They HAD to Have It! Sellers Who Couldn’t Walk Away | Compilation | Pawn Stars

– Can I help you? – Yeah!
I brought you something I think is pretty cool.
It’s gold-plated death mask of Napoleon.
– That is pretty cool.
It would’ve been made when someone died so you could remember them.
– They didn’t have selfies back then I guess, huh?
[laughter] – I’m looking to sell my death mask of the Emperor Napoleon. From what I can tell, this thing’s gold-plated, so it’s gotta be worth something. I’ve had it about 6 months now, and my wife thinks it’s the weirdest thing she ever saw and does not want it in our house, so figured it’s about time to sell it. I’m hoping to get $120,000 for this Napoleon death mask.
– It is pretty cool. So where did you get it?
– Well, my son and I, we pick antiques as a hobby, and we were at an estate sale, and all of sudden this gold face sticks out at us.
Sorta creepy, but the more we looked at it, we just had to have it.
– Okay, Napoleon proclaimed himself Emperor of France in 1804.
Pope Pius comes to crown Napoleon emperor, and in Napoleon fashion, he takes the crown from him holds it over his head to signify that “France, I will take care of you now.
“I am now your emperor.
No, one’s good enough to crown me but myself.” You know, I don’t know if that’s what he meant by it…
– Yeah.
– But you know, from what we know about Napoleon today, he seems a little narcissistic.
– [laughs] Wow.
– Napoleon was the Emperor of France for nine years, but he was deposed in 1815 and died in exile on the remote island of Saint Helena.
So looking at it, I got a lot of questions.
I can tell you right now, 100%, without even touching it, it’s not gold-plated.
Because I can see that that’s plaster right there.
– Underneath it. Can’t they gold-plate plaster?
– They can only gold-plate metal.
This could be a death mask of Napoleon, but when I look on the back, I’m really worried, because these are modern screws back here, and the wood doesn’t look very old.
This is definitely machined plywood.
This obviously isn’t the original plaque it came with.
So it’s really cool, but these things can be easily faked.
You could probably papier-mâché that and fill it up with plaster.
So how much are you looking to get for it?
– I want $120,000.
– 120,000. – Yes, sir.
– I couldn’t tell you if that number shocks me or disgusts me because I have no idea what a death mask of Napoleon’s worth.
– The only one I found online that actually sold, sold for–it was right at $160,000.
– Okay, let me call someone in to take a look at it and see what they think, and then we’ll discuss price. – Okay.
– Give me a few minutes. I’ll be right back.
– I mean, this thing is obviously very old. I think the expert’s gonna agree that it’s a very valuable piece.
There you go: Napoleon’s death mask.
– Ah. Yes, it is.
– Have you ever seen a death mask before?
– Oh, yes, yes. – Kay.
– Death masks were popular in the late 18th and 19th century.
A lot of famous people, they had death masks done of them after they died.
Napoleon, because he had changed Europe in creating the French Empire, his doctor did that.
When Napoleon died, there were two doctors that were there.
Dr. Burton was an English doctor, Autommarchi was Napoleon’s doctor, and after he died, Burton decided to make a death mask and Autommarchi was helping him, and then he stole the center portion of the casting.
And Burton ended up suing him for the rest of his life to try to get it back, but never was successful.
In 1836, Autommarchi, and that’s the one on the plaque there, contracts with a company in France, Quesnel, and sells them the rights to produce castings of the death mask.
And these were produced throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th century.
– So there was a point in time where this was commercially produced?
– Yes.
– And is there a way to tell the difference between those and the ones from the early beginning of it?
– Oh, yes. Yeah.
What you look for is one, is it marked for Quesnel?
– Yeah, there’s some names there…
– Probably a Richard. Yeah, there it is.
– Is that it? – It’s on this side.
“Quesnel.” Now the other thing, right at the bottom of the head, if you notice, this little spot right here… – Yeah.
– That is something that was added later on on the castings.
It’s a reproduction of a Napoleonic era coin.
Because it’s produced with the coin edition, it is not from the 1820s or 1830s.
