King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch (2023) s01e04 Episode Script
Puerto Richo
[dramatic music playing]
[Carlo] We're getting another bid.
[beeping on screen]
-[Carlo] 1.9! There we go.
-[coworker] 1.9. What a sale.
Imagine just hitting this card.
A month later…
It's at $1.9 million.
You got a couple million. It's insane.
They paid a couple grand for this.
They'll make millions.
-Right.
-[Carlo] It's a lottery ticket, literally.
[Ken] Hey, what can I do for you?
[bidder on phone] span style="style2"I'm watching it.
Can you put in a bid for me?
I'm at a club.
[Ken] What are you doing at a club
on my closing night?
You gotta be by your computer, man.
I'll get you in for two million.
For your sake, I hope it holds.
With some of our premium bidders,
they have access to my phone number,
and they know
they can call me anytime for anything,
including to make sure their bids get in.
-[beeping on screen]
-[Ryan] Oh, here we go.
-There's the two.
-[Carlo] No.
Yes, sir.
-[suspenseful music playing]
-[beeping on screen]
[coworker] Two mil, let's go.
-What? What?
-That's big, Carlo. Two mil.
-[coworker] Let's go, dude.
-[Dave] Krups, nice bid.
-[coworker 2] What a sale.
-[coworker 3] Goldin does it again.
-[coworker 4] Ken does it again.
-[coworker 5] Yeah.
First of all, I was the one
who figured out who they were.
-You did.
-So span style="style2"I did it again.
So, what do you think?
-[coworker] 2.4, man.
-Good job.
-Yeah.
-Good job.
-Huge.
-[Ryan] Well done.
-Good job.
-[coworker] That's awesome.
[Ryan] Absolutely killed it.
2.4 million
for a card pulled a few weeks ago, right?
-You can't beat that.
-Insane. Lottery ticket.
In 2014, we sold a card
for a million dollars or more.
The T206 Honus Wagner. Okay?
At that time, no other auction house
had ever sold a card for over a million.
We just sold
a LeBron James card for $2.4 million.
It just shows the evolution of the hobby.
It shows the worldwide positioning
of our marketplace,
and, obviously, the great job we all do.
-Let's take a well-deserved victory lap.
-[Carlo] Goldin for the win.
-[Ken] Good job. Well done, Dave.
-Thank you.
-Good job. Good job. Good job.
-[coworker] Good job. [laughs]
We used to pop champagne
at these moments, Ken.
[Ken] Yeah, I know. I know.
I gotta bring it over. Lemme go to the bar
in my office. [laughs]
[hip-hop music playing]
You know that I'm coming in hot… ♪
[Ken] span style="style2"This week, Ryan and Alex Fung
span style="style2"line up a huge Pokémon deal in Asia.
[Fung] He's just so fat. They love him.
-[Ryan] They like a chunky--?
-Fat, chunky Pikachu.
-The fatter, the better.
-I didn't know that was a thing.
[Ken] span style="style2"While Dave meets up
with the legendary
WWE Superstar, Ric Flair.
Wooo!
[all] Wooo!
-There it is.
-I sold this one myself.
[Ken] span style="style2"Meanwhile, Laura and I
span style="style2"will be flying to Puerto Rico
to see and hopefully consign
the Holy Grail of basketball memorabilia.
I'm holding the single most valuable piece
of basketball memorabilia in the world.
-span style="style1"This is what I wanna be flying home with.
span style="style1"-[chuckles] We'll… We'll talk about that.
[hip-hop music playing]
Them people they lose their minds
When I drop the rhythm from height ♪
Them people they lose their minds… ♪
There it is. There it is.
Hey, Robbie, have you seen this?
Jordan jersey.
-Game-used Jordan jersey?
-It is a game-used Jordan, '97-'98.
[funky music playing]
Unusually signed and inscribed.
I've never seen that before.
[Robbie Jr.] I've never seen
a Jordan jersey with an inscription.
-Upper Deck hologram serial number.
-[Robbie Jr.] I like that.
-See that? Letter from the Bulls.
-Uh-huh.
-[Ken] It's coming from the team.
-[Robbie Jr.] Absolutely.
-[Ken] It's just storybook. Yup.
-Doesn't get any better than that.
And "Let's talk! JT."
Do you know what that stands for?
-Taubenfeld Collection? Are you serious?
-Taubenfeld Collection.
-I am stone-cold dead serious.
-[Robbie Jr.] This is his?
-[Ken] Yes, this is his.
-[chuckles]
Jim Taubenfeld is the world's
single largest memorabilia collector
of sports and everything you can imagine.
His collection, honestly,
is the Holy Grail.
If you go to the Basketball Hall of Fame,
the entrance,
it says,
"Donated by the Taubenfeld family."
Is that right? So he has things
the Hall of Fame doesn't even have?
Yeah. If we can get
his collection to Goldin,
we trounce our competition,
and we give the market
something they've never seen.
This is crazy.
I mean, if this is the tip of the iceberg
of what he's got…
We photo-match this,
it could be $500,000 or $600,000.
Wow.
[Ken] Jim Taubenfeld
is a successful businessman,
who started a group
of chain stores in Puerto Rico
that have become overwhelmingly popular.
And how he also found the time
to become the world's greatest
memorabilia collector, we'll never know.
-Laura, out.
-Sorry.
-I was just going through all your emails.
-Great.
I have a serious call.
Don't interrupt, no BS.
[mocking gibberish]
[dial tone]
Hey, Ken, how are you?
-[Ken] I'm doing good, Jim, how are you?
Excellent, excellent.
I got your package.
Thank you very much. Looks great.
[Jim] span style="style2"I wanna invite you
span style="style2"to Puerto Rico tomorrow. I'm available.
[whimsical music playing]
-Tomorrow?
-[Jim] span style="style2"Come to Puerto Rico.
I will come to Puerto Rico.
I'll make it work,
and I'll see you tomorrow.
[Jim] span style="style2"I got some other pieces
span style="style2"I wanna show you.
That's what I wanna hear, Jim.
Thanks so much. See you tomorrow.
-[Jim] span style="style2"Great. We'll see you then.
-[Ken] Have a good one. Bye.
So what will you get from this guy?
What does he have?
Nobody knows. This is, to me,
the biggest possible deal
that I can get in my entire career.
I'm gonna try and find a private jet,
get security to fly down with me,
and hop a flight tomorrow morning.
-Well, you know the rules, right?
-What are the rules?
Anytime there's a private jet,
I'm coming with you.
I'll sweet-talk him a bit. I'll be like,
"You know, you gotta give it to him."
And I'll seal the deal.
Laura, I could not possibly imagine
closing this deal without you.
-I don't know what you'd do without me.
-You're the true Goldin in Goldin.
-What can I say?
-It's actually named after me.
Yeah, exactly.
Thank you for letting me
go with you on this trip. I appreciate it.
-So I'm going to Puerto Rico?
-You're going to Puerto Rico.
I had the experience, growing up,
of working with my dad,
and I'm saying, "You know,
maybe take Laura on a trip like this."
"Maybe one day
this is what she decides to do."
I will pack my bags and see you tomorrow.
Sounds good. Just remember…
-Business trip. Serious business trip.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[upbeat music playing]
[Alex] Wait till you see this guy.
-What's up, guys?
-Alex.
-[Alex] What's up?
-What's up?
Listen, Drew is the best
of the best barber in all of Jersey.
Like, there's no option here.
We need to fix this.
-I'm mind-blown by this haircut…
-[all laugh]
-[Alex] I told you!
-Come on, bro.
I don't know if it's a mohawk or a mullet.
We'll fix you up.
-[Alex] You're welcome, in advance.
-I'm game.
Who cut the hair? Who… Who did that?
That's why Jersey has a bad rap.
Haircuts like that.
And I was not going to let my state
go down in flames, nor my boy Ryan.
[Carlo] We need to make him
real high and tight, like Kid 'n Play.
-He's getting right in there.
-[Carlo] There we go.
-[Alex] Oh, Krups.
-[playful music playing]
[Carlo] Wow, look at that.
It's better already, Krups.
-Already?
-Significantly better.
-[Alex] Literally, so much better.
-[Myesha] It is. I can't lie.
[laughing] Wow.
What was wrong with the other guy?
[Dave] You got the Pokémon meeting
tomorrow?
Yeah, actually tomorrow night.
It's at nine o'clock.
You'll be in bed by then,
but I'll be working. So…
I have some super high-end clients
all around the world,
but especially in Japan.
Just recently, with these clients,
I set an all-time Pokémon record.
So they're coming back to me
with a chance to set another record.
[Dave] Leave it to Baby Krups
to pull that big deal.
It's what we do, man. It's what we do.
It's a big one. It's the trophy set.
The rarest group of Pokémon cards ever.
[gaming music playing]
[Alex] span style="style2"In 1996, the Pokémon franchise
span style="style2"was created by Satoshi Tajiri.
