Pawn Stars s03e18 Episode Script
The Eagle Has Landed
On this episode of Pawn Stars I came up here to try to sell my dragster.
What's the top speed on this thing? You can bet I'm gonna take it for a test -drive.
It'll be all right, Uncle Ricky.
* It's howdy doody time * * it's howdy doody time * howdy doody was the first kids' tv show.
I would have given my right arm to be in that peanut gallery.
Hey, can I help you? I've got four Japanese land mines.
So we're all clear, there's no explosives.
They are real.
I'm Rick Harrison, and this is my pawn shop.
I work here with my old man and my son, big hoss.
Everything in here has a story and a price.
One thing I've learned after 21 years, you never know what is gonna come through that door.
Guys ready for this? Yeah.
Holy [Bleep.]
.
[Laughs.]
That thing looks fast.
Oh, you think you can drive this thing, chum? Hell, yeah.
All we got to do is grease you up.
We'll just stuff you in there.
Today I came up here to the pawn shop to try to sell my dragster.
They closed down the drag strip in the high desert, so I'd like to see someone get the car that could use it all the time.
And I'd like to get 30 grand for the dragster and trailer.
So let's wheel this thing out and take a look at it.
All right, let's do it.
Drag racing became popular in the 1940s with gis returning from world war ii.
But those cars were just street cars souped up for racing.
Now we have cars built just for racing, This thing would have to be built around you, chum.
[Laughs.]
Yeah.
What do you think? That thing is [Bleep.]
Nasty, dude.
Looks fast.
Very fast.
What's the top speed on this thing so far? Where did you get this thing? I traded a blown alcohol car that was just way too fast.
Okay.
It was kind of scary.
So 190 miles an hour isn't too fast? No.
[Laughs.]
Anyway, it's got nascar heads on it, small-block Chevy.
It's all computerized.
This is a amirez frame.
This is a $10,000 mark Williams rear end.
Got the best of everything in it.
It's beautiful.
How much you selling this thing for? Well, the dragster cost $60,000 to build.
I'd like to get $30,000 or best offer on the dragster and trailer.
While there might not be a huge market out there for dragsters, the people who do collect them are willing to spend a lot of money.
Listen, I don't know enough about this to even make you an offer on it.
I got a buddy who knows all about these things.
We can run it up to the strip at Las Vegas motor speedway and have him take a look at it before we even start talking numbers.
We can do that.
You can run it down the track if you want.
Load it up, guys.
I'm going inside.
Hey, can I help you? Yes, I've got an item I'd like to show you today.
I've got a world war ii, 1945, U.
S.
Japanese land mine training set, four Japanese land mines.
All right.
That's definitely different.
I came to the pawn shop because I have a world war ii Japanese land mine training set that I found after my father passed away.
I want to sell it because it's just taking up space in the garage.
I think it's worth probably $2,000 to $3,000, and I'd like to get about $2,500 for it.
The first time I saw this, I was a little kid.
Dad took it down out of the garage and said, "I want to show you something interesting.
" He said, "but you can't ever speak of it, and you can never touch it.
" And he opened it up and said, "these are land mines, and they are real.
" So all my life, I grew up thinking, "dad has land mines in the attic of the garage," so I didn't speak about it.
So you just got up there and tried to get rid of them.
You didn't call the bomb squad or nothing? Well, we weren't exactly sure what we had.
I got my cousin's help, who had done bomb disposal.
So we're all clear, there's no explosives in here, right? Absolutely no explosives.
All right.
Okay, well, it's easy to tell.
All you got to do is open them up.
There'd be see, there's nothing inside it.
Besides, you need detonators for them.
Well, you may be a land mine expert.
I'm not.
Over 300 million land mines were used during world war ii.
That's why the U.
S.
military created training kits like these.
They would help a soldier learn how to identify, defuse, or destroy Japanese mines.
It's got the original manual with it.
It's got a picture inside here to identify what they are.
You've got a yardstick mine.
You've got an antitank mine and this big one Type 97.
Type 97.
And then you've got a magnetic mine.
This one has four magnets on it.
This one always had me the most worried, because there was detonators on the top of it.
But after we looked closer, I found out it's just a block of wood inside.
Okay.
Some of these versions had Japanese grenades in them.
The few sets I have been able to find like this don't show them in them either, so I don't know if they're missing.
So what did you want to do with it? Did you want to pawn it or sell it or I think we'd like to sell it.