It’s at least later 19th century or early 20th century.
– How common are these masks?
– Because the Quesnel company cast them throughout the 19th century and the early 20th century, we don’t actually have a number out there.
So we just don’t know.
– All right, well, I appreciate you coming in, Mark.
Thank you. – Not a problem.
Thanks for letting me see it. – Thank you.
– All right, well, to be honest with you, I’m’na pass on it.
You’re asking for a lot of money, and there’s just still so many unanswered questions.
There’s a big middle area in between it.
Thanks for bringing it in, though.
– I got it, man, no worries. – Have a good day.
– Unfortunately, we couldn’t come to a deal ’cause there were just still too many unknowns about this mask.
But I am glad to come away more educated about it, and I think that I’ma take it home and my son and I are gonna find a way to sell it and get some money for it.
– Hey. – How can I help you?
– I have this 1911 first edition book of “Peter Pan.” – Pretty damn neat.
Is this thing illustrated?
– Ah, yes. The artwork’s amazing.
– “The Mermaids’ Lagoon.” – Yeah, you like that one?
– Literally, I was, like, ten years old when I read this.
– Yup. – So…
And that was, like, 200 years ago.
I might have read a first edition.
[both laughing] – I have a 1911 first edition novel of “Peter Pan.” I have a collectible and book store. This book walked in one day, and I had to have it. First thing that caught my attention was the amazing detail they put in the book.
– “Peter Pan”– it’s a pretty amazing story.
Do you know how the original story came about?
– Um, what I know is they did a play about it, it got brought to the U.S., and I believe this was one of the first books that J.M. Barrie ever put out. – So what happened was, Barrie, the author…
his brother died when his brother was 14 years old.
– Okay. – Okay? So…
His entire life, he thought of his brother as a child that never grew up…
– Right. – And that eventually turned into the play and the book… Did you read the book? – I’ve never read the book, but I’ve actually seen a lot of “Peter Pans.” – The original book, Peter is a little bit of a psychopath.
[both laugh] – Nice, nice, that’s good.
– He likes to kill people. Hook dies in the end. – Oh. – Okay.
In a children’s movie, it’s sort of bad to assassinate a main character at the end. – Sure, sure.
– You know, so definitely different. The original Peter Pan was ruthless. His big fear was growing up.
He actually killed other Lost Boys who showed signs of getting older. Not quite the fun-loving kid in green tights we see in, like, movies and plays today.
There are certain books that transcend time. – Sure. – J.K. Rowling’s–the little wizard kid and all that stuff.
You know, I mean, that might last another 20, 30 years.
But I truly believe, 200 years from now, every kid will know exactly who Peter Pan is.
You know, it’s a great story.
I mean, hell, I wish I never grew up.
– Right.
♪ ♪ – Unfortunately, I did grow up and I have to wear glasses now.
– [chuckles] – Uh, I mean, you do have some issues with the book.
It looks like there’s some water damage here.
– Yes.
– I mean, when you start talking books like this, pristine shape really, really helps out on the price.
But we’re talking first edition “Peter Pan.” There’s always collectors for books like this, especially, you know, when you have a book collector that’s not filthy rich; they can’t afford the pristine one, but they can afford one with a little damage. – Now, have you seen one of these ever walk in?
I mean, have you seen something like this?
– I’ve never had a first edition “Peter Pan.” – So I guess that’s good for me, huh?
– Um, maybe, yes.
Um, there’s a weird thing about first editions.
Some first editions, they print a thousand books and then they realize there’s a screw-up on one of the pages– – Right. – So they fix it, so there’s a first edition first date, first edition second, third, fourth. – Right. – So I don’t know what that is. The big question: ¿Cuánto dinero? How much?
– I’m gonna ask 5,000.
– Okay, um…
I have a brainiac, book nerd friend.
– All right. – And she will…
She will probably be able to go on and talk for, like, an hour and a half on this book; you might have to stop her.
[both laughing] – Okay, okay.
– Okay, but she will know everything there is to know about it, so… – All right.