An abbreviation for "Pocket Monsters,span style="style1""
the Pokémon craze took the world by storm,
supplying fans with cards,
games, toys, TV shows, and even movies.
Over two decades later,
Pokémon cards
are still setting auction records.
In 2021, Target suspended
the sale of cards
because aggressive collectors were causing
violent confrontations in store locations,
making this rare complete trophy set
a highly sought-after collection.
These three cards are the complete set
of trophy Pokémon cards
from a 1998 Pokémon tournament event.
On each card is the character Pikachu
holding either the first,
second, or third-place trophy.
It's believed there are only 14 versions
of each card in existence.
[Carlo] Dope.
-[Dave] Bringing Alex in, or going solo?
-[Ryan] Uh, no, I'm bringing him in.
He knows that world way better than I do.
I'm trying to get as many facts
and knowledge on it as I can, to close it.
-Oh, wow, nice.
-[coworkers laugh]
[Carlo] There you go. [laughs]
-[hair clipper humming]
-[Carlo] Myesha's inspired. Let's go.
-[Alex] Is that going on the Gram?
-No, this is just for blackmail.
-[coworkers laugh]
-[Dave] Oh!
-[Alex] Blackmail? [laughs]
-Yes.
Better act right, Krups,
or else I'm sending it to Ken.
[Ryan] He wouldn't like this too much.
["Cocky" by ADGRMS & Dexx! Turner playing]
[Laura] Wow, Dad.
Looks like we got our money up!
-This one's nice.
-[Ken] Yes, it is nice.
-[Laura] Are you getting PTSD right now?
-From what?
[Laura] Wasn't the last time you were
in Puerto Rico when you proposed to Mom?
[laughs]
Ah, yes, that is actually
the last time I was in Puerto Rico.
-How'd that go?
-Divorces happen.
If I didn't get divorced,
you wouldn't have
an eight-year-old brother
and a four-year-old sister.
If you didn't get divorced,
I wouldn't be a child of divorce.
[Ken laughs]
[R&B music playing]
[airplane engine roaring]
So what do you want me to do?
First, you gotta remember
we're going into this guy's home.
This is a business deal.
He is a family man.
His, uh, wife is gonna be there.
I'm going to Puerto Rico
to get this amazing collection.
And if I'm able to get it,
it will change
the landscape of my industry
and put us on a new level
in terms of memorabilia and game-used.
I want you to be on your best behavior.
And let me do my thing.
-You're Jordan. I'm Pippen.
-[Ken] Yes.
Now you're leaving me hanging. Thank you.
People love doing business with me.
People who are not my children
love dealing with me.
So what are gonna be doing?
What's your plan?
[Laura] You know, figuring it out.
[Ken] Mm-hmm.
I've applied to, probably…
15 jobs already.
Uh-huh. What about, um,
if something comes up, um, in Goldin?
[blows a raspberry]
[laughs]
It would have to be, like,
my own project with the company honestly,
so I wouldn't feel
like I'm just working for you.
I was thinking of you working
in inventory and shipping. [laughs]
I'm graduating magna cum laude.
Oh my God.
Working in inventory for my dad,
or being tortured in medieval times?
Honestly, really tough question.
It depends on what kind of torture.
If we're talking, like, burned alive,
I'd probably do inventory.
-Good.
-But if we're doing, like, waterboarding…
I'd probably choose that. You know?
I have a beautiful business plan.
I can't be living off of your money forev.
[chuckles] I… I agree with that.
[modern rock rendition
of "Yankee Doodle" playing]
-Check this out. Battle of Bunker Hill.
-[Robbie Sr.] Yup.
-Remember that?
-[Robbie Sr.] Of course.
I'm two years away from being there.
[both laugh]
-To me, the color, the toning is--
-[Robbie Sr.] Gentlemen.
-Hey, Robbies! How are ya?
-[Robbie Sr.] Hey, John, how are you, sir?
Scott Stephenson.
I'm the president of the museum.
[Robbie Jr.] Pleasure.
My name is John Reznikoff,
and I am a buyer and seller of documents,
manuscripts, and relics
related to famous events in history.
I'm here today to possibly consign
a Declaration of Independence.
It's a really early version,
quite valuable, and quite beautiful.
You did a good job with this place.
We looked at it and it's awesome.
If you wanna be
number one in this industry,
you've gotta cover everything collectible,
and that includes historical items.
Nothing says history
like the Declaration of Independence,
and we're not leaving here without it,
even if we gotta hijack it.
[laughs] I'd sure like to see
how that's gonna work.
This is a very early version
of our Declaration.
-It's not the original. But it's close.
-[Robbie Jr.] Okay.
Quite a valuable piece,
but not as valuable as the original.
-Sure.
-Of course.
[Alex] span style="style2"After the War of 1812,
the United States
experienced a swell of patriotism
now known as the Era of Good Feeling.
This loyalism created a demand
for patriotic memorabilia.
In 1820, nearly 50 years
after the original signing
of the Declaration of Independence
in 1776,
new broadside copies
that were printed on one side
and designed for public
or personal display,
were produced and sold for $1 to $2.
People would nail them to the walls
in their homes, taverns,
or in common areas around town.
Very few are known
to exist today in good condition,
making this unblemished document
a rare and coveted piece of history.
There may have been 500 or 1,000 printed.
-But it's all about survival rate.
-Mm-hmm.
Not many made it to today.
My favorite thing about the Declaration
is seeing John Hancock on there.
[John] There's a story about that.
He actually signed it really big
because he really hated George III,
and he wanted to make sure George III,
who wore glasses…
-[laughs]
-…could see his signature and not miss it.
-[Scott] Hated him the most.
-I like that.
It's always exciting
to see great artifacts like this.
Welcome to Philadelphia. Take care.
-Let's take it to the cheap seats.
-Okay.
The reason I wanted you to come here is,
I'm thinking about consigning it.
What… What's the hesitation?
Well, you know, I've never seen
a Declaration of Independence
in Goldin's auction,
and we're talking Thomas Jefferson,
not Isaiah Thomas.
We've sold plenty of historical pieces,
and we have one here today
that can push you over the edge,
and show to you
that we're the right guys for the job.
-[mysterious music plays]
-[Robbie Sr.] Check this out.
Handcuffs. I don't dare try them on
unless you have the key.
-[laughs]
-No, you don't wanna do that.
-[John] I'll make a guess.
-[Robbie Jr.] Okay.
The most famous handcuffs I could think of
would be Lee Harvey Oswald.
-This guy's good.
-Exactly.
[John] I'm curious,
how was the police officer able to…
To get these?
[Robbie Jr.] Back then, police officers
had to buy their own handcuffs.
They didn't belong to the department.
If you were a police officer,
you got your own cuffs.
That's the cuffs that he had on.
It's unbelievable.
Ben Franklin said,
"By failing to prepare,
you're preparing to fail."
We came prepared today.
With these handcuffs,
I think we sealed the deal.
We definitely proved something
to John today.
What kind of number
do you think we got for those?
These have to be six figures on a bad day.
-$110,000. You're exactly right.
-[John] Fantastic.
[Robbie Jr.] If we can achieve
a number like that at Goldin,
what do you think for that Declaration?
Before we go any further,
I wanna see if we're in line
as far as how you value this.
I think this item
will do north of $20,000.
[Robbie Jr.] We want the moon
on this thing.
And that's the reason
you contacted Goldin Auctions.
I think we might be
speaking the same language.
Truth be told,
I was a bit hesitant to give them the item
until they showed me something
of great historical significance.
The fact that
the Lee Harvey Oswald handcuffs
would achieve more than six figures,
made me rethink the whole equation.
[Robbie Sr.] Mm-hmm.
My man. My man.
Deal.
Sounds good.
Man, add this one to the résumé.
The Robbies now dealing Declarations.
I'm glad we didn't have to steal it.
There are a lot of steps in this joint.
[Robbie Jr.] I knew we could
get something done here today.
["Unstoppable" by SATV Music playing]
Unstoppable… ♪
The whole world
Let's give 'em a show ♪
Unstoppable… ♪
Competition watch 'em fall
Like some dominoes… ♪
-[Fung] Ryan.
-[Ryan] Alex, what's up, brother?
-How are you?
-[Ryan] Dude, so happy you're here.
-I know it's late, but honestly--
-[Fung] It's all right.
-[Alex] You owe me dinner. [laughs]
-[Ryan] Totally. Consider it done.
I knew I had to get Alex
involved in this deal immediately.
There is nobody who knows
the Pokémon world better than Alex.
I'm hoping Alex can provide me
with one nugget of information
that puts this deal over the top
and gets it done.
The only thing that scares me a bit
is just that they're true collectors.
I wanna make sure, when I go on there,
I know everything in and out,
and that my pitch is 100%,
"This is what we have to do."
-I mean--
-[Ryan] Convincing.
-They're happy with the Illustrator?
-[Ryan] They are.
So they'll be happy with this.
-I wanna know, in terms of selling it…
-Yeah?
What do you think
is the best way to go about it?
