that market pretty much since the store wasbasically untouched for at least 50 years. You're
seeing things from a market that has beencompletely tapped already. And there I will say,
and I hate to use the term, but there are a few museumquality pieces there. Yes, there is. That are just
so rare that are either already in collections or,you know, things that will be coming from cold

(34:16):
hands, not warm. Right. Down the road, you know.And what's interesting about that, she, because
she dealt with decorative arts and things of thatnature, it's a mix of antiques and it's a mix of
reproduction. But the reproductions that she hastruly are now vintage because she was buying and
selling reproductions 40, 50 years ago. So those50 year reproductions are almost, they're like

(34:37):
half an antique. They're vintage. They'rehalfway there. It's unbelievable. It's not like
it just came from China now. So it's stuff that youjust can't get anymore. You know, that's stuff
like that was. Yeah, they're not remaking thatstuff. No, they're not remaking that stuff. So how
many pieces of art do you think we got? Oh my God. Theplates, the art. Like literally how many pieces? I
think it was 450 that bathroom alone. So 500 piecesof art. Yeah, probably 500 pieces of art. Because

(34:58):
you guys weren't there when we went through theback room. No, yeah, yeah. And through the one side
room, there was a door that opened next to thebathroom. And there was a whole other room. A whole
other room of art. There's another room backthere. Yeah. Yeah, there was a whole other room. I
had to climb in and hand it out to Joe and Jeffrey.Yeah, dude. It is so crazy. It was it was imagined.

(35:21):
The experience. What a deal, man. It took eightdays to pick up, eight day pickup. All right,
that's a record for me. And that's a record for us.Eight days to pick up one estate. Like Hanukkah.
One day, one day of pure traveling because of thestupid roads in Brooklyn and going back and forth
and everything else. There you go. No, it wasunbelievable. So that was the gig, you know, but it

(35:47):
was quite interesting, quite interesting. Butthat's coming up all year. So if you're listening
to this podcast and it's already been out there forthree to five months, we're probably still
selling it. We'll be living on some pieces there.And I just need a piece of that collection to
remember it by. I just had a good question posed tome. Yes. And I don't know, I'm stumped. What's
something that the next generation of the youngergenerations should be looking out for that may

(36:12):
increase in value? Wow, good question. So that'sErica. That's an Erica question. I think I so I
think if we could all predict that futureantiques, we would all be rich, you know, I mean,
who thought 30 years ago that I would be sellingCommodore 64's and and and smart not not
smartphone, but a flip phone from from the 1980snow and people are into it. You know what I'm

(36:35):
saying? Why can't predict it? No, you can't.Because it's going to be something so obscure that
was like a fad that probably didn't last long. Whoknows what's going on out there. But like, and now
everybody's knowing to buy things to not open it.So back in the day, yeah, in the 70s and the 60s,
you're ripping these things open. Yeah, you don'tknow any better. Like you're not keeping it to

(36:58):
collect it. You're opening it to play with it. Toget it dirty to you. Now people are like, oh, that's
going to be worth money. And in reality, it's not.Well, that's probably not because everybody's
doing what you're doing. So it's going to besomething obscure. I just had this conversation
with Tracy today. We were talking and I said if itwas meant to be played with and it's still meant on

(37:20):
card or mint box, that's where your money is. Thatis where the money was meant to be collected. Yep.
Forget it. I agree with that because it was acalculated collection. Exactly. So I think
calculate collections are the issue. I don'tdisagree with that. And in pop culture, it's so
hard to because you never know what's going tobecome. A movie could come out and it bombs in the

(37:42):
box office. Right. But then it becomes a cultclassic. You know, and so 20 years. And maybe they
didn't make a lot of those things because itfizzled out. So there's very limited production.
That's where you're going to have the obscurityis, but nobody is going to be able to predict that.
No, I don't think so. And I think too, another Ithink another concept is going to be furniture. If

(38:04):
you look at the furniture market or the antiquefurniture market, you think over the course of the
last 15, 20 years, everybody went to Shabby Sheikand painted up and paint decorated this. Which
means with a lot of people that done that, thepainting. Older than what what what the original
one of the one of the things about antiquefurniture, if you watch the antique road show or
what have you, they always go, does it have theoriginal patina on it? You got to keep in mind, like