I want to know if it's complete.
That's the whole problem here.
These training mines look amazing, and they're the kind of thing that collectors will go nuts for.
But even though I'm pretty sure they're rare, I just don't know how rare.
I got a friend.
He's the curator of the Clark county museum.
Let me get him down here.
Let me have him take a look at this stuff.
Okay.
Sounds fair.
All right, thanks.
Thank you.
What do you got here, son? Well, I got a bike that's dated from 1883.
I don't know.
There might be a few hipsters interested in this thing.
What in the hell's a hipster, chumlee? Dressed, tight pants, and they wear vests over their shirts, and they have the little comb-over and do this.
You know, a hipster.
Oh, a hipster, okay.
Speak more clearly.
[Horn honks.]
I've decided to come to the pawn shop today to sell my high-wheel bicycle.
I got this I actually do a I have a business that I clean houses, so it was abandoned by a former owner, and we were able to take it from the property.
And hopefully we can make a deal on it.
It says it's from 1883 on the plate here.
I believe some of the parts are obviously original.
I measured it.
It's a 48-inch wheel.
I know others do go higher, but I don't know how they decided that.
The size of the wheel s probably determined by the height of the person who was gonna ride it, and the bigger the wheel, the faster you could go.
And actually, they were built, one thing, for speed.
You could go pretty fast on one of these damn things.
Of course, you'd kill yourself at the same time.
The first pedal bicycles was made in France in the 1860s.
They didn't have no brakes, and you sit up high on 'em.
Sounds like a good way to break your neck.
So what do you want to do with this, son? I'd like to sell it.
And what are you trying to get out of it? I've seen some are roughly between $900 to $1,500, so somewhere in there would be nice.
It's not from the 1800s.
I can tell you that by just looking at it.
This frame thing is built with a tube bender, which they didn't have back then.
This looks like it's off of a modern bike.
The pedals could be anywhere from the '30s to the '70s.
I'll be honest with you, son.
The most I'd pay for something like this would be about $150.
Okay.
If it was an original one, it'd be worth a lot of money.
Well, I'll probably I'll pass on that, but maybe I'll fix it up myself a little bit.
Well, I appreciate you bringing it in.
Learn to ride it.
You might have some fun with it.
All right.
I'll do that.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for dropping by.
Thank you.
If this thing was a genuine 18th -century bike, you could sell it to a collector in almost any condition, but there's not much of a market for a remake of an old bike.
Hey, you guys.
I need to I need to get some business cards with my name on them.
[Laughs.]
What are you laughing at? No, I don't think so, chum.
I really don't want you representing the pawn shop with, like, business cards and stuff.
Come on, man.
I need to build up my clientele.
If you had a business card, you'd have a title.
He does have a title, Rick: Village idiot.
Chum, get back to work.
You too, Corey.
At least think about it.
Get him some business cards.
Don't put a title on them, business cards that say "chumlee.
" With only 600 having been made, they are not by any means common.
Is it all here? Almost.
Is this thing safe to drive? This is kind of an old -school front end.
The engine could blow halfway down the strip.
We just don't know.
All right, Rick, go for it.
[Tires squealing.]
Here's your business cards, Mr.
Lee.
Yeah! Thanks, big hoss.
You spelled my [Bleep.]
Name wrong.
Oh, I'm sorry, dude.
You did it on purpose.
I can tell by the look on your face.
Corey.
He spelled my name wrong.
This ain't fair.
Look.
So what's the problem? He put a space in it.
It's one word.
It's not that big of a deal.
It's chum Lee.
Now I look like a jackass when I'm trying to flirt.
The only reason you got cards is, you want to pick up chicks? So? Oh, God.
You know what? I actually like being called Mr.
Lee.
Earlier, a guy brought in a set of training mines from world war ii.
I don't know if the set is complete, and I don't know if they're rare.
So I called down my buddy mark to take a look.
Hey, mark, how's it going? Hey, how are you doing? I'm the administrator of the Clark county museum system.
I started working in Clark county in 1993, so I've been here 17 years.
What have we got here? Brought in a 1945 world war ii Yeah, the set number two.
Japanese land mine training set.
Very nice.
So how did you end up with a Japanese mine training kit? Well, my father retired after He passed away.
I found this case up in the attic.
It's not a good idea to have land mines in the attic.
So what's worse, land mines in the attic or skeletons in the closet? I think land mines in the attic.