[exhales] They might want to see
if they can get more money individually,
but you have to convince them
it has to be sold together.
Has to be sold together.
Within the Pokémon community,
having all three together
makes the most sense.
-Right.
-In Pokémon, for a high-end…
If they have one,
they want the other two to go with it.
-All together as a set?
-[Fung] Absolutely.
Okay. So I'll go all in on that.
Here's the thing
about these big-time Pokémon collectors.
If they're able to get everything together
all at once,
they could pay big money.
Nobody wants to shop around
looking for each one
when they could buy
everything together at once.
Don't forget "span style="style2"arigato"
is "thank you" in Japanese.
-[Ryan] span style="style2"Arigato. Okay.
-span style="style2"Arigato, yeah.
[Ryan] As I'm waiting
for this video conference to come on,
my heart is racing.
These three cards,
they never, ever come up for sale.
So to have these
potentially coming to Goldin now,
I know, if I nail this,
I'm gonna score
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
[ringtone]
What's up, guys? How are you?
-How are you?
-Hi.
[Ryan] Everything's great.
Chen, Billy, Shinkei-san,
it's great to see you guys.
Thanks for taking the time.
[man 1] span style="style2"We're very excited
span style="style2"about all of this.
[Ryan] I think after we just had
that huge Illustrator sale,
the highest-selling
Pokémon card of all time, $750,000,
um, I think we saw
that the Pokémon market is here to stay,
and it's continuing to grow.
And I know we've talked about it before,
um,
but the trophy set,
would you be open to letting those go?
These cards, I think they hold
a special place in Pokémon history.
Maybe perhaps the most coveted cards
within Pokémon.
We wanna get an idea of what you think
these cards would go for.
I do think these are
the most coveted cards in all of Pokémon.
So, I think the $750,000 sale
for the Illustrator was a huge sale,
no question about it.
But I really think
this could be well over $1,000,000.
[in Japanese] span style="style2"Should we sell these
span style="style2"as a set or Individually?
[man 2] span style="style2"Ryan, Shinkei wants to ask,
do you think
we should sell these as a set?
Or do you think they'll
maybe go for more individually?
To run it as one lot, as one collection,
um, is something that's never been done.
I think
it could absolutely change the market.
And for the guys we're targeting,
those super, super high net-worth guys,
they have the money to spend.
I think it's very crucial
we sell this together as one collection.
[suspenseful music playing]
[in Japanese] span style="style2"We would like to sell them
span style="style2"as a set with you.
[man 2 speaks Japanese]
[in English]
span style="style2"You made a convincing argument,
and we'd like to sell them as a set.
[Ryan] Let's go.
-[man 2] span style="style2"Yes.
-That's amazing.
Thank you so much, Ryan.
We're on board with you on this.
-[Ryan] I'll take that. I'll take that.
-[laughs] span style="style2"Yeah, I'm excited about it!
I'm excited, guys. You take care.
We'll talk soon, and span style="style2"arigato.
[Fung] I'll admit it,
being a Pokémon expert here,
I'm a little jealous, you know?
But Ryan is a G
for even getting this lead
and bringing this into Goldin.
-I'm so pumped.
-I'm glad I--
-Dinner on me? Thanks so much. Seriously.
-Yes! I appreciate it.
[Ryan] Thank you, man.
[exhales sharply]
["Gozando" by Alex Wilson
& MC Magico playing in Spanish]
-[Laura] Does he have any kids?
-I met his son.
I think I've met his daughter.
I don't know.
I think he's got three. I don't know
if the third one's a boy or a girl.
Is the son cute?
Um… I would let you decide that.
[chuckles] I wouldn't wanna judge.
-[laughs]
-We'll see.
[Ken] My hands are sweaty.
I don't know if it's from the humidity
or from dealing with a daughter
who's thinking about boys
as I'm about to go into the home
of the world's
greatest memorabilia collection.
Either way, it's do-or-die time. Let's go.
-[Laura] I'm excited.
-There it is.
["Buena Onda"
by Lee Richardson playing in Spanish]
[dog barks]
[Ken] Guard dog.
-[Jim] Hey!
-[Ken] Hello!
-[woman] Hey, guys!
-How are you doing?
-Welcome.
-Jim, good to see you!
I met Jim when I opened Goldin in 2012.
He was an important and high-value client
throughout the years,
but only as a buyer.
I'm hoping that this is an opportunity
where he'll decide to sell some items.
-Laura, let me show you around.
-Okay.
-Where are we going? Cool.
-This way.
["Check Out My Vibe"
by ADGRMS & Dexx! Turner playing]
-[Ken] This is awesome.
span style="style2"-Check out my vibe ♪
Check out my stride ♪
Watch me move
Check out my fly… ♪
[Ken] So now we know
where everything's been hiding.
We have Michael Jackson's fedora.
And, uh, you can put it on
and do a little moonwalk.
[Ken laughs]
[Jim] This is a Grammy
that was awarded to Billy Joel.
[Ken] Mm-hmm. Absolutely incredible.
I'm too straight
I don't need no fix ♪
I be up, up
Get down ♪
We so big every day
I made my rent ♪
If you come my way
You could lead… ♪
[Jim] History, history, history.
-This is…
-What is that?
-The original Celtics.
-[Ken] Mm-hmm.
[Jim] This team was formed in 1920.
-This jersey is over 100 years old.
-[Ken] Crazy.
Before Wilt Chamberlain went to the NBA,
he played a year
with the Harlem Globetrotters.
This is one of the only known
Harlem Globetrotters uniform
of Wilt Chamberlain.
For me, it's priceless.
-Moving on to the next piece.
-Sure.
Who do we start with
in modern-day basketball?
-[Ken] Gotta be Michael Jordan.
-Michael Jordan.
But it's never seen the light of day.
This is his first NBA red jersey
that he wore in his career.
[Ken] How do you know?
-[Jim] It's photo-matched.
-[Ken] It's photo-matched?
Wow. I mean, to me,
I'm holding the single
most valuable piece
of basketball memorabilia in the world.
-This is what I wanna be flying home with.
-[laughs] Well, we'll talk about that.
-But this is-- [chuckles]
-I'm not letting go. [laughs]
[Ken] This has been amazing.
Out of all these,
are there items you're thinking,
"I might consider
this type of stuff for consignment"?
Kobe Bryant, uh, 2008 Olympic
photo-matched, uh, jersey.
-Jim, that's a great start. [laughs]
-[Jim] This is a great, great piece.
No Kobe Bryant Olympic jersey
has ever hit the market before.
This, I need to come home with me.
I'll take this to my hope rack.
Okay.
This is going to be the biggest haul
in the history of my industry.
This came directly from Clyde Drexler.
-Wow.
-This is his Dream Team home uniform.
This is what
I came down to Puerto Rico for.
This is why I got the private jet.
This is Wilt Chamberlain's college jersey,
from Kansas.
[Ken] Amazing.
And this is why I am Ken Goldin.
My competitors are gonna be so jealous.
A Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's All-Star uniform.
[Ken] Mm-hmm.
Hold onto your pants, Ken. Julius Erving.
This is one of the guys
I worshiped growing up.
Dr. J. and Moses Malone.
They were my guys.
Twenty, twenty-one,
twenty-two, twenty-three.
-[Jim] James Harden's first jersey.
-[Ken] How do you have time to work?
All you've been doing
is buying memorabilia.
I don't know how you've had time
to build your empire. [laughs]
-I'm a hard worker.
-[laughs]
[rap music playing]
I'm a real star, baby
And I call my own digits ♪
Got my own entourage
You're maybe coming with it ♪
-Do you wanna be a champion? ♪
-Yeah ♪
I think I'm built to be a champion ♪
-Hi, Mr. Flair, how are you?
-[Ric] Hello. How are you?
-I'm Myesha. So nice to meet you.
-Very nice to meet you.
This is so exciting.
I grew up watching you my whole life.
-Me and my dad. [laughs]
-Thank you very much. Excited to be back.
-I'll show you this way to Dave.
-Thank you.
-Of course.
-Thank you very much.
Hey, Dave! Wooo!
-Nature Boy's back in the house, man!
-Wooo!
-Wooo!
-[coworkers] Wooo!
That's all I get?
Wooo!
[all] Wooo!
All right, pick it up a bit. Come on.
What's up, Ric, how are you?
You got one of my great robes here,
I heard, huh?
We do, we do.
Which one of my ex-wives
brought in a stolen robe, huh?
-[Dave] We'll figure that one out.
-How are you?
[Dave] Good.
Ric Flair is the king of charisma.
One of the most over-the-top personalities
in all of entertainment.
In 1972 Ric Flair
made his professional wrestling debut
with the American Wrestling Association,
and later became a WWE Champion
a staggering 16 times.
Flair talked a ton of trash,
he wore expensive clothes and jewelry,
and he even had
one of the best catchphrases.
When I come into any office,
I own it. Wooo!
If anyone can identify it,
I figured you could.
