Toy Hunters

Posted on August 15, 2012 by admin

Today Travel Channel premiered the regular show Toy Hunters. I was much more pleased with this version than the pilot episode.  The two shows had Jordon Hembrough going to various collectors homes and buying toys. The items they showed were interesting and prices Jordon paid seemed fair.  I was annoyed he passed on a Remco Roman gladiator ship, but it because of his history on not knowing the item. I would be weak in the action figures. The Howdy Doody doll he looked at was from the show revival not the original run in the 50’s.  The only major complaint which I posted on their comment section was on the Marx 6 Inch Universal monsters. Marx did not make a Dracula figure when the series came out due to a dispute over Bela Lugosi’s likeness.  I have been told a prototype was done, but I have never see it to confirm it.  This major gaffe aside, I will watch the new episodes next week.

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13 Responses to Toy Hunters

  1. sean burns says:
    August 19, 2012 at 9:34 PM

    I didn’t see the show (not interested) but my friend Curt was on the show. It should be called an “unreality” show, as the situation he was in was totally contrived, even though a lot of it never made it to the screen. They acted like they were just driving down a street, saw him working on a painting in his front yard, and started talking after meeting for the first time. Actually, a friend of Curt’s told Jason about him and they pestered him for months before he agreed to be on the show (he doesn’t want to sell any of his items). They seeded his cellar with a few toys to make it look like this grinning glad-hander Jason was actually searching and finding something- all totally fabricated. They went through scenes over and over to get the realistic “feel” they wanted to portray. They were at his house for 12 hours for 10 minutes of airtime. A total fraud of a show and Jason knows little to nothing about most toys, even the ones from the 80’s that are his “specialty”. He was at the last Chiller Theater show, and though he had impressive glass display cases the few items he had for sale were laughable. His top shelf was nothing but about 10 boxes (all the same item)- some recent stuffed character figure that he sold none of at the whole show. There was no depth to his stock and nothing desirable at all. The other toy dealers were joking and laughing about it.

    Reply
    • admin says:
      August 19, 2012 at 11:44 PM

      Sean
      These reality shows have to be approached with a skeptical approach. The pilot of Toy Hunter I hated escpecially when he was at Comic con with the Boba Fett figure. This episode was better as the items were at the mark of where he should be buying and selling them for. I am not surprise that it took them that long to film a 10 minute segment. Also that they seeded the place to make it more attractive. I have heard this pratice on other shows.
      The bottom line is you should view the these shows as entertainment. Others will view them as gospel. Thing is Jordan is getting his name out there in the public and it will be interesting how effects him and his sales. You will get a indictation at the next Chiller. I don’t know if Laurie and I will be there as we have a show on Sunday that is always great and she may have to work Sunday.

      Reply
  2. Ed Borris says:
    August 20, 2012 at 7:35 AM

    I think the phoniest is the one where they dig for buried treasures on people’s property. The one I saw they were down on the Bayou digging on flood plains and they dug up this pristine milk jug with a $30,000.00 rare coin in it. It rang of phoney to me, it also seemed to be found of the last few feet of property they were examining that day. It’s a miracle!!!!!!!

    Reply
    • admin says:
      August 20, 2012 at 11:52 AM

      I have passed on that shows as felt it would be questionable on its results. I have done thousands of flea markets and shows I have never come up with Johnny Ringo or Custer. These shows find too many great finds to be believed.
      One thing I forgot to mention on Toy Hunters they are trying to copy Pickers.

      Reply
      • Ed Borris says:
        August 21, 2012 at 3:30 PM

        I’ve seen Custer before at shows but never in a 50 cent box. Now Cal from St Louis claims and I believe him that he bid on a cigar box full of soldiers sight unseen at some uaction down there and got a Johnny Ringo in the cigar box that he won for $10.00. I guess it happens just not to me. I can’t complain too much , I have gotten some good deals and bad ones too, but that’s half the fun.

        Reply
        • admin says:
          August 21, 2012 at 11:25 PM

          Ed
          You never know when you catch an item. sometimes a item will come easy or it will become quest a grail piece. like the armor car on fire by Speedwell of England was for me. that took nearly 40 years to find. The Johnny Ringo seem to show up more in the midwest so who knows you might find one yet.

          Reply
  3. Thomas E. Pace says:
    August 20, 2012 at 9:44 PM

    Have watched American pickers at least three times ea. episode and can hardly stand the cash cowboys from Canuck land. I was hoping for great things from toy hunter, but alas it fails also sofar. Having dug thru junk boxes and haunted flea mkts for fifty years or so I can attest the fun has got to be in the hunt cause you rarely find any jewels. My biggest complaint is I’ve tried to contact the American Picker shop in La Claire W. for over six months and never had the phone answered. Thats pretty hokey !! I have also sent Frank Wolfe so many emails and pics w/ out any answer it makes me sick. I think I’ll just have all my toys thrown in the hole w/ me when I croak.

    Reply
    • admin says:
      August 20, 2012 at 11:01 PM

      Tom
      Sorry you have had a bad experience with pickers. I can understand why they may not be answering the phone. They may be getting a lot of junk calls from people, who want to waste their time. When I did the lists, I would get a certain percentage of people who would pick my brain. I had one person who would call just want to know the news so he could relay to others first. I toss him off the list when I realized he was wasting my time. Once I went hot and heavy again I decided to stay away from the phone due to be on it eight hours at my human job not really wanting to hear people.
      As to emails pickers as they are getting more successful.they are getting more fussy in what they are dealing with. I don’t think they are buying items unless it is on a pick for the show. I have check the internet and found this web site http://frankfritzfinds.com/contact.php . You will notice that the email is for someone named Heather at History who will contact you to be on the show if you are slected. Once again Tom, I figure Mike is getting lots of emails. I answer all most of my emails myself as I can not afford to have anyone do that yet.

      Reply
  4. Don Perkins says:
    August 21, 2012 at 9:37 AM

    Yea, my wife and I both like American Pickers. I especially enjoyed the show where they went looking for civil war artifacts for the Gettysburg Civil War History Museum. Obviously the show can’t be totally genuine since everyone they’re talking to knows a cameraman is there videoing the whole conversation. But it’s enjoyable to watch anyway, as is, to a lesser extent, Pawn Stars.

    Reply
  5. Ed Borris says:
    August 22, 2012 at 7:06 AM

    Well, OTSN is around the corner and while I’m sure there will be tons of great items there, I don’t expect to see a lot of exciting deals. My experience has been that people have their game face on and people aren’t too willing to make many good deals unless they have had a bad show and are trying to make gas money. All the same it’s four days of toy soldiers 2o miles from home and a chance to see lot of people I haven’t seen or talked to in 6 months. I can hardly wait. I just hope this year no one steals my stuff again.

    Reply

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