They do a lot more damage.
Not necessarily.
That's true.
That's true.
Okay, so what you have in the set are the four main mines that you'd run into if you were going to be invading a Japanese-held area.
The yardstick mine is used for blowing holes through fences, for blowing holes through barriers, that sort of thing.
The type 93, this is an antipersonnel mine.
That is one that, if you step on this, it goes off.
The ceramic land mine, the real problem with that one is, you couldn't pick it up with a mine detector, rather than a metal like this one.
And then magnetic mine, you could adhere that to the side of a vehicle.
It would direct the blast where you wanted it to go.
Is it all here? See what we've got here.
You had four fuses.
That was normal.
You had this fuse.
You've got the manual with it.
The only thing that's missing is the grenade.
It's nearly a complete set here with the exception of the grenade.
With only 600 having been made, you know, you don't see a lot of these sets.
They are not by any means common.
Thanks, mark.
Thank you.
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Good to see you.
Good to see you, Corey.
There's not any way I can talk you into giving me a price for it, can I? No, you can't.
I don't do prices.
Thank you very much.
It was nice to meet you.
Have fun, now.
All right, so the big question is, what do you want for it? I'd like to have $2,500 for it.
What do you really want for it? I'd take $2,000 today.
It's a specialty, specialty, specialty item.
I'll give you 800 bucks.
How about $1,800? I will give you 800 bucks, and it is a shot in the dark.
These mines are incredible, and they're the kind of thing that collectors will go nuts for.
But I have no idea how long I'm gonna sit on them.
Okay.
$800 it is.
All right, 800 bucks.
All right, thank you.
Appreciate it, man.
Thank you.
Well, I'd hoped to get a little more out of it, but I think $800 was a fair price.
I don't have to take it back home with me.
Now maybe it'll have a new home and somebody can enjoy it and appreciate it for what it is.
How you doing? You need to buy something, let me know.
Chum Lee's the name.
I'd love to sell you a diamond.
Name's Mr.
Lee.
Let me know if you need to buy something.
Name's Mr.
Lee.
Earlier, a guy brought in a dragster from the '70s.
The problem is, I have no idea what it's worth or if it's safe, so I'm bringing it over to Las Vegas motor speedway to have my buddy mark check it out, and if everything's cool, I might just drive this thing.
Hey, guys.
How you doing? Good to see you, man.
How are you? I'm president of Nevada classics and shelby cars northwest.
I'm an expert in classic and performance cars as well as drag racing.
So this is the beast, huh? That is the beast.
I've never had one of these things before, so I don't know anything about it.
This is a super comp dragster.
This particular car has got looks like a small-block gm v-8.
This car would probably run a 8.
5, 8.
6 elapsed time.
That's the amount of time it takes from a standing start to get to the end of that 1/4 mile.
Yeah, that's pretty fast.
Unlike indycar and nascar, drag racing is limited to 1/4 mile.
It's four, five, six, seven seconds or more of very intense, extreme speed, and it happens really quick.
Is the car up-to-date? It's gonna need some work.
It's gonna need quite a bit of work.
So the engine has been rebuilt recently.
Yes.
And is everything in certification? The frame needs recertified.
How about the flexplate? The flexplate needs recertified also.
Rick, this is kind of an old-school-style front end.
We don't use the wishbones anymore.
If you look at the roll cage, these have been added, these helmet pads on either side, the supports, but there's also supposed to be a support down here that I can't see, and it's supposed to connect the rest of this roll cage down to the base, and I don't see any evidence of that on this one.
So how much would it cost me to get it all up to cert and everything else so it's raceable? You're probably looking at somewhere between $5,000 and $7,000 to bring it back up to specs.
That much, huh? But for a guy that is looking for a weekend toy, it's really not a bad little car.
Once you drive this, you're gonna realize it's worth every dollar.
We'll see.
Now I know this car needs a lot of work.
$5,000 to $7,000 is a lot of money, and it could have eaten away my entire profit margin.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still very interested, but the price has to be right.
What I really want to do is, I want to ride it.
I think that can be arranged.
Is this thing safe to drive? Dragsters, generally speaking, are a lot more dangerous to drive than your average street car, but this one should as long as you keep it pointed in a straight line, you're gonna be fine.
Well, let's go take this thing to the track.
We've looked the vehicle over pretty carefully, and it appears to be solid.