(38:27):
even the sideboard that is in my house here. That isfrom the 1820s, 1830s that was refinished into
1940s. Absolutely beautiful, but it killed thevalue. It does kill the value. First empire. Yes,
exactly. So that, you know, that that I trulybelieve talking now from furniture from the 1920s
and 30s, that are going to be furniture that didsomehow survive being painted. Yes. That's your

(38:52):
stuff that you're not going to be able to find inabundance. Exactly. And that's what's going to be
worth money. People took a look at all. I mean,honestly, like I can't believe like VHS now is
making a major comeback. What? Because peoplewere throwing it in the trash. Nobody wants it.
Crap, crap, crap, garbage, garbage, garbage. Andgranted, it's not all great, but like some things
are becoming more sought after because again,yeah, people just got rid of it. Yeah, no, I don't

(39:19):
disagree. And I think that you can't predict it andyou can't figure it out. You'll never be able to put
your finger on it. No, you never will. You know, youshouldn't ever buy to make money. Exactly. You
should buy because you love it. Because you loveit. That's what you're into. That's what you love.
That's that's your passion. If you're buying tomake money, I feel like it's not going to work out
for you. No, I don't disagree. I mean, even if youlook around and you're looking behind us and

(39:43):
looking at the collections I have and everythingelse, there was nothing there I bought as I thought
of as an investment. Right. No, I bought it becauseI loved it. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? That's
really the deal. I fell in love with it and I and itbrings me back to to where we were, whether it's a
gaming wheel that's over there that we bought inCape May or the surfboard that's behind us is from.
Yeah, the surfboard is beautiful. That's a localartist in Cape May and it brings us back to Cape May

(40:07):
when we were carrying it out and everyone was like,Whoa, look at that thing. Oh, I saw her in a store,
like six stores away. I saw the sun hit it the rightway. And I was like, Oh, you will be mine. And you
know what's funny? It is an investment right nowbecause when we bought that originally, it was X
amount. And when we went back to following year,they up the price by 500. You know, so it's going up

(40:28):
in value. I will say when I saw this and I saw whatthey were charging for it, it was like you are
underselling yourself. I agree. 100%. No, it's abeautiful piece. You don't need to invest in or
like cards that are graded and stuff like that.Like that, that's like smart monetary decisions.
But that, you know, that's the next. That's goingagainst that's going against history though,
because really right now you could do that. Butagain, they are mass producing things too much.

(40:50):
And it's different than those 1940s and 50s gradedcards that are still coming back in beautiful
condition. Now people are opening their thing,running to, you know, get them graded. Of course
they're coming back a gem. There's going to be amillion gemments. It's not going to hold the value
of the true original. I think it's the things thatyou dismiss. Yep. And it always comes down to

(41:12):
supply and demand, you know, supply and demand. Itis who's to say people buy back their memories, you
know, like people always buy nostalgia. A certainperson that loves Ghostbusters and
Ghostbusters. The side eye, I swear I can hear it.But Ghostbusters stuff does really well. It is.

(41:32):
It's hot, man. It was a little movie that, you know,blew up. And, you know, I mean, it's you're buying
back your memories because you remember as a kid.The state of Marshall, man, going down. You know,
it brought me so much joy, you know, that thinglike, you know, everybody, everybody has their

(41:52):
favorite movie, you know, like. I am the keymaster. I am the gatekeeper. There is no God, only
Zool. Only Zool. What a great movie that's afantastic movie. But I mean, you think about like
we sold that, that statement. I don't think we tookit out of the box because it was still sealed. Yeah,

(42:13):
right. And what did that end up? Five fifty. Fivefifty five seventy five for a state puff. Yeah. And
that was like a modern one, too. That wasn't even1980s. Right. It was that was actually like. Just
a. Statue. Like a show type thing. Right. You know,it's. And I think, too, like you were going back to
comics and and baseball cards and stuff. Really,if you look at the younger generation, the younger

(42:38):
generation, they're into Bitcoin or into thethings. The older generation, they traded
commodities like art. You know, they went to anauction gallery, they spent money, it would spend
twenty thousand on a Picasso and thirty thousand.Now this next generation is buying OK, which by
Michael Jordan, rookie basketball card and spendten grand. Right. And they're kind of controlling