– If you don’t mind, I’m gonna call her, get her down here.
– Sounds great. – I’ll be right back.
– I’m a little excited to meet the expert. I want to get a little more info on the book, and the true value would be great.
We have “Peter and Wendy.” – Great book. – Classic.
– Yes, I know this book. – I read this, like, when I was ten, which was, like, 15 years ago.
So I don’t remember all of it.
– That joke does not even work.
It is so absurd. [laughter] – But what deeply disturbed me, at, like, a ten-year-old, was, Peter Pan was sort of a psychopath.
– Oh, yeah. This is dark.
Well, and, you know, “Peter Pan,” the “Pan” part of that comes from the Greek god Pan so you get that sort of wild, in the jungles, not fit for human civilization angle…
but I think the reason that “Peter Pan” still has this enduring interest to us is because it taps into something universal in the human experience…
– Okay. – Which is this childlike adventure, and I think all of us sort of see that as some of the best times of our life, and that’s why this book will keep on being remembered.
– So, um, the condition’s a serious issue.
– The condition is a serious issue.
First of all, you see that there’s a little bit of green here.
That used to be this deep jungle green, which has sort of faded kind of brownish, and especially here on the spine.
This happened because of sun exposure.
Uh, now, edition.
J.M. Barrie was English.
Collectors follow a principle called, “Follow the flag”…
– Okay. – Which is that they’re interested in the copy from the nation from which the author comes.
The sort of ideal for the book “Peter and Wendy”…
– Okay. – Is the…
London first edition, 1911.
This is New York, Charles Scribner’s & Sons.
– Okay. – So…
Some people would call this a first edition.
I would not.
– Okay.
– I would call it a first American edition.
– Okay.
– The other thing to keep in mind, this was issued with a dust jacket.
– Okay. – This copy does not have the dust jacket, so…
A London edition of this… – Okay.
– In a dust jacket… – Yeah.
– The beautiful condition.
I’ve seen copies… 13,000, 14,000.
So I feel like I’m being generous…
– Okay.
– In suggesting that a retail price for this would get around $400 to $500.
– Uh, well, it is helpful.
I appreciate the opinion.
– Thanks. – Yup.
Take care.
– Thank you, nice meeting you. – Yup.
– So what do you want for it now?
– I’d have to shoot the ladder. I want to go 500.
– Um, no, well, there’s– that’s not gonna happen, because she said I could probably get 400 to 500.
I have to make money, and…
It’s not gonna be the easiest sell ’cause–in really rough condition, so…
I’ll give you 200 bucks.
– Well, you have the artwork, the name “Peter Pan”…
250?
– I’ll give you 2 and a quarter.
– [exhales] All right, you got a deal. – Cool, sweet, man.
Um, I will meet you right over there, and we’ll do some paperwork, and I’ll write you up.
– All right, thank you.
I was asking for $5,000, and for $225, it’s gonna be a little bit difficult to travel to Neverland, but it’ll all work out.
♪ – How’s it going? – How you doing?
– Good, good.
– What do you have here? – Just a Michael Jordan statue.
– OK, pretty cool.
You can kind of tell this is a Bulls jersey without reading the “Bulls.” So pretty cool little flavor touch right there.
[buzzer blares] – I’m here at the pawn shop today, and I’m bringing in a Michael Jordan statue. I’ve had it for eight years, and I don’t know too much about it. The only thing I know is that I believe it’s made out of bronze. I’m actually a big collector when it comes to Michael Jordan pieces. It’s an item that you just don’t see every day, and I just had to have it in my collection. I’m hoping to get $10,000 for my Michael Jordan statue.
– This is interesting.
Yeah, I mean, Michael Jordan, he’s one of the biggest names in basketball.
You got other names like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James.
The list literally goes on and on, but Michael Jordan is at the top of the list, whether you put him one, two, three.
I think his place in history is a little more special than all these other basketball players, and not because what he did on the basketball court.
It’s what he actually did with his shoe contract.
He was able to negotiate a different kind of contract for shoes that had never really been done before.