I don't think there's gonna be any problem, but you really never know.
Earlier, a guy brought in a dragster.
My buddy mark says it needs some work, but overall, it's in pretty good shape.
So now that I've kicked the tires, you can bet I'm gonna take it for a test-drive.
Well, after I drive this thing, we'll talk money.
I just want to experience it and make sure it works.
Rick, in case anything happens, we got the fire truck over here, and we got an ambulance for you, so So if your heart stops, they can get it going again.
Okay.
This is the fun part of my job.
I just hope I make it out alive, because there's no way Corey and chum could run the shop.
[Laughs.]
Quick, hey, just verbally agree that I get your share of the pawn shop if anything happens.
Yeah, whatever.
I heard it.
You heard it.
Watch your head when you come back.
Stretch your legs out.
Yeah.
You're in there.
Nod up and down if you're scared.
It's gonna be all right, Uncle Ricky.
All right, Rick, you ready? I'm gonna flip the switches.
Aim it straight and go for it.
It's all you.
[Engine revs.]
[Engine roars.]
[All cheering.]
That was awesome.
Now I know how astronauts feel when they get launched into space.
Was that fun or scary? A little bit of both.
[Laughs.]
So much were you looking to get out of it? Well, I'd like to get $25,000 for the car and the trailer.
There's just too much that needs to be done for me to even come near that.
You're not even gonna like my offer.
What would be your best offer? I'd go, like, $6,000 for the car and, like, $5,000 for the trailer.
No, I couldn't do that.
It needs a lot of stuff.
It needs to be inspected.
It's got an antique front end.
It's just not there.
The cheapest you can get the engine built is, like, $30,000.
The mark Williams rear end cost $10,000.
That ain't counting nothing else.
The best I could do is, I'd like to get at least $18,000 for the car and the trailer.
I'll tell you what.
I'll go $12,000.
God, that's just giving it away.
$16,000 I could do $16,000 for the car and the trailer.
That's giving it away.
I just can't do it.
All right, well, did you have fun? I had fun anyway, man.
Thanks a lot.
I thought after he drove it, he'd see the potential in the dragster, and I'm really disappointed we couldn't make a deal, but that's the way it goes.
How you doing today, young lady? I'm good.
How are you? What have we got here? I brought something in to show you today.
I got it from my grandmother.
She got it from the store as an advertisement.
I wonder what kind of deal they signed to sell wonder bread.
I have no idea, son.
Yee -ha! I decided to come to the pawn shop today to try to sell my howdy doody wonder bread advertisement.
I think it's worth probably about $350, and I figure I'll take about $150 for it.
Howdy doody, this is probably from the late '50s, maybe '55, pretty good shape.
Tore a little bit up here when they pulled it down.
You remember the old howdy doody song? I remember part of it; It went à It's howdy doody time à à it's howdy doody time à and that's all I know.
Howdy doody was a kids' show that started in the late '40s.
It featured a puppet, a cowboy, and a clown.
Sounds just like some of the characters I work with.
Howdy doody was a real thing? It wasn't just, like, an insult? Howdy doody was the first kids' tv show.
You know, you gspongebob and all that crap now.
Every kid in the world watched him on Saturday morning.
People forget that howdy doody was a groundbreaking show.
It had a peanut gallery where the kids could sing along and stuff.
I would have given my right arm to be in that peanut gallery.
So are you wanting to do with it, young lady? You want to sell it or pawn it? I'd like to sell it.
And how much are you trying to get out of it? I'd like to get $500 for it.
No.
It might go at $500 in an auction situation or something like that.
When we buy stuff, we have to make a profit on it.
Can you make me an offer? I'll be honest with you.
I'd like to be in at about $125.
Can you do $150? I can do $100.
Can you do $150? I can do $100.
Can you do $150, please? Corey, what do you think? This is all you.
I don't want to take any blame for this.
I don't know anything about this.
Oh, shut up.
Yeah, I guess I can go up to that.
We got a deal, young lady.
Sounds good.
Thank you very much.
Looks like a cardboard cutout to me.
Thanks again.
I sold it for $150.
It was just sitting in the drawer taking up space, so I made a good deal.
Rick, I need some more business cards.
I only got three left.
I bought you a whole box of them the other day.
I used them all.
Used them all doing what? Handing them out to potential customers when I see them walk through the door.
No.
But I only got three left.
You're not getting any more.