(43:02):
that market of moving it around and keeping it at acertain price. I don't think that stuff will ever
dip unless the rich really want to turn it aroundand cash back in their money. But I think that's
what the next generation is looking at. But I agreewith what everybody said here. It's the things
we're not even thinking of. Yeah, it's the. No, Ihave no idea. It's going to be the microphone

(43:23):
you're holding. I love this microphone. Exactly.For sure. When you think about it, like when Hocus
Pocus came out, it bombed. Yes, another one. Itbombed. And now. Oh, my God. What's Hocus Pocus?
I'm just kidding. It's a Disney thing. How is thatpossible? Hocus Pocus. You know, we in Canada, I

(43:47):
don't know. I don't know how much I want to put thisup. But somebody in that movie actually placed a
bid at her auction. Yes, they did. I know. I know. Iknow. When? Red middler, if you're watching, I
love you. So we were we were selling. We wereselling the right to push the button to demolish.
Implode Trump. Implode Trump Plaza. Good for her.And good for her. And she she was the high bidder

(44:12):
before we had to take it down. We had to take thatsale down because. Sees and desists letters.
Yeah, from Mr. Icon there. Yes, whatever. But thatwas OK. To me, it was just an honor to have that. It
was so cool. Listen, that middler tweeted aboutme. Yes, I agree. I'm glad. Wow. She said, sorry to

(44:33):
her daughter. I'm going to expend yourinheritance. Mommy's got it. It she trigger
finger. Yeah, that's right. She did tweet aboutthat. That was a great experience. That was people
out there. Sometimes you got to pull a trick. Yeah,I'm afraid. But what we know was great about that.
We put that auction up and it went trending and andand literally the late night shows Jimmy Fallon,

(44:55):
Jimmy Kimmel. That's cool. They all talked aboutthe pushing of the button in the auction. I was this
close to the mention and bothered. They didn'tmention butters, but I was still a part of it. You
know what I'm saying? For sure. I threw it. We'realways one step to there. We're there by proxy. We
were. That was like almost there. Almost there. Wewere new 12. Most there. Stay on target. We got we

(45:17):
got our time. Oh, yeah. Yes. Yes, this is true. He'sa Joe Bob. Yeah, exactly. No fact. Exactly.
Definitely celebrities. You know, you know, it'sfunny. No, I don't. I don't. I guess I take some of
that for granted. But I start thinking about thedifferent people that have intertwined in my
life. It's quite interesting, actually, how manydifferent celebrities and things and and
different people we've actually dealt with witheither selling their stuff or doing some kind of

(45:42):
charity event or whatever. It's really amazing. Itake it for granted. I guess I don't. All right. I
don't want to be I don't look at it as, oh, I did thesethings. And then I sit back sometimes and go, wow,
look at all these different things we've done overthe past 30 years. It's crazy. You know, so there
you have it. But there you have it. That that's the.That's what's coming up in the upcoming sales.

(46:03):
That's really the gig. All right. I was one onesegment I'd like to do for the podcast. And and then
I think we'll almost there. I would like to reachout to any of the listeners out there. And if you
have a story, you have a story about something youbought and made a ton of money on or something like
that. It could be beyond the gavel segment. And youcould talk about maybe how much you made on it or

(46:24):
something you bought. And nobody else knew what itwas. And you want us to talk about it and bring it up
or a funny story. Yeah, or a funny story orsomething like that. Make sure you contact us in
and send it out. I know a story for myself on one ofthe before I was even in the auction. I used to go to
yard. So basically what I was working for anauction house when I was 1718, that's what got me

(46:46):
in. And I started my own auction when I was 21, Ithink, is the first time I ran an auction by all by
myself. But prior to that, I was auctioneering forpeople. And I went to a yard sale on it's on this
snowy morning. Nobody went and I went in. I was like18 years old and and they had these pair of
beautiful bronze candelabras with this devilgoddess head Medusa looking thing in the middle.