-Oh man! I actually sold this one myself.
-There it is.
-Okay, so this one--
-[Ric] That's a shocker.
When you have an item
that had once belonged to a celebrity,
having a really solid line of provenance
always increases the value of an item.
Provenance is a history
of an item's origin.
You can use that
for authenticating that item.
It's always better to get
a third-party authentication
from the man himself, who made it famous.
Luckily for us, Ric is always willing
to come down and verify his items for us.
[Ric] This is one of
the last ones Olivia made for me.
This right here says it all.
-The label, Olivia Walker.
-[Dave] Okay.
Olivia Original. She was
the greatest seamstress I've ever met.
-[Dave] You also signed this one.
-[Ric] I did.
[Dave] "To be the man,
you've gotta beat the man!"
To be the man, you gotta beat the man.
That's still the story.
[Alex] span style="style2"In 1905,
George Hackenschmidt was
the first known wrestler to don a robe.
Thirty years later,
a flamboyant heavyweight
known as Gorgeous George
took robes to a new level,
but Ric Flair, in the 1970s,
took wrestling robes
to a different stratosphere.
Incorporating rhinestones, capes,
and, yes, even feathers.
The person who made those robes happen,
Olivia Walker, his most trusted seamstress
and close personal friend.
Nowadays, entering the ring
without a robe would be a party foul.
And this is one of
the greatest robes ever made.
Worn by the King of the Ring.
These were all made, like, right up…
I think she quit making them
in the mid-'90s.
So she put so much
heart and effort into these.
You know, she made stuff
for Glen Campbell, Dolly Parton…
All the rhinestone cowboys.
[Dave] Did she make
other wrestlers' robes, or just for you?
Yeah, she made Orndorff, Greg Valentine…
I tried to keep her busy.
Every time somebody bought a nice robe,
I paid more to have mine nicer. [laughs]
[laughs] You got to, right?
You gotta be
the sharpest-dressed guy out there.
Yeah. I had one made
for almost every big event,
and I had 38 altogether made,
at an average price,
back then, of about $15,000, so--
Okay, so these, right out of the gate,
had a big retail price.
Yeah. The blue one she made me
that I wore at Starrcade,
I've tried to buy it back for $150,000.
-The guy won't sell it.
-And he won't sell it?
-Mm-mm.
-[Dave] Wow.
You can't imagine how many women
have worn these over the years.
[laughs] Oh no, I… I can imagine, man.
You had the long blond, tanned up.
-Yeah, I had it all, brother.
-I'm a wrestling fan.
I actually started wrestling
in third grade.
When you and Sting had those matches,
and I jumped off of the top rope one time,
hurt my foot,
and was like, "This ain't for me, man."
[laughs]
If you're trying
to get some of these robes back,
they come to auction here occasionally.
So this one will be up for sale.
You'll have a chance to bid.
I'll be one of the big bidders.
Let me know when.
-Good seeing you.
-All right. It should be in soon. [laughs]
Wooo!
[upbeat music playing]
I think this is it, dude.
-[Fung] Oh my gosh.
-I think this is it.
-[Fung] Let's go.
-Are you ready?
Alex's advice and knowledge on this deal,
that tidbit of information from Alex
ended up being huge for me.
And I definitely owe him a drink.
To be here right now,
and be experiencing this is incredible.
-All right, dude, here we go.
-Come on.
[Ryan] No peeking, though.
To actually see them in person…
-Oh my God, dude.
-[Fung] Oh my God. Getting goosebumps.
[Ryan] Oh, in all its glory. Oh my God.
[Fung] As soon as we open them,
I immediately wanna take one of them
and put it in my pocket…
-[Ryan] That design is sick.
-[Fung] Right?
…and run away.
He's just so fat there.
He's fat here, too,
but he's just so chunky.
-[Ryan] Fat? Is that what you mean?
-They love him.
They like a fat, chunky Pikachu.
-The fatter, the better.
-[Ryan] I didn't know that was a thing.
The fatter the Pokémon,
the cuter the Pokémon, you know?
And then it being span style="style2"chibi,
like a baby version of the Pokémon,
is just so cute and adorable.
I mean, the chunkier, the better,
that's my motto. [laughs]
Seriously, I appreciate all your help.
It's a team effort. I appreciate it.
So let's get these in the safe.
Let's wrap these up.
Might never see 'em again.
-I appreciate your help.
-Thank you.
Thank you again. Awesome.
-[Alex] Mr. Flair, so good to have you!
-Thank you. Honored.
The Nature Boy!
Okay, so this robe is expected
to get like $20,000 at auction.
I'll spend $20,000
to take you to dinner tonight.
-[sensual music plays]
-[laughs] Wooo!
Today, I'm interviewing Ric Flair.
A lot of people came to me saying,
"Beware, he's a bit of a flirt,
a womanizer."
You know what? I got it.
-I have four ex-wives, let's do something.
-[laughs]
-Wooo!
-Wooo!
-Wooo!
-Wooo!
-Is that patented?
-Yeah, pretty much.
Wait, so you own "Wooo"? You're a genius.
-I have a smart lawyer.
-Thank you for coming.
Honestly, an honor to have you
here at Goldin Auctions.
704…
-[Alex] 7-- [laughs]
-999…
All right, guys.
-Nature Boy's out of here.
-Ric!
-[laughing] Dave, all right.
-Good to see you, man.
[Ric] Oh man, keel yourself.
[coworkers laughing]
-[laughs] Come on.
-Come on.
Come on, Jesus. Come on, man.
Dave, that spandex can make you
or break you.
-[all laughing]
-[Ric] Right, girls?
-[Dave laughs] "Right, girls?"
-[Ric] For sure.
-Wooo! [laughs]
-[laughing]
["Oye" by Reina Williams playing]
-[Jim] After you.
-[Ken] Thank you, Jim.
It's a beautiful view.
Yeah, we love this view.
[Ken] This is almost as pretty
as your collection.
[Jim laughs]
-Hey, guys. Sorry to interrupt.
-[Ken] Hello.
-[Laura] Miss us?
-[Jim] Thanks so much.
-[Ken] Yes, Laura.
-Coffee.
-[Laura] I know you did.
-You look very serious.
[all laugh]
-Thanks so much.
-I'll lighten it up a bit.
-Thank you.
-Ken, I love your daughter.
She's so amazing.
That makes one of you guys.
[all laugh]
-Such a wonderful addition.
-Thank you so much.
It really reminds me of my daughters.
Oh my God!
Whatever spell you cast, God bless you.
I always pull through.
I can't… I can't help it.
I just… I just get things done.
Have fun, guys.
-Thank you.
-Thank you.
So, where were we?
You brought your daughter.
For me, family is very important.
And the fact you brought her
is very meaningful.
I… I appreciate that.
I would love
not only to be able to build
a relationship with you as a customer,
but build a relationship with you
as a consignor and as a friend.
[Jim] Yeah, well, I appreciate the words,
but it's very hard on a personal level
to really break my collection down
and start selling.
-I've never sold before.
-Okay, I understand.
One thing you have to realize is
you'll still have
the greatest collection in the world,
but what you're also going to do
is allow other people to experience
what you've experienced
over the past 40 years.
Any one of those pieces
is going to be the cornerstone,
the centerpiece, the Holy Grail
of whoever is buying it.
You want to be able to sell these things
in good economic times,
when the market is hot.
So let's talk, uh, numbers.
Where are we with this?
I mean, I think with what we've set aside,
it could be anywhere
from 20 to 40 million dollars
worth of stuff.
Obviously, we need to do
some additional research,
some additional photo-matching, um--
What sort of financial guarantees, uh,
would I have?
[tense music plays]
When people consign a collection,
oftentimes they want a cash advance
so they can start spending the money
they're eventually gonna get
immediately, without waiting.
If we ever go that route,
we're laying out a lot of money
before we actually sell a product.
It's just a bad situation.
If you're looking
for some sort of commitment
in terms of an advance or something,
we'd be able to work out
a reasonable advance
with you on the product.
Okay. Like?
Um…
We'd probably be able
to give a $5,000,000 advance.
Uh, I don't think that's gonna cut it.
If we're talking about a value range
of 25 to 40 million,
I would anticipate at least a 50% advance.
[Ken] Let's say I met you at 50%.
I am willing
to wire you today $10,000,000.
That's why I invited you to my house
because I have a lot of faith in you.
I think you can maximize the value.
And that's why I think Goldin Auctions
could do an advance of $15,000,000.
[laughing]
[tense music intensifies]
["Light It Up" by Wizardz of Oz playing]
You're a fast-talkin' fireball
Catwalk know-it-all ♪
-Burning everybody blind ♪
-Light it up ♪
You're an ice queen
Stone-cold, solar-storming super freak ♪
Melting everybody's minds ♪
Light it up, light it up ♪
Like a shooting star
Like a firework ♪
Just light it up
Light it up ♪
Never burned so hot
Never done that spark ♪
-So light it up ♪
span style="style1"-[female vocalizing]
Light it up ♪
[Carlo] We're getting another bid.