And after this happened, other athletes kind of wanted to follow in the footsteps of Michael Jordan.
Athletes, basketball players, football players were getting a lot better deals for repping a particular company like Nike, which Michael Jordan did.
Everyone knows the Jumpman logo.
It’s, like, Jordan flying through the air about to dunk over everyone. – Of course.
– So you got a bust of Michael Jordan here.
Tell me about it.
– I purchased it in 2017 from an individual that bought it at an auction back in the ’90s.
The only thing I know is that there’s only ten in the world, and that’s– – OK.
– I just don’t know too much about it.
– Does it have an artist marking or a name on it?
Can I turn it upside down? – Yeah, go ahead.
– ’95, artist proof 3 of 10.
OK, so, if you have a bust, if you have a piece of art, you want the artist proof, the AP.
That’s a lot better.
That’s like–it’s what the artist would usually give out as gifts, or maybe the artist would sell them sometimes. – OK.
– There’s other ways to get them, but that’s pretty cool.
I mean, it looks like Michael Jordan.
Do you know who did it? – I have no idea.
– Yeah, I can’t really read that name down there.
It’s exceptional quality, though.
And how much are you looking to get?
– $10,000. – OK.
I mean, that’s a lot of money to ask, especially we don’t even know who made this.
It’s all going to depend on who made this.
– Of course.
– So let me take some pictures of it, send them over to my art guy, give him a call, and we’ll go from there?
– That’s fine. – All right.
Give me just a few minutes, all right?
– Sounds good.
♪ ♪ Hey, Patrick, how you doing? – Good.
Patrick. – Louis, nice to meet you.
– This gentleman has this Michael Jordan bust here, which neither one of us know who made it.
So I’m hoping with your expertise– Do you know who made this, basically, is what I’m asking you, Patrick?
– Yeah. The artist is Sean Joyce.
He’s actually a California-based artist.
He’s from Connecticut, but he works out of Hollywood in the film industry… – OK.
– Doing anything from storyboards to matte painting.
Everybody’s familiar with his work.
If you’ve seen, you know, some of the ’80s movies like “Golden Child,” “Willow,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” he did the background art in a lot of those.
– OK. So is this a commercial artist?
– He is a commercial artist, but he’s not hugely successful as a commercial artist.
Most of his editions, as you saw, this is out of ten, tend to be a little bit smaller.
It’s part of a series of his heroes.
So, whether they’re politicians, other artists, athletes, musicians, et cetera, he did a lot of busts of famous people that are heroic in his eyes. But this is an artist proof. It’s real bronze.
You can really see the craftsmanship in it.
And if you see any of his other works, they’re amazing.
– So what kind of value would you put on this Michael Jordan bust?
– When it was initially released, these sold for about $1,500.
But they are pretty collectible, plus it’s Jordan.
So based on auctions of his other works, the value is at $6,000.
– And it would– obviously, a non-artist proof would be quite a bit less?
– Generally, yes. – OK.
All right, well, I appreciate you, Patrick.
Thank you. – Yeah, no problem.
– Thank you. Thanks for your time.
– All right, so you heard everything Patrick had to say.
He’s saying it’s worth about 6,000, but that’s just a price basing this off his other works.
It’s not as popular as an artist as I’d like, but the work is still quality, and the subject matter is Michael Jordan, so…
– Absolutely. – Eventually it would sell.
– Of course. – Would you take 3,000 for it?
– I think as of right now, I’ll just hang on to it.
– All right, well, thanks for coming in today.
– Thanks again for your time.
– At least you know who made it now.
– I appreciate it.
– What’s up, Chum?
– Just got this cool fire opal came in the mail.
Fire opals in general are rare, but this one is extremely rare because it has a white opal inside of it.
Let me take a look at it.
– Be careful. – Different.
– I mean, we do sell rocks here.
We should try to buy it.
You seeing anything you like?
– This is interesting.
It’s a fire opal, which is a kind of translucent opal.
Let’s give this guy a call.
– How you doing? – Good. How are you?
– Thanks for sending your opal in.