(47:12):
Right. And I was like, oh, man, how much are they?And they're like $15. Like, oh, OK, good. I give
them $15 and I can sign them to the auction that I wasworking for. And they brought like five grand and
and and I was like, oh, my God. You were hooked.Yeah, I was hooked. I was hooked. I was like, holy
smokes. Where else can you work in you guy? $15 andnot even when it was selling, you know, and they're

(47:35):
going, you know, a thousand, I'm going to buy 1500,going to buy 2016, 17, 100, 1800. Oh, my God, you
know, it was so great and five grand and that. Andthat got me hooked onto the auction and come to find
out the guy who bought them, which would be BobbySelman actually bought them. You guys all know
Bobby Selman is they run another auction company.He sold them years later for like 15,000. So he made

(47:59):
money. He made everybody. Everybody made money.Eventually someone loses money and it goes back
through back to cycle. But everybody wants theircut. But that was that was like my oh, shit moment,
you know, of I'm really in the business, you know,and, you know, that that that's one story of many
that I will give you coming next time on thepodcast. We'll give you the next story. Maybe of

(48:22):
losing me. I can't tell you how many times I'velost. Maybe we'll stay away from that topic. Yeah.
Well, hey, listen, five thousand in. Thirtythousand loss. Oh, 10,000 win. Fifty thousand
loss. Oh, shit. Sounds like my Atlantic City trip.Joe got to go to. That's exactly it. Sounds like an

(48:43):
Atlantic City trip right there. Yeah, exactly.I'm ready. Company trip down to AC. Sounds good to
me. Sounds good to me. What's your biggest score?Do you remember? You had to make something on
something. I made a lot of money on a lot of things.Exactly. That's the thing. I'm trying to. Can I go

(49:03):
like pre-auction and then think about a goodauction? Yeah, that's what got me into it. So this
is the reason I got addicted. And I was like, I'mreally good at this. Again, I used to do a lot of
video games. That was like my jam, mega nerd, everysystem, every game, whatever. So I was at a yard
sale and a mom was there and she was cleaning herson's room. He went to college and he didn't clean

(49:27):
his room and she got ticked off at him. So all hisstuff went on the yard. So in this box was it's a
PlayStation one. Then there was misadventures ofTron Bonn sealed. There was Metroid. See, and I'm
just like, oh, oh, my God, oh, my God, I'm literallyI'm dead. I'm dead. I'm sitting there like my heart

(49:47):
is going through my chest. And I'm like, excuse me,how much for this entire thing? She goes, I don't
know, take 10 bucks. And I'm like, well, I threw themoney. I ran with this bundle of stuff to my car. So
fast. I made the most ridiculous amount of money. Ican't even tell you, like probably off this little

(50:08):
box of stuff about $10,000 on some of these sealed,rare, dope video games, especially when that
video game market was like smoking hot. So fromthen on, I think I went to every auction. I went to
every yard sale. I had the bug, like literally. Sothat was my like first into the world. Like I have an

(50:31):
eye for this. I can do it. Right. Right. Right. And Idon't you don't really buy and sell. Do you? Or I do.
Oh, OK. So I'm going to I'm like to hear your story.I'm a man of many, many skills. Yes. So I think one of
my earliest was like I said, I'm fairly new to theauction industry, but I'm not new to the antiques

(50:52):
world in person, thrifting, buying second hand.So I think it was a pair of parlor chairs. They were
looked like they looked to be mahogany. They hadsome really nice squirrel work inlay with mother
of pearl discs. Oh, nice. In there. And there was apair. They had pink velvet cushions. I just bought
them because they were nice. I hated the cushions.And then you just kind of like sat in my room for, you

(51:15):
know, a few years. But I remember when I had boughtthem, funny enough, there was a woman who had
wanted to buy them and she had handed me her name andnumber. And she was like, if you ever want to sell
these, let me know. So I think I paid maybe maybelike 60 bucks per chair. So 120. And then I found her
number while cleaning one day and I called and I waslike, this may be weird, but I still have these

(51:37):
chairs. And I remember you mentioning that youwould be interested in them. And she was like, oh,
my God, yes, I remember. I remember. I was aimingfor around 450, 400. But I think I ended up selling
them for about like 350. OK. So not so not like acrazy uptake. But you know, but you made money.
There was still a turnover. You know what the key?You know, the killer about Victorian is it looks so
beautiful, but it hurts like a bitch to sit in.Well, you know, part of that was purposeful. You

(52:00):
know, part of that was purposeful, especiallysome of the nicer pieces would usually be in a
drawing room or a front parlor. Right. Right.Right. So a traditional visit for people was
genuinely only 15 to a long, like 15 to 30 minuteswas standard. Yeah. So they wanted to be pretty,
not comfortable. Got it. And what would be your Iknow what your story would be on the maybe the best
thing you ever handled or touched. Oh, God, I knowwhat it is. I know what it is. We all know what it is.