[beeping on screen]
-[Carlo] 1.9! There we go.
-[coworker] 1.9. What a sale.
Imagine just hitting this card.
A month later…
It's at $1.9 million.
You got a couple million. It's insane.
They paid a couple grand for this.
They'll make millions.
-Right.
-[Carlo] It's a lottery ticket, literally.
[Ken] Hey, what can I do for you?
[bidder on phone] span style="style2"I'm watching it.
Can you put in a bid for me?
I'm at a club.
[Ken] What are you doing at a club
on my closing night?
You gotta be by your computer, man.
I'll get you in for two million.
For your sake, I hope it holds.
With some of our premium bidders,
they have access to my phone number,
and they know
they can call me anytime for anything,
including to make sure their bids get in.
-[beeping on screen]
-[Ryan] Oh, here we go.
-There's the two.
-[Carlo] No.
Yes, sir.
-[suspenseful music playing]
-[beeping on screen]
[coworker] Two mil, let's go.
-What? What?
-That's big, Carlo. Two mil.
-[coworker] Let's go, dude.
-[Dave] Krups, nice bid.
-[coworker 2] What a sale.
-[coworker 3] Goldin does it again.
-[coworker 4] Ken does it again.
-[coworker 5] Yeah.
First of all, I was the one
who figured out who they were.
-You did.
-So span style="style2"I did it again.
So, what do you think?
-[coworker] 2.4, man.
-Good job.
-Yeah.
-Good job.
-Huge.
-[Ryan] Well done.
-Good job.
-[coworker] That's awesome.
[Ryan] Absolutely killed it.
2.4 million
for a card pulled a few weeks ago, right?
-You can't beat that.
-Insane. Lottery ticket.
In 2014, we sold a card
for a million dollars or more.
The T206 Honus Wagner. Okay?
At that time, no other auction house
had ever sold a card for over a million.
We just sold
a LeBron James card for $2.4 million.
It just shows the evolution of the hobby.
It shows the worldwide positioning
of our marketplace,
and, obviously, the great job we all do.
-Let's take a well-deserved victory lap.
-[Carlo] Goldin for the win.
-[Ken] Good job. Well done, Dave.
-Thank you.
-Good job. Good job. Good job.
-[coworker] Good job. [laughs]
We used to pop champagne
at these moments, Ken.
[Ken] Yeah, I know. I know.
I gotta bring it over. Lemme go to the bar
in my office. [laughs]
[hip-hop music playing]
You know that I'm coming in hot… ♪
[Ken] span style="style2"This week, Ryan and Alex Fung
span style="style2"line up a huge Pokémon deal in Asia.
[Fung] He's just so fat. They love him.
-[Ryan] They like a chunky--?
-Fat, chunky Pikachu.
-The fatter, the better.
-I didn't know that was a thing.
[Ken] span style="style2"While Dave meets up
with the legendary
WWE Superstar, Ric Flair.
Wooo!
[all] Wooo!
-There it is.
-I sold this one myself.
[Ken] span style="style2"Meanwhile, Laura and I
span style="style2"will be flying to Puerto Rico
to see and hopefully consign
the Holy Grail of basketball memorabilia.
I'm holding the single most valuable piece
of basketball memorabilia in the world.
-span style="style1"This is what I wanna be flying home with.
span style="style1"-[chuckles] We'll… We'll talk about that.
[hip-hop music playing]
Them people they lose their minds
When I drop the rhythm from height ♪
Them people they lose their minds… ♪
There it is. There it is.
Hey, Robbie, have you seen this?
Jordan jersey.
-Game-used Jordan jersey?
-It is a game-used Jordan, '97-'98.
[funky music playing]
Unusually signed and inscribed.
I've never seen that before.
[Robbie Jr.] I've never seen
a Jordan jersey with an inscription.
-Upper Deck hologram serial number.
-[Robbie Jr.] I like that.
-See that? Letter from the Bulls.
-Uh-huh.
-[Ken] It's coming from the team.
-[Robbie Jr.] Absolutely.
-[Ken] It's just storybook. Yup.
-Doesn't get any better than that.
And "Let's talk! JT."
Do you know what that stands for?
-Taubenfeld Collection? Are you serious?
-Taubenfeld Collection.
-I am stone-cold dead serious.
-[Robbie Jr.] This is his?
-[Ken] Yes, this is his.
-[chuckles]
Jim Taubenfeld is the world's
single largest memorabilia collector
of sports and everything you can imagine.
His collection, honestly,
is the Holy Grail.
If you go to the Basketball Hall of Fame,
the entrance,
it says,
"Donated by the Taubenfeld family."
Is that right? So he has things
the Hall of Fame doesn't even have?
Yeah. If we can get
his collection to Goldin,
we trounce our competition,
and we give the market
something they've never seen.
This is crazy.
I mean, if this is the tip of the iceberg
of what he's got…
We photo-match this,
it could be $500,000 or $600,000.
Wow.
[Ken] Jim Taubenfeld
is a successful businessman,
who started a group
of chain stores in Puerto Rico
that have become overwhelmingly popular.
And how he also found the time
to become the world's greatest
memorabilia collector, we'll never know.
-Laura, out.
-Sorry.
-I was just going through all your emails.
-Great.
I have a serious call.
Don't interrupt, no BS.
[mocking gibberish]
[dial tone]
Hey, Ken, how are you?
-[Ken] I'm doing good, Jim, how are you?
Excellent, excellent.
I got your package.
Thank you very much. Looks great.
[Jim] span style="style2"I wanna invite you
span style="style2"to Puerto Rico tomorrow. I'm available.
[whimsical music playing]
-Tomorrow?
-[Jim] span style="style2"Come to Puerto Rico.
I will come to Puerto Rico.
I'll make it work,
and I'll see you tomorrow.
[Jim] span style="style2"I got some other pieces
span style="style2"I wanna show you.
That's what I wanna hear, Jim.
Thanks so much. See you tomorrow.
-[Jim] span style="style2"Great. We'll see you then.
-[Ken] Have a good one. Bye.
So what will you get from this guy?
What does he have?
Nobody knows. This is, to me,
the biggest possible deal
that I can get in my entire career.
I'm gonna try and find a private jet,
get security to fly down with me,
and hop a flight tomorrow morning.
-Well, you know the rules, right?
-What are the rules?
Anytime there's a private jet,
I'm coming with you.
I'll sweet-talk him a bit. I'll be like,
"You know, you gotta give it to him."
And I'll seal the deal.
Laura, I could not possibly imagine
closing this deal without you.
-I don't know what you'd do without me.
-You're the true Goldin in Goldin.
-What can I say?
-It's actually named after me.
Yeah, exactly.
Thank you for letting me
go with you on this trip. I appreciate it.
-So I'm going to Puerto Rico?
-You're going to Puerto Rico.
I had the experience, growing up,
of working with my dad,
and I'm saying, "You know,
maybe take Laura on a trip like this."
"Maybe one day
this is what she decides to do."
I will pack my bags and see you tomorrow.
Sounds good. Just remember…
-Business trip. Serious business trip.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[upbeat music playing]
[Alex] Wait till you see this guy.
-What's up, guys?
-Alex.
-[Alex] What's up?
-What's up?
Listen, Drew is the best
of the best barber in all of Jersey.
Like, there's no option here.
We need to fix this.
-I'm mind-blown by this haircut…
-[all laugh]
-[Alex] I told you!
-Come on, bro.
I don't know if it's a mohawk or a mullet.
We'll fix you up.
-[Alex] You're welcome, in advance.
-I'm game.
Who cut the hair? Who… Who did that?
That's why Jersey has a bad rap.
Haircuts like that.
And I was not going to let my state
go down in flames, nor my boy Ryan.
[Carlo] We need to make him
real high and tight, like Kid 'n Play.
-He's getting right in there.
-[Carlo] There we go.
-[Alex] Oh, Krups.
-[playful music playing]
[Carlo] Wow, look at that.
It's better already, Krups.
-Already?
-Significantly better.
-[Alex] Literally, so much better.
-[Myesha] It is. I can't lie.
[laughing] Wow.
What was wrong with the other guy?
[Dave] You got the Pokémon meeting
tomorrow?
Yeah, actually tomorrow night.
It's at nine o'clock.
You'll be in bed by then,
but I'll be working. So…
I have some super high-end clients
all around the world,
but especially in Japan.
Just recently, with these clients,
I set an all-time Pokémon record.
So they're coming back to me
with a chance to set another record.
[Dave] Leave it to Baby Krups
to pull that big deal.
It's what we do, man. It's what we do.
It's a big one. It's the trophy set.
The rarest group of Pokémon cards ever.
[gaming music playing]
[Alex] span style="style2"In 1996, the Pokémon franchise
span style="style2"was created by Satoshi Tajiri.
An abbreviation for "Pocket Monsters,span style="style1""
the Pokémon craze took the world by storm,
supplying fans with cards,
games, toys, TV shows, and even movies.