Great.
You know what? I like being called Mr.
Lee.
Chum Lee.
What's the top speed on this thing? You can bet I'm gonna take it for a test -drive.
It'll be all right, Uncle Ricky.
* It's howdy doody time * * it's howdy doody time * howdy doody was the first kids' tv show.
I would have given my right arm to be in that peanut gallery.
Hey, can I help you? I've got four Japanese land mines.
So we're all clear, there's no explosives.
They are real.
I'm Rick Harrison, and this is my pawn shop.
I work here with my old man and my son, big hoss.
Everything in here has a story and a price.
One thing I've learned after 21 years, you never know what is gonna come through that door.
Guys ready for this? Yeah.
Holy [Bleep.]
.
[Laughs.]
That thing looks fast.
Oh, you think you can drive this thing, chum? Hell, yeah.
All we got to do is grease you up.
We'll just stuff you in there.
Today I came up here to the pawn shop to try to sell my dragster.
They closed down the drag strip in the high desert, so I'd like to see someone get the car that could use it all the time.
And I'd like to get 30 grand for the dragster and trailer.
So let's wheel this thing out and take a look at it.
All right, let's do it.
Drag racing became popular in the 1940s with gis returning from world war ii.
But those cars were just street cars souped up for racing.
Now we have cars built just for racing, This thing would have to be built around you, chum.
[Laughs.]
Yeah.
What do you think? That thing is [Bleep.]
Nasty, dude.
Looks fast.
Very fast.
What's the top speed on this thing so far? Where did you get this thing? I traded a blown alcohol car that was just way too fast.
Okay.
It was kind of scary.
So 190 miles an hour isn't too fast? No.
[Laughs.]
Anyway, it's got nascar heads on it, small-block Chevy.
It's all computerized.
This is a amirez frame.
This is a $10,000 mark Williams rear end.
Got the best of everything in it.
It's beautiful.
How much you selling this thing for? Well, the dragster cost $60,000 to build.
I'd like to get $30,000 or best offer on the dragster and trailer.
While there might not be a huge market out there for dragsters, the people who do collect them are willing to spend a lot of money.
Listen, I don't know enough about this to even make you an offer on it.
I got a buddy who knows all about these things.
We can run it up to the strip at Las Vegas motor speedway and have him take a look at it before we even start talking numbers.
We can do that.
You can run it down the track if you want.
Load it up, guys.
I'm going inside.
Hey, can I help you? Yes, I've got an item I'd like to show you today.
I've got a world war ii, 1945, U.
S.
Japanese land mine training set, four Japanese land mines.
All right.
That's definitely different.
I came to the pawn shop because I have a world war ii Japanese land mine training set that I found after my father passed away.
I want to sell it because it's just taking up space in the garage.
I think it's worth probably $2,000 to $3,000, and I'd like to get about $2,500 for it.
The first time I saw this, I was a little kid.
Dad took it down out of the garage and said, "I want to show you something interesting.
" He said, "but you can't ever speak of it, and you can never touch it.
" And he opened it up and said, "these are land mines, and they are real.
" So all my life, I grew up thinking, "dad has land mines in the attic of the garage," so I didn't speak about it.
So you just got up there and tried to get rid of them.
You didn't call the bomb squad or nothing? Well, we weren't exactly sure what we had.
I got my cousin's help, who had done bomb disposal.
So we're all clear, there's no explosives in here, right? Absolutely no explosives.
All right.
Okay, well, it's easy to tell.
All you got to do is open them up.
There'd be see, there's nothing inside it.
Besides, you need detonators for them.
Well, you may be a land mine expert.
I'm not.
Over 300 million land mines were used during world war ii.
That's why the U.
S.
military created training kits like these.
They would help a soldier learn how to identify, defuse, or destroy Japanese mines.
It's got the original manual with it.
It's got a picture inside here to identify what they are.
You've got a yardstick mine.
You've got an antitank mine and this big one Type 97.
Type 97.
And then you've got a magnetic mine.
This one has four magnets on it.
This one always had me the most worried, because there was detonators on the top of it.
But after we looked closer, I found out it's just a block of wood inside.
Okay.
Some of these versions had Japanese grenades in them.
The few sets I have been able to find like this don't show them in them either, so I don't know if they're missing.
So what did you want to do with it? Did you want to pawn it or sell it or I think we'd like to sell it.
I want to know if it's complete.