(52:24):
Yeah, we all know what it is. Many years ago, we had afriend, Joe, and I had a friend that worked in the
office and he unfortunately passed away. Yeah. Hehad no family. The state came in. Well, he had us as a
family. But yes, he had no living relatives, likeactual blood, except for an aunt who was 90

(52:48):
something at the time. Yep. God, I'm sure. And sothe state came in and to handle his estate and I
preemptively sent them a letter and said, please,God, don't throw anything out in his house. Didn't
know everything he had knew he had a few things thathe'd shown me over the years, you know, like a civil
war presentation sword. And I mean, he was soserious about it, right? When he came over to show,

(53:11):
I remember we sat in this room. Yeah, in this roomand worked on many of Civil War collection, you
know, together and he brought it over was to show itto me wearing white gloves. Yes. He wore like
gloves. Super serious about the stuff he told meabout Civil War flag he had, you know, in his house.
So I said to them, please don't throw things out inthis house. If it's not me, let someone come in and

(53:33):
take out. So we got a call from that attorney and shesaid, here's the keys. I don't want to go in. And I
said, why? And I'd never been in his house before.He was a hoarder. Another hoard. Horbill. Yes. He
was a hoarder. And it initially looks like, oh, myGod, why does, you know, he's got piles of
newspaper or something. He's got all these. Imean, you couldn't even walk in his house until I

(53:54):
picked up the first thing and realized, oh, this isnot newspapers. This is a document from the French
and Indian War. Oh, my God. And he hoarded a lot ofgood things, a lot of good things. Oh, a lot of good
things. He had the Civil War uniform with the drumset to go along. We would the. Oh, wow. The
provenance, everything. We have a five hourpodcast about his collection. I mean, it was. He

(54:18):
had a new Brunswick desk, like with the label stillon it on the maker that brought what, $13,000?
Yeah, it was like $13,000, $15,000. Wow. But so I,in our, where we're working now, when it was just
storage, there's a whole upstairs. I cleared itout and I put his whole, you know, collection up

(54:40):
there and I started going through it and I wasworking alone. And I'm just sorting, just doing a
rough sort, you know, revolutionary war to civilwar to this and that. And I pick up this riker mount
and it has all these little things in it. And alittle piece of paper, little, little square,
like a size of a post-it note. And I said, okay, yougo over there and see the war. And then all of a

(55:01):
sudden my brain went, stop. Was that signaturewhat I think it just was? And I turned around and I
snatched it back up and I looked and on the top of thepaper was, was handwritten the white house. And
there was a note and the bottom was signed aLincoln. And I was like, stop it. Stop it. Stop it.
Stop it. That's crazy. And I'm literally runningaround and I'm like, there's no one here to share

(55:26):
this with. I need a friend. Yeah. Definitely. I'mlike, you're never going to forget. From the
Emancipation Sister, Mr. Himself. Oh, for me,we've all heard the tales. You know, they're true.
I'm sorry. For me as a historian, like that was my,again, all kinds of people love all different

(55:51):
areas and time periods in history and everything.For me, that civil war area era is it. And that's
where my studies were. That's where everything.And so for me, I was like, oh my God. I mean, and I had
already gone through letters during the war.Written at this particular battlefield by Grant,

(56:15):
by Sherman, by, you know, all of these people and Iwas like, and it just kept building. And then I
finally saw it and I was like, I can't handle theamount of amazingness that is happening right
now. Like I sometimes it can be too much. It was, itwas too much. It was too much. And I wish I had, I wish
I had Bill's collection to do all over again. CauseI would, I would relish in it just a little bit

(56:37):
longer. You know, that's the tough part. Yeah. Youknow, well, there's always something you think
nothing's going to top it. And it's something elsetops it. But that Abraham Lincoln, that what was
cool about that? It actually talked about thisboy. He wanted to be with his brother and he came
into the White House at age 13 and asked to betransferred. Right. So yes, he, he was, he had

(56:59):
signed up. It was not 18. He was 13. And he was, he wasa drummer in a unit, but he signed up thinking he was
going to be in the same unit as his brother. And hewasn't, they were separated. So he was supposed to
be in DC before they, you know, went off to, okay,you, you know, where are they're going? And, um,