Over two decades later,
Pokémon cards
are still setting auction records.
In 2021, Target suspended
the sale of cards
because aggressive collectors were causing
violent confrontations in store locations,
making this rare complete trophy set
a highly sought-after collection.
These three cards are the complete set
of trophy Pokémon cards
from a 1998 Pokémon tournament event.
On each card is the character Pikachu
holding either the first,
second, or third-place trophy.
It's believed there are only 14 versions
of each card in existence.
[Carlo] Dope.
-[Dave] Bringing Alex in, or going solo?
-[Ryan] Uh, no, I'm bringing him in.
He knows that world way better than I do.
I'm trying to get as many facts
and knowledge on it as I can, to close it.
-Oh, wow, nice.
-[coworkers laugh]
[Carlo] There you go. [laughs]
-[hair clipper humming]
-[Carlo] Myesha's inspired. Let's go.
-[Alex] Is that going on the Gram?
-No, this is just for blackmail.
-[coworkers laugh]
-[Dave] Oh!
-[Alex] Blackmail? [laughs]
-Yes.
Better act right, Krups,
or else I'm sending it to Ken.
[Ryan] He wouldn't like this too much.
["Cocky" by ADGRMS & Dexx! Turner playing]
[Laura] Wow, Dad.
Looks like we got our money up!
-This one's nice.
-[Ken] Yes, it is nice.
-[Laura] Are you getting PTSD right now?
-From what?
[Laura] Wasn't the last time you were
in Puerto Rico when you proposed to Mom?
[laughs]
Ah, yes, that is actually
the last time I was in Puerto Rico.
-How'd that go?
-Divorces happen.
If I didn't get divorced,
you wouldn't have
an eight-year-old brother
and a four-year-old sister.
If you didn't get divorced,
I wouldn't be a child of divorce.
[Ken laughs]
[R&B music playing]
[airplane engine roaring]
So what do you want me to do?
First, you gotta remember
we're going into this guy's home.
This is a business deal.
He is a family man.
His, uh, wife is gonna be there.
I'm going to Puerto Rico
to get this amazing collection.
And if I'm able to get it,
it will change
the landscape of my industry
and put us on a new level
in terms of memorabilia and game-used.
I want you to be on your best behavior.
And let me do my thing.
-You're Jordan. I'm Pippen.
-[Ken] Yes.
Now you're leaving me hanging. Thank you.
People love doing business with me.
People who are not my children
love dealing with me.
So what are gonna be doing?
What's your plan?
[Laura] You know, figuring it out.
[Ken] Mm-hmm.
I've applied to, probably…
15 jobs already.
Uh-huh. What about, um,
if something comes up, um, in Goldin?
[blows a raspberry]
[laughs]
It would have to be, like,
my own project with the company honestly,
so I wouldn't feel
like I'm just working for you.
I was thinking of you working
in inventory and shipping. [laughs]
I'm graduating magna cum laude.
Oh my God.
Working in inventory for my dad,
or being tortured in medieval times?
Honestly, really tough question.
It depends on what kind of torture.
If we're talking, like, burned alive,
I'd probably do inventory.
-Good.
-But if we're doing, like, waterboarding…
I'd probably choose that. You know?
I have a beautiful business plan.
I can't be living off of your money forev.
[chuckles] I… I agree with that.
[modern rock rendition
of "Yankee Doodle" playing]
-Check this out. Battle of Bunker Hill.
-[Robbie Sr.] Yup.
-Remember that?
-[Robbie Sr.] Of course.
I'm two years away from being there.
[both laugh]
-To me, the color, the toning is--
-[Robbie Sr.] Gentlemen.
-Hey, Robbies! How are ya?
-[Robbie Sr.] Hey, John, how are you, sir?
Scott Stephenson.
I'm the president of the museum.
[Robbie Jr.] Pleasure.
My name is John Reznikoff,
and I am a buyer and seller of documents,
manuscripts, and relics
related to famous events in history.
I'm here today to possibly consign
a Declaration of Independence.
It's a really early version,
quite valuable, and quite beautiful.
You did a good job with this place.
We looked at it and it's awesome.
If you wanna be
number one in this industry,
you've gotta cover everything collectible,
and that includes historical items.
Nothing says history
like the Declaration of Independence,
and we're not leaving here without it,
even if we gotta hijack it.
[laughs] I'd sure like to see
how that's gonna work.
This is a very early version
of our Declaration.
-It's not the original. But it's close.
-[Robbie Jr.] Okay.
Quite a valuable piece,
but not as valuable as the original.
-Sure.
-Of course.
[Alex] span style="style2"After the War of 1812,
the United States
experienced a swell of patriotism
now known as the Era of Good Feeling.
This loyalism created a demand
for patriotic memorabilia.
In 1820, nearly 50 years
after the original signing
of the Declaration of Independence
in 1776,
new broadside copies
that were printed on one side
and designed for public
or personal display,
were produced and sold for $1 to $2.
People would nail them to the walls
in their homes, taverns,
or in common areas around town.
Very few are known
to exist today in good condition,
making this unblemished document
a rare and coveted piece of history.
There may have been 500 or 1,000 printed.
-But it's all about survival rate.
-Mm-hmm.
Not many made it to today.
My favorite thing about the Declaration
is seeing John Hancock on there.
[John] There's a story about that.
He actually signed it really big
because he really hated George III,
and he wanted to make sure George III,
who wore glasses…
-[laughs]
-…could see his signature and not miss it.
-[Scott] Hated him the most.
-I like that.
It's always exciting
to see great artifacts like this.
Welcome to Philadelphia. Take care.
-Let's take it to the cheap seats.
-Okay.
The reason I wanted you to come here is,
I'm thinking about consigning it.
What… What's the hesitation?
Well, you know, I've never seen
a Declaration of Independence
in Goldin's auction,
and we're talking Thomas Jefferson,
not Isaiah Thomas.
We've sold plenty of historical pieces,
and we have one here today
that can push you over the edge,
and show to you
that we're the right guys for the job.
-[mysterious music plays]
-[Robbie Sr.] Check this out.
Handcuffs. I don't dare try them on
unless you have the key.
-[laughs]
-No, you don't wanna do that.
-[John] I'll make a guess.
-[Robbie Jr.] Okay.
The most famous handcuffs I could think of
would be Lee Harvey Oswald.
-This guy's good.
-Exactly.
[John] I'm curious,
how was the police officer able to…
To get these?
[Robbie Jr.] Back then, police officers
had to buy their own handcuffs.
They didn't belong to the department.
If you were a police officer,
you got your own cuffs.
That's the cuffs that he had on.
It's unbelievable.
Ben Franklin said,
"By failing to prepare,
you're preparing to fail."
We came prepared today.
With these handcuffs,
I think we sealed the deal.
We definitely proved something
to John today.
What kind of number
do you think we got for those?
These have to be six figures on a bad day.
-$110,000. You're exactly right.
-[John] Fantastic.
[Robbie Jr.] If we can achieve
a number like that at Goldin,
what do you think for that Declaration?
Before we go any further,
I wanna see if we're in line
as far as how you value this.
I think this item
will do north of $20,000.
[Robbie Jr.] We want the moon
on this thing.
And that's the reason
you contacted Goldin Auctions.
I think we might be
speaking the same language.
Truth be told,
I was a bit hesitant to give them the item
until they showed me something
of great historical significance.
The fact that
the Lee Harvey Oswald handcuffs
would achieve more than six figures,
made me rethink the whole equation.
[Robbie Sr.] Mm-hmm.
My man. My man.
Deal.
Sounds good.
Man, add this one to the résumé.
The Robbies now dealing Declarations.
I'm glad we didn't have to steal it.
There are a lot of steps in this joint.
[Robbie Jr.] I knew we could
get something done here today.
["Unstoppable" by SATV Music playing]
Unstoppable… ♪
The whole world
Let's give 'em a show ♪
Unstoppable… ♪
Competition watch 'em fall
Like some dominoes… ♪
-[Fung] Ryan.
-[Ryan] Alex, what's up, brother?
-How are you?
-[Ryan] Dude, so happy you're here.
-I know it's late, but honestly--
-[Fung] It's all right.
-[Alex] You owe me dinner. [laughs]
-[Ryan] Totally. Consider it done.
I knew I had to get Alex
involved in this deal immediately.
There is nobody who knows
the Pokémon world better than Alex.
I'm hoping Alex can provide me
with one nugget of information
that puts this deal over the top
and gets it done.
The only thing that scares me a bit
is just that they're true collectors.
I wanna make sure, when I go on there,
I know everything in and out,
and that my pitch is 100%,
"This is what we have to do."
-I mean--
-[Ryan] Convincing.
-They're happy with the Illustrator?
-[Ryan] They are.
So they'll be happy with this.
-I wanna know, in terms of selling it…
-Yeah?
What do you think
is the best way to go about it?