I just opened it up. I got my boss, Rick, here with me taking a look at it.
– Hi, Rick. – How’s it going?
You sent your stone in, where did you get this? – My wife makes crystal necklaces, and so she gets into a lot of crystal shows, and she came across it. I thought it was so cool. I just had to have it.
– I mean, the word opal itself just means precious stone.
And opal gets its weird colors of the rainbow. Basically, silica seeps through the earth, starts settling in certain types of rocks. So you’ll have clear all the way to black, and then you have those rainbow colors going through it. Now, this right here– yeah, it’s definitely odd.
You have igneous rock on top of the opal, okay?
You have a translucent opal around it with a bad whitish opal in the center of it and has inclusions going all the way through i, which are–basically, those are fractures going all the way to the surface.
So if you tried to cut the white opal into a stone and polish it, put it in a ring, it would probably fall into a lot of pieces, and you’re not gonna be able to get a good stone out of this.
Okay? And know it’s odd to have a white opal inside a translucent opal, but you have a bad stone in the center of maybe a nice stone, but, like, you just have the outer edge as nice ston.
I mean, it’s…
I’m just gonna pass on the stone.
– I actually love this right here, Rick, ’cause, you know, I collect stuff like this too.
– You know you can’t turn that into a piece of jewelry or anything.
– No, I’m just gonna put it with my marble case.
– You have a marble case? – I do.
I have a marble and marrying case.
I collect glass, Rick.
– Okay. I had no idea.
– I really am interested in this, and I would be a buyr at 200 bucks for my personal collection.
– I really need to get a little more than that. I paid more than that for it. – How about 300?
– How about 350? – I can’t do 350.
How about 310? That’s gonna be top for me.
– I think that’s pretty cool. I’ll sell it for 310.
– Right on. And you can know that this is gonna go to someone who is gonna love showing this off.
– Absolutely.
– All right, I’ll get you paid and send a check over.
Thank you.
– Sounds good. Thank you. – That’s how you close the deal, Rick.
I do love shiny things.
– Good thing he’s got a marble collection, because he is making me lose mine.
♪ ♪ – How you doing? – I’m good. How are you?
– I’m good. What can I help you with?
– I have a one-of-a-kind presidential plaster Easter egg.
– What’s so presidential about it?
– Well, it’s signed by George W. Bush, George Bush, and First Lady Barbara Bush, and each one added their own rendition of an Easter bunny.
– It looks egg-cellent.
[both chuckle] [crackling] – I’ve been collecting political autographs all my life, and I came across a listing for this piece, and because it’s so unique, I just had to have it.
I feel that artwork and signature reflects their personality. – I’ve never seen something like this before.
Do you know who this was made for?
– From what I was told, it was done around Easter time in Houston at George Bush Sr’s home and they were doing things for charity events.
– Oh, that’s pretty cool.
Do you mind if I take a look at it?
– Sure.
– We got–what’s that say? “Bunny by Bush”?
– “Bunny by George Bush.” That’s Senior.
– Okay.
This would be Barbara Bush, the First Lady to George Bush, and she even dated it 1996.
And we got, uh, George W. Bush right here, 43rd president.
– Mm-hmm.
It’s pretty funny that George W.’s bunny is the worst of all of them.
You know, it’s just basically a couple of circles and a couple ears, because, actually, later in life, he became a painter.
– Yeah.
– I notice you have some paperwork over here.
– Yeah.
– “Letter of authenticity.” Okay, I’ll take this as authentic because it has my autograph guy, Steve Grad’s, name on it.
– Yes, it does.
– If he’s already looked at this egg and authenticated it, I got no worries with it here. – He has.
– And what are you looking to get for it?
– I’m looking to get 3,500 for it.
I feel the value of this item is probably going to be six grand.
Any type of item with a drawing done by a president is valuable.
– I think, um, six grand is being a little generous for what this could be worth.
Would you take 2,800 for it?
– [sighs] How about 3,100?
♪ – I’ll do 3,100. – All right. We got a deal.