(57:22):
he, he was supposed to be going into town to getshoes, but he lied. And instead he went into town
and this is back at those times when you could justwalk in the White House. Yep. You, yeah. Imagine
that. You can't imagine that. Walk in that level ofpomp and circumstance to just think that you're

(57:43):
fine. No, at that time, you basically, the, thehallways were lined with people waiting to talk to
the president, just waiting. And he walked in andhe, and, and, cause this whole backstory is
actually written out like there's his family, youknow, did his whole backstory. And he said he
walked in and he walked through this office andthat office and through the kitchen area and

(58:05):
everything until he finally stumbled uponLincoln. Yeah. Just walked up to him and said, how
in the hell? That's wild. Isn't it? I said, I want tobe transferred to my brother. So the note said,
please transfer the name of the soldier to, fromthis unit to this unit. So he may be with his
brother, but funny enough, I never transferredhim. No. So even then, they were like, oh, the

(58:30):
president said so. I don't care. The bureaucracywin. Yeah. I guess so. He's saying here, but he was
never transferred. Yeah. But he, he and his, but hedoes brother both survive the war. Oh, good for
them. They made it through. They both survived thewar. And yes. So with the letter, we had a lot of
provenance photos of him and his brother and theirfamilies. It was long after the war at the

(58:53):
monuments for the regiments. You know, Danny,that sale made me wear a suit. Like it was serious.
Like full on suit. Wow. We had great. That was agreat. That was an amazing. That sounds awesome.
That was such a phenomenal sale. Serious time hascome. Let's do that. I'll never see anything like
it. We'll see another one. Keep my hands. You saythat. But another one will come. I tell you once,

(59:16):
it's a once in a lifetime. You couldn't walkthrough his house. No, you couldn't. You couldn't
get the door open. You're literally tripping overhistory. But you know what? You are. That was such a
great sale because it was like 8,000, 10,000,5,000, 20,000, 6,000, 5,000, 6,000. It was so
good. I could hear Bill in the back of my head theentire time going, that was too cheap. Yeah, he

(59:39):
would. You sold that. He would. So funny. He would,man. He would have. He would have been saying we're
selling it for nothing. He would have. I said itback then and I'll say it again to this day. I'd
still rather have Bill. Yes, that's how I agree.Yeah, he was a fun guy. Now, would you say that the
better collections in a sense sell themselvesbecause the collectors already are established

(01:00:00):
and usually know what's out there? 100 percent.Properly advertised. Yes. Yes, properly
advertised. Yes. You have to advertise. It needsto be promoted right as long as it's promoted
correctly. Yes, it will sell itself. I don'tdisagree. And I mean, those who collect like, like
for myself, you know, you collect certain thingslike a civil war. We have coming up in one of our
historical sales, a letter that was written homefrom a member of the ambulance corps, which

(01:00:24):
anybody who sees this knows super rare. You don'tsee it every day because it wasn't a thing when the
war started. There was no ambulance, but anambulance corps. You know what I mean? Like before
that, you were just, okay, there you are. Right.You know, and then it became a thing where they
would bring the wagons onto the field and take themoff and all of this. So I saw that when we were in a

(01:00:46):
house recently and I was like, yes. That's comingup February, at least in general, February 20, 25.
But yes, no, but if you have a story like that, wewant to hear that. We want to share it here on the
podcast and, uh, and that's really what we'relooking for. I hope you enjoyed it. I had a great
time. Did you have a great time? I had a great time.You guys have a great time. This inaugural

(01:01:08):
podcast. Yes. It's a pleasure to be included. Itwas amazing. It was great talking. I love, I love
it. You know, sometimes we're so involved with ourwork and we do have lunch and, and chill and I'm all
crazy all day long, but it's nice to sit down in thehouse and talk like this. And that it was a really
great time. All right. Thank you. Yes. Thank youfor having us. Thanks for joining us. Till next

(01:01:30):
time, ladies and gentlemen, have yourselves awonderful day. Hey, Joe Bodner here. Thanks for
watching the show. Hope you enjoyed that show.We'll be watching every single month here at
Bodner's Auction.com or to follow us, follow us atBodner's Auction.com on Facebook, Instagram, or 639 01:01:48,300 --> check us out at Bodner's Auction.com. Thanks for joining us. See you next time on the podcast.