[exhales] They might want to see
if they can get more money individually,
but you have to convince them
it has to be sold together.
Has to be sold together.
Within the Pokémon community,
having all three together
makes the most sense.
-Right.
-In Pokémon, for a high-end…
If they have one,
they want the other two to go with it.
-All together as a set?
-[Fung] Absolutely.
Okay. So I'll go all in on that.
Here's the thing
about these big-time Pokémon collectors.
If they're able to get everything together
all at once,
they could pay big money.
Nobody wants to shop around
looking for each one
when they could buy
everything together at once.
Don't forget "span style="style2"arigato"
is "thank you" in Japanese.
-[Ryan] span style="style2"Arigato. Okay.
-span style="style2"Arigato, yeah.
[Ryan] As I'm waiting
for this video conference to come on,
my heart is racing.
These three cards,
they never, ever come up for sale.
So to have these
potentially coming to Goldin now,
I know, if I nail this,
I'm gonna score
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
[ringtone]
What's up, guys? How are you?
-How are you?
-Hi.
[Ryan] Everything's great.
Chen, Billy, Shinkei-san,
it's great to see you guys.
Thanks for taking the time.
[man 1] span style="style2"We're very excited
span style="style2"about all of this.
[Ryan] I think after we just had
that huge Illustrator sale,
the highest-selling
Pokémon card of all time, $750,000,
um, I think we saw
that the Pokémon market is here to stay,
and it's continuing to grow.
And I know we've talked about it before,
um,
but the trophy set,
would you be open to letting those go?
These cards, I think they hold
a special place in Pokémon history.
Maybe perhaps the most coveted cards
within Pokémon.
We wanna get an idea of what you think
these cards would go for.
I do think these are
the most coveted cards in all of Pokémon.
So, I think the $750,000 sale
for the Illustrator was a huge sale,
no question about it.
But I really think
this could be well over $1,000,000.
[in Japanese] span style="style2"Should we sell these
span style="style2"as a set or Individually?
[man 2] span style="style2"Ryan, Shinkei wants to ask,
do you think
we should sell these as a set?
Or do you think they'll
maybe go for more individually?
To run it as one lot, as one collection,
um, is something that's never been done.
I think
it could absolutely change the market.
And for the guys we're targeting,
those super, super high net-worth guys,
they have the money to spend.
I think it's very crucial
we sell this together as one collection.
[suspenseful music playing]
[in Japanese] span style="style2"We would like to sell them
span style="style2"as a set with you.
[man 2 speaks Japanese]
[in English]
span style="style2"You made a convincing argument,
and we'd like to sell them as a set.
[Ryan] Let's go.
-[man 2] span style="style2"Yes.
-That's amazing.
Thank you so much, Ryan.
We're on board with you on this.
-[Ryan] I'll take that. I'll take that.
-[laughs] span style="style2"Yeah, I'm excited about it!
I'm excited, guys. You take care.
We'll talk soon, and span style="style2"arigato.
[Fung] I'll admit it,
being a Pokémon expert here,
I'm a little jealous, you know?
But Ryan is a G
for even getting this lead
and bringing this into Goldin.
-I'm so pumped.
-I'm glad I--
-Dinner on me? Thanks so much. Seriously.
-Yes! I appreciate it.
[Ryan] Thank you, man.
[exhales sharply]
["Gozando" by Alex Wilson
& MC Magico playing in Spanish]
-[Laura] Does he have any kids?
-I met his son.
I think I've met his daughter.
I don't know.
I think he's got three. I don't know
if the third one's a boy or a girl.
Is the son cute?
Um… I would let you decide that.
[chuckles] I wouldn't wanna judge.
-[laughs]
-We'll see.
[Ken] My hands are sweaty.
I don't know if it's from the humidity
or from dealing with a daughter
who's thinking about boys
as I'm about to go into the home
of the world's
greatest memorabilia collection.
Either way, it's do-or-die time. Let's go.
-[Laura] I'm excited.
-There it is.
["Buena Onda"
by Lee Richardson playing in Spanish]
[dog barks]
[Ken] Guard dog.
-[Jim] Hey!
-[Ken] Hello!
-[woman] Hey, guys!
-How are you doing?
-Welcome.
-Jim, good to see you!
I met Jim when I opened Goldin in 2012.
He was an important and high-value client
throughout the years,
but only as a buyer.
I'm hoping that this is an opportunity
where he'll decide to sell some items.
-Laura, let me show you around.
-Okay.
-Where are we going? Cool.
-This way.
["Check Out My Vibe"
by ADGRMS & Dexx! Turner playing]
-[Ken] This is awesome.
span style="style2"-Check out my vibe ♪
Check out my stride ♪
Watch me move
Check out my fly… ♪
[Ken] So now we know
where everything's been hiding.
We have Michael Jackson's fedora.
And, uh, you can put it on
and do a little moonwalk.
[Ken laughs]
[Jim] This is a Grammy
that was awarded to Billy Joel.
[Ken] Mm-hmm. Absolutely incredible.
I'm too straight
I don't need no fix ♪
I be up, up
Get down ♪
We so big every day
I made my rent ♪
If you come my way
You could lead… ♪
[Jim] History, history, history.
-This is…
-What is that?
-The original Celtics.
-[Ken] Mm-hmm.
[Jim] This team was formed in 1920.
-This jersey is over 100 years old.
-[Ken] Crazy.
Before Wilt Chamberlain went to the NBA,
he played a year
with the Harlem Globetrotters.
This is one of the only known
Harlem Globetrotters uniform
of Wilt Chamberlain.
For me, it's priceless.
-Moving on to the next piece.
-Sure.
Who do we start with
in modern-day basketball?
-[Ken] Gotta be Michael Jordan.
-Michael Jordan.
But it's never seen the light of day.
This is his first NBA red jersey
that he wore in his career.
[Ken] How do you know?
-[Jim] It's photo-matched.
-[Ken] It's photo-matched?
Wow. I mean, to me,
I'm holding the single
most valuable piece
of basketball memorabilia in the world.
-This is what I wanna be flying home with.
-[laughs] Well, we'll talk about that.
-But this is-- [chuckles]
-I'm not letting go. [laughs]
[Ken] This has been amazing.
Out of all these,
are there items you're thinking,
"I might consider
this type of stuff for consignment"?
Kobe Bryant, uh, 2008 Olympic
photo-matched, uh, jersey.
-Jim, that's a great start. [laughs]
-[Jim] This is a great, great piece.
No Kobe Bryant Olympic jersey
has ever hit the market before.
This, I need to come home with me.
I'll take this to my hope rack.
Okay.
This is going to be the biggest haul
in the history of my industry.
This came directly from Clyde Drexler.
-Wow.
-This is his Dream Team home uniform.
This is what
I came down to Puerto Rico for.
This is why I got the private jet.
This is Wilt Chamberlain's college jersey,
from Kansas.
[Ken] Amazing.
And this is why I am Ken Goldin.
My competitors are gonna be so jealous.
A Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's All-Star uniform.
[Ken] Mm-hmm.
Hold onto your pants, Ken. Julius Erving.
This is one of the guys
I worshiped growing up.
Dr. J. and Moses Malone.
They were my guys.
Twenty, twenty-one,
twenty-two, twenty-three.
-[Jim] James Harden's first jersey.
-[Ken] How do you have time to work?
All you've been doing
is buying memorabilia.
I don't know how you've had time
to build your empire. [laughs]
-I'm a hard worker.
-[laughs]
[rap music playing]
I'm a real star, baby
And I call my own digits ♪
Got my own entourage
You're maybe coming with it ♪
-Do you wanna be a champion? ♪
-Yeah ♪
I think I'm built to be a champion ♪
-Hi, Mr. Flair, how are you?
-[Ric] Hello. How are you?
-I'm Myesha. So nice to meet you.
-Very nice to meet you.
This is so exciting.
I grew up watching you my whole life.
-Me and my dad. [laughs]
-Thank you very much. Excited to be back.
-I'll show you this way to Dave.
-Thank you.
-Of course.
-Thank you very much.
Hey, Dave! Wooo!
-Nature Boy's back in the house, man!
-Wooo!
-Wooo!
-[coworkers] Wooo!
That's all I get?
Wooo!
[all] Wooo!
All right, pick it up a bit. Come on.
What's up, Ric, how are you?
You got one of my great robes here,
I heard, huh?
We do, we do.
Which one of my ex-wives
brought in a stolen robe, huh?
-[Dave] We'll figure that one out.
-How are you?
[Dave] Good.
Ric Flair is the king of charisma.
One of the most over-the-top personalities
in all of entertainment.
In 1972 Ric Flair
made his professional wrestling debut
with the American Wrestling Association,
and later became a WWE Champion
a staggering 16 times.
Flair talked a ton of trash,
he wore expensive clothes and jewelry,
and he even had
one of the best catchphrases.
When I come into any office,
I own it. Wooo!
If anyone can identify it,
I figured you could.
-Oh man! I actually sold this one myself.