That's the whole problem here.
These training mines look amazing, and they're the kind of thing that collectors will go nuts for.
But even though I'm pretty sure they're rare, I just don't know how rare.
I got a friend.
He's the curator of the Clark county museum.
Let me get him down here.
Let me have him take a look at this stuff.
Okay.
Sounds fair.
All right, thanks.
Thank you.
What do you got here, son? Well, I got a bike that's dated from 1883.
I don't know.
There might be a few hipsters interested in this thing.
What in the hell's a hipster, chumlee? Dressed, tight pants, and they wear vests over their shirts, and they have the little comb-over and do this.
You know, a hipster.
Oh, a hipster, okay.
Speak more clearly.
[Horn honks.]
I've decided to come to the pawn shop today to sell my high-wheel bicycle.
I got this I actually do a I have a business that I clean houses, so it was abandoned by a former owner, and we were able to take it from the property.
And hopefully we can make a deal on it.
It says it's from 1883 on the plate here.
I believe some of the parts are obviously original.
I measured it.
It's a 48-inch wheel.
I know others do go higher, but I don't know how they decided that.
The size of the wheel s probably determined by the height of the person who was gonna ride it, and the bigger the wheel, the faster you could go.
And actually, they were built, one thing, for speed.
You could go pretty fast on one of these damn things.
Of course, you'd kill yourself at the same time.
The first pedal bicycles was made in France in the 1860s.
They didn't have no brakes, and you sit up high on 'em.
Sounds like a good way to break your neck.
So what do you want to do with this, son? I'd like to sell it.
And what are you trying to get out of it? I've seen some are roughly between $900 to $1,500, so somewhere in there would be nice.
It's not from the 1800s.
I can tell you that by just looking at it.
This frame thing is built with a tube bender, which they didn't have back then.
This looks like it's off of a modern bike.
The pedals could be anywhere from the '30s to the '70s.
I'll be honest with you, son.
The most I'd pay for something like this would be about $150.
Okay.
If it was an original one, it'd be worth a lot of money.
Well, I'll probably I'll pass on that, but maybe I'll fix it up myself a little bit.
Well, I appreciate you bringing it in.
Learn to ride it.
You might have some fun with it.
All right.
I'll do that.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for dropping by.
Thank you.
If this thing was a genuine 18th -century bike, you could sell it to a collector in almost any condition, but there's not much of a market for a remake of an old bike.
Hey, you guys.
I need to I need to get some business cards with my name on them.
[Laughs.]
What are you laughing at? No, I don't think so, chum.
I really don't want you representing the pawn shop with, like, business cards and stuff.
Come on, man.
I need to build up my clientele.
If you had a business card, you'd have a title.
He does have a title, Rick: Village idiot.
Chum, get back to work.
You too, Corey.
At least think about it.
Get him some business cards.
Don't put a title on them, business cards that say "chumlee.
" With only 600 having been made, they are not by any means common.
Is it all here? Almost.
Is this thing safe to drive? This is kind of an old -school front end.
The engine could blow halfway down the strip.
We just don't know.
All right, Rick, go for it.
[Tires squealing.]
Here's your business cards, Mr.
Lee.
Yeah! Thanks, big hoss.
You spelled my [Bleep.]
Name wrong.
Oh, I'm sorry, dude.
You did it on purpose.
I can tell by the look on your face.
Corey.
He spelled my name wrong.
This ain't fair.
Look.
So what's the problem? He put a space in it.
It's one word.
It's not that big of a deal.
It's chum Lee.
Now I look like a jackass when I'm trying to flirt.
The only reason you got cards is, you want to pick up chicks? So? Oh, God.
You know what? I actually like being called Mr.
Lee.
Earlier, a guy brought in a set of training mines from world war ii.
I don't know if the set is complete, and I don't know if they're rare.
So I called down my buddy mark to take a look.
Hey, mark, how's it going? Hey, how are you doing? I'm the administrator of the Clark county museum system.
I started working in Clark county in 1993, so I've been here 17 years.
What have we got here? Brought in a 1945 world war ii Yeah, the set number two.
Japanese land mine training set.
Very nice.
So how did you end up with a Japanese mine training kit? Well, my father retired after He passed away.
I found this case up in the attic.
It's not a good idea to have land mines in the attic.
So what's worse, land mines in the attic or skeletons in the closet? I think land mines in the attic.
They do a lot more damage.