– All right, let’s go over here and write up some paperwork.
– Okay. – You can leave it there.
– I feel so good I was able to make a deal today.
Thankfully, this deal was over easy.
♪ – Would you look at that?
– Pretty cool, huh?
– So what do we got, man?
– We have a 1939 Lincoln Zephyr wood styling model.
I got it from a local auction.
– Any particular reason you had to have it or…
– Look at it. It’s cool.
[car horn honking] I’m looking to sell my 1939 Lincoln Zephyr wood styling model from Ford Motor Studios. This item was used by Ford to produce the Lincoln Zephyr, and it has two doors on one side and four doors on the other. As much as I love it, my wife says it’s time for it to go. I’m hoping to get $3,000 for my Lincoln Zephyr wood styling model. I’m willing to negotiate, but if I don’t think the price is right I’ll just keep it.
♪ – Really cool, really interesting.
Lincoln was founded by a guy named Leland who also co-founded Cadillac in 1902.
Decided to go out on his own and named his car company Lincoln oddly enough because that was the first president he ever voted for.
He didn’t do that well.
He ended up selling to Ford.
Ford decided they really need to compete with GM and their Cadillac model, so they wanted a really luxury brand.
Then the Great Depression hits late 1930s, and no one’s going out and buying really high-end luxury cars at that moment.
So 1936 they came up with a Zephyr to kind of hit the entry-level point to the luxury market. It wasn’t as fancy as some of the other Lincolns, but it really kind of saved them.
And they’ve been competing with Cadillac ever since.
You know, there’s Lincoln guys, and there’s Cadillac guys, and they’ve just lasted forever.
What are you looking to do with it, man?
– I’m looking to sell it. – All right.
Any idea of what you’re looking to get out of it?
– I’m looking for $3,000.
– Okay.
– I know it went for close to that at a Sotheby’s auction in 2005.
– That’s a lot of money, man.
You know, if they’re going for that at the auction house, I’m going to tell you to take it there.
I don’t see being able to get more than a few hundred bucks for it. – All right.
Appreciate that. – All right, man.
I appreciate you coming down.
Next time, okay?
– You got it. Thank you.
I would have loved to drive off with some money today, but the Lincoln Zephyr is going back in my collection.
– Hey, how’s it going? – Good, how are you?
– Good. So what do we got?
– I have a Jason Aldean neon light made by Coors.
They sponsored one of his concerts.
– Yeah, that’s my kind of party.
[crowd cheering] – I’m at the pawn shop today to sell my Jason Aldean neon light made by Coors Light. I’m a big collector of lights and a big Jason Aldean fan, and I had to have it. There’s not one anywhere else that I could ever find. I’m hoping to get $1,500 for my Jason Aldean neon light.
♪ – Do you mind if I plug it in? – Certainly.
♪ This is pretty cool.
Jason Aldean, I mean, obviously, he’s one of the hugest country stars in the world.
The guy’s got what? Like, 20-something singles that have reached number one on the charts.
I can’t keep track of the amount of awards this guy’s gotten for being a country music star.
So, all that said, you know, why wouldn’t want Coors Light want him endorsing their product?
♪ It’s in really good condition, and I doubt that it was ever even hung up on a wall.
What are you looking to do for it?
– Hopefully get about $1,500 for it.
– I said it was cool.
I didn’t say it was that cool. [chuckles] – From what I believe, I think this was kind of a one of a kind.
– So do you have any proof?
– Other than being on social media at this time, no.
– I just don’t buy that this is, you know, a one-in-a-million kind of thing.
I have to assume that these were mass-produced.
I have to assume that these were put in bars.
I mean, Jason Aldean’s been famous for a very, very long time.
– Well, I was asking 1,500.
What are you looking to pay?
– 400.
I don’t really see it being worth a whole lot more than that.
– Can you do 600?
Come on, now.
– I can’t go 600, man.
I’ll tell you what. 500, let’s do 500.
[tense music] – All right.
– All right, sounds like a deal.
Right around there, someone will write you up, okay?
– All right. Appreciate it.