-There it is.
-Okay, so this one--
-[Ric] That's a shocker.
When you have an item
that had once belonged to a celebrity,
having a really solid line of provenance
always increases the value of an item.
Provenance is a history
of an item's origin.
You can use that
for authenticating that item.
It's always better to get
a third-party authentication
from the man himself, who made it famous.
Luckily for us, Ric is always willing
to come down and verify his items for us.
[Ric] This is one of
the last ones Olivia made for me.
This right here says it all.
-The label, Olivia Walker.
-[Dave] Okay.
Olivia Original. She was
the greatest seamstress I've ever met.
-[Dave] You also signed this one.
-[Ric] I did.
[Dave] "To be the man,
you've gotta beat the man!"
To be the man, you gotta beat the man.
That's still the story.
[Alex] span style="style2"In 1905,
George Hackenschmidt was
the first known wrestler to don a robe.
Thirty years later,
a flamboyant heavyweight
known as Gorgeous George
took robes to a new level,
but Ric Flair, in the 1970s,
took wrestling robes
to a different stratosphere.
Incorporating rhinestones, capes,
and, yes, even feathers.
The person who made those robes happen,
Olivia Walker, his most trusted seamstress
and close personal friend.
Nowadays, entering the ring
without a robe would be a party foul.
And this is one of
the greatest robes ever made.
Worn by the King of the Ring.
These were all made, like, right up…
I think she quit making them
in the mid-'90s.
So she put so much
heart and effort into these.
You know, she made stuff
for Glen Campbell, Dolly Parton…
All the rhinestone cowboys.
[Dave] Did she make
other wrestlers' robes, or just for you?
Yeah, she made Orndorff, Greg Valentine…
I tried to keep her busy.
Every time somebody bought a nice robe,
I paid more to have mine nicer. [laughs]
[laughs] You got to, right?
You gotta be
the sharpest-dressed guy out there.
Yeah. I had one made
for almost every big event,
and I had 38 altogether made,
at an average price,
back then, of about $15,000, so--
Okay, so these, right out of the gate,
had a big retail price.
Yeah. The blue one she made me
that I wore at Starrcade,
I've tried to buy it back for $150,000.
-The guy won't sell it.
-And he won't sell it?
-Mm-mm.
-[Dave] Wow.
You can't imagine how many women
have worn these over the years.
[laughs] Oh no, I… I can imagine, man.
You had the long blond, tanned up.
-Yeah, I had it all, brother.
-I'm a wrestling fan.
I actually started wrestling
in third grade.
When you and Sting had those matches,
and I jumped off of the top rope one time,
hurt my foot,
and was like, "This ain't for me, man."
[laughs]
If you're trying
to get some of these robes back,
they come to auction here occasionally.
So this one will be up for sale.
You'll have a chance to bid.
I'll be one of the big bidders.
Let me know when.
-Good seeing you.
-All right. It should be in soon. [laughs]
Wooo!
[upbeat music playing]
I think this is it, dude.
-[Fung] Oh my gosh.
-I think this is it.
-[Fung] Let's go.
-Are you ready?
Alex's advice and knowledge on this deal,
that tidbit of information from Alex
ended up being huge for me.
And I definitely owe him a drink.
To be here right now,
and be experiencing this is incredible.
-All right, dude, here we go.
-Come on.
[Ryan] No peeking, though.
To actually see them in person…
-Oh my God, dude.
-[Fung] Oh my God. Getting goosebumps.
[Ryan] Oh, in all its glory. Oh my God.
[Fung] As soon as we open them,
I immediately wanna take one of them
and put it in my pocket…
-[Ryan] That design is sick.
-[Fung] Right?
…and run away.
He's just so fat there.
He's fat here, too,
but he's just so chunky.
-[Ryan] Fat? Is that what you mean?
-They love him.
They like a fat, chunky Pikachu.
-The fatter, the better.
-[Ryan] I didn't know that was a thing.
The fatter the Pokémon,
the cuter the Pokémon, you know?
And then it being span style="style2"chibi,
like a baby version of the Pokémon,
is just so cute and adorable.
I mean, the chunkier, the better,
that's my motto. [laughs]
Seriously, I appreciate all your help.
It's a team effort. I appreciate it.
So let's get these in the safe.
Let's wrap these up.
Might never see 'em again.
-I appreciate your help.
-Thank you.
Thank you again. Awesome.
-[Alex] Mr. Flair, so good to have you!
-Thank you. Honored.
The Nature Boy!
Okay, so this robe is expected
to get like $20,000 at auction.
I'll spend $20,000
to take you to dinner tonight.
-[sensual music plays]
-[laughs] Wooo!
Today, I'm interviewing Ric Flair.
A lot of people came to me saying,
"Beware, he's a bit of a flirt,
a womanizer."
You know what? I got it.
-I have four ex-wives, let's do something.
-[laughs]
-Wooo!
-Wooo!
-Wooo!
-Wooo!
-Is that patented?
-Yeah, pretty much.
Wait, so you own "Wooo"? You're a genius.
-I have a smart lawyer.
-Thank you for coming.
Honestly, an honor to have you
here at Goldin Auctions.
704…
-[Alex] 7-- [laughs]
-999…
All right, guys.
-Nature Boy's out of here.
-Ric!
-[laughing] Dave, all right.
-Good to see you, man.
[Ric] Oh man, keel yourself.
[coworkers laughing]
-[laughs] Come on.
-Come on.
Come on, Jesus. Come on, man.
Dave, that spandex can make you
or break you.
-[all laughing]
-[Ric] Right, girls?
-[Dave laughs] "Right, girls?"
-[Ric] For sure.
-Wooo! [laughs]
-[laughing]
["Oye" by Reina Williams playing]
-[Jim] After you.
-[Ken] Thank you, Jim.
It's a beautiful view.
Yeah, we love this view.
[Ken] This is almost as pretty
as your collection.
[Jim laughs]
-Hey, guys. Sorry to interrupt.
-[Ken] Hello.
-[Laura] Miss us?
-[Jim] Thanks so much.
-[Ken] Yes, Laura.
-Coffee.
-[Laura] I know you did.
-You look very serious.
[all laugh]
-Thanks so much.
-I'll lighten it up a bit.
-Thank you.
-Ken, I love your daughter.
She's so amazing.
That makes one of you guys.
[all laugh]
-Such a wonderful addition.
-Thank you so much.
It really reminds me of my daughters.
Oh my God!
Whatever spell you cast, God bless you.
I always pull through.
I can't… I can't help it.
I just… I just get things done.
Have fun, guys.
-Thank you.
-Thank you.
So, where were we?
You brought your daughter.
For me, family is very important.
And the fact you brought her
is very meaningful.
I… I appreciate that.
I would love
not only to be able to build
a relationship with you as a customer,
but build a relationship with you
as a consignor and as a friend.
[Jim] Yeah, well, I appreciate the words,
but it's very hard on a personal level
to really break my collection down
and start selling.
-I've never sold before.
-Okay, I understand.
One thing you have to realize is
you'll still have
the greatest collection in the world,
but what you're also going to do
is allow other people to experience
what you've experienced
over the past 40 years.
Any one of those pieces
is going to be the cornerstone,
the centerpiece, the Holy Grail
of whoever is buying it.
You want to be able to sell these things
in good economic times,
when the market is hot.
So let's talk, uh, numbers.
Where are we with this?
I mean, I think with what we've set aside,
it could be anywhere
from 20 to 40 million dollars
worth of stuff.
Obviously, we need to do
some additional research,
some additional photo-matching, um--
What sort of financial guarantees, uh,
would I have?
[tense music plays]
When people consign a collection,
oftentimes they want a cash advance
so they can start spending the money
they're eventually gonna get
immediately, without waiting.
If we ever go that route,
we're laying out a lot of money
before we actually sell a product.
It's just a bad situation.
If you're looking
for some sort of commitment
in terms of an advance or something,
we'd be able to work out
a reasonable advance
with you on the product.
Okay. Like?
Um…
We'd probably be able
to give a $5,000,000 advance.
Uh, I don't think that's gonna cut it.
If we're talking about a value range
of 25 to 40 million,
I would anticipate at least a 50% advance.
[Ken] Let's say I met you at 50%.
I am willing
to wire you today $10,000,000.
That's why I invited you to my house
because I have a lot of faith in you.
I think you can maximize the value.
And that's why I think Goldin Auctions
could do an advance of $15,000,000.
[laughing]
[tense music intensifies]
["Light It Up" by Wizardz of Oz playing]
You're a fast-talkin' fireball
Catwalk know-it-all ♪
-Burning everybody blind ♪
-Light it up ♪
You're an ice queen
Stone-cold, solar-storming super freak ♪
Melting everybody's minds ♪
Light it up, light it up ♪
Like a shooting star
Like a firework ♪
Just light it up
Light it up ♪
Never burned so hot
Never done that spark ♪
-So light it up ♪
span style="style1"-[female vocalizing]
Light it up ♪