Not necessarily.
That's true.
That's true.
Okay, so what you have in the set are the four main mines that you'd run into if you were going to be invading a Japanese-held area.
The yardstick mine is used for blowing holes through fences, for blowing holes through barriers, that sort of thing.
The type 93, this is an antipersonnel mine.
That is one that, if you step on this, it goes off.
The ceramic land mine, the real problem with that one is, you couldn't pick it up with a mine detector, rather than a metal like this one.
And then magnetic mine, you could adhere that to the side of a vehicle.
It would direct the blast where you wanted it to go.
Is it all here? See what we've got here.
You had four fuses.
That was normal.
You had this fuse.
You've got the manual with it.
The only thing that's missing is the grenade.
It's nearly a complete set here with the exception of the grenade.
With only 600 having been made, you know, you don't see a lot of these sets.
They are not by any means common.
Thanks, mark.
Thank you.
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Good to see you.
Good to see you, Corey.
There's not any way I can talk you into giving me a price for it, can I? No, you can't.
I don't do prices.
Thank you very much.
It was nice to meet you.
Have fun, now.
All right, so the big question is, what do you want for it? I'd like to have $2,500 for it.
What do you really want for it? I'd take $2,000 today.
It's a specialty, specialty, specialty item.
I'll give you 800 bucks.
How about $1,800? I will give you 800 bucks, and it is a shot in the dark.
These mines are incredible, and they're the kind of thing that collectors will go nuts for.
But I have no idea how long I'm gonna sit on them.
Okay.
$800 it is.
All right, 800 bucks.
All right, thank you.
Appreciate it, man.
Thank you.
Well, I'd hoped to get a little more out of it, but I think $800 was a fair price.
I don't have to take it back home with me.
Now maybe it'll have a new home and somebody can enjoy it and appreciate it for what it is.
How you doing? You need to buy something, let me know.
Chum Lee's the name.
I'd love to sell you a diamond.
Name's Mr.
Lee.
Let me know if you need to buy something.
Name's Mr.
Lee.
Earlier, a guy brought in a dragster from the '70s.
The problem is, I have no idea what it's worth or if it's safe, so I'm bringing it over to Las Vegas motor speedway to have my buddy mark check it out, and if everything's cool, I might just drive this thing.
Hey, guys.
How you doing? Good to see you, man.
How are you? I'm president of Nevada classics and shelby cars northwest.
I'm an expert in classic and performance cars as well as drag racing.
So this is the beast, huh? That is the beast.
I've never had one of these things before, so I don't know anything about it.
This is a super comp dragster.
This particular car has got looks like a small-block gm v-8.
This car would probably run a 8.
5, 8.
6 elapsed time.
That's the amount of time it takes from a standing start to get to the end of that 1/4 mile.
Yeah, that's pretty fast.
Unlike indycar and nascar, drag racing is limited to 1/4 mile.
It's four, five, six, seven seconds or more of very intense, extreme speed, and it happens really quick.
Is the car up-to-date? It's gonna need some work.
It's gonna need quite a bit of work.
So the engine has been rebuilt recently.
Yes.
And is everything in certification? The frame needs recertified.
How about the flexplate? The flexplate needs recertified also.
Rick, this is kind of an old-school-style front end.
We don't use the wishbones anymore.
If you look at the roll cage, these have been added, these helmet pads on either side, the supports, but there's also supposed to be a support down here that I can't see, and it's supposed to connect the rest of this roll cage down to the base, and I don't see any evidence of that on this one.
So how much would it cost me to get it all up to cert and everything else so it's raceable? You're probably looking at somewhere between $5,000 and $7,000 to bring it back up to specs.
That much, huh? But for a guy that is looking for a weekend toy, it's really not a bad little car.
Once you drive this, you're gonna realize it's worth every dollar.
We'll see.
Now I know this car needs a lot of work.
$5,000 to $7,000 is a lot of money, and it could have eaten away my entire profit margin.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still very interested, but the price has to be right.
What I really want to do is, I want to ride it.
I think that can be arranged.
Is this thing safe to drive? Dragsters, generally speaking, are a lot more dangerous to drive than your average street car, but this one should as long as you keep it pointed in a straight line, you're gonna be fine.
Well, let's go take this thing to the track.
We've looked the vehicle over pretty carefully, and it appears to be solid.
I don't think there's gonna be any problem, but you really never know.
Earlier, a guy brought in a dragster.
My buddy mark says it needs some work, but overall, it's in pretty good shape.
So now that I've kicked the tires, you can bet I'm gonna take it for a test-drive.
Well, after I drive this thing, we'll talk money.
I just want to experience it and make sure it works.
Rick, in case anything happens, we got the fire truck over here, and we got an ambulance for you, so So if your heart stops, they can get it going again.
Okay.
This is the fun part of my job.
I just hope I make it out alive, because there's no way Corey and chum could run the shop.
[Laughs.]
Quick, hey, just verbally agree that I get your share of the pawn shop if anything happens.
Yeah, whatever.
I heard it.
You heard it.
Watch your head when you come back.
Stretch your legs out.
Yeah.
You're in there.
Nod up and down if you're scared.
It's gonna be all right, Uncle Ricky.
All right, Rick, you ready? I'm gonna flip the switches.
Aim it straight and go for it.
It's all you.
[Engine revs.]
[Engine roars.]
[All cheering.]
That was awesome.
Now I know how astronauts feel when they get launched into space.
Was that fun or scary? A little bit of both.
[Laughs.]
So much were you looking to get out of it? Well, I'd like to get $25,000 for the car and the trailer.
There's just too much that needs to be done for me to even come near that.
You're not even gonna like my offer.
What would be your best offer? I'd go, like, $6,000 for the car and, like, $5,000 for the trailer.
No, I couldn't do that.
It needs a lot of stuff.
It needs to be inspected.
It's got an antique front end.
It's just not there.
The cheapest you can get the engine built is, like, $30,000.
The mark Williams rear end cost $10,000.
That ain't counting nothing else.
The best I could do is, I'd like to get at least $18,000 for the car and the trailer.
I'll tell you what.
I'll go $12,000.
God, that's just giving it away.
$16,000 I could do $16,000 for the car and the trailer.
That's giving it away.
I just can't do it.
All right, well, did you have fun? I had fun anyway, man.
Thanks a lot.
I thought after he drove it, he'd see the potential in the dragster, and I'm really disappointed we couldn't make a deal, but that's the way it goes.
How you doing today, young lady? I'm good.
How are you? What have we got here? I brought something in to show you today.
I got it from my grandmother.
She got it from the store as an advertisement.
I wonder what kind of deal they signed to sell wonder bread.
I have no idea, son.
Yee -ha! I decided to come to the pawn shop today to try to sell my howdy doody wonder bread advertisement.
I think it's worth probably about $350, and I figure I'll take about $150 for it.
Howdy doody, this is probably from the late '50s, maybe '55, pretty good shape.
Tore a little bit up here when they pulled it down.
You remember the old howdy doody song? I remember part of it; It went à It's howdy doody time à à it's howdy doody time à and that's all I know.
Howdy doody was a kids' show that started in the late '40s.
It featured a puppet, a cowboy, and a clown.
Sounds just like some of the characters I work with.
Howdy doody was a real thing? It wasn't just, like, an insult? Howdy doody was the first kids' tv show.
You know, you gspongebob and all that crap now.
Every kid in the world watched him on Saturday morning.
People forget that howdy doody was a groundbreaking show.
It had a peanut gallery where the kids could sing along and stuff.
I would have given my right arm to be in that peanut gallery.
So are you wanting to do with it, young lady? You want to sell it or pawn it? I'd like to sell it.
And how much are you trying to get out of it? I'd like to get $500 for it.
No.
It might go at $500 in an auction situation or something like that.
When we buy stuff, we have to make a profit on it.
Can you make me an offer? I'll be honest with you.
I'd like to be in at about $125.
Can you do $150? I can do $100.
Can you do $150? I can do $100.
Can you do $150, please? Corey, what do you think? This is all you.
I don't want to take any blame for this.
I don't know anything about this.
Oh, shut up.
Yeah, I guess I can go up to that.
We got a deal, young lady.
Sounds good.
Thank you very much.
Looks like a cardboard cutout to me.
Thanks again.
I sold it for $150.
It was just sitting in the drawer taking up space, so I made a good deal.
Rick, I need some more business cards.
I only got three left.
I bought you a whole box of them the other day.
I used them all.
Used them all doing what? Handing them out to potential customers when I see them walk through the door.
No.
But I only got three left.
You're not getting any more.
Great.
You know what? I like being called Mr.
Lee.
Chum Lee.