Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 24: “Great American Cashtime.”
Haff-Ton team drove to San Diego, California. Tourism – HUGE! Duo prepared to find just about anything in the storage units.
Fact: In 1592, San Diego was the first site visited by Europeans in what is now California.
One of the bidders was none other than Rene Nezhoda, pre-Storage Wars. Weird! It felt wrong to watch him without Casey! He was cheerful and friendly, and managed to steal one unit away from the duo.
Organized Unit
Boat motor, Bosch case, desk, swivel chair, shelves, rubber containers, and boxes. Everything was very neat and organized. Haff-Ton team won the locker for $1,300.
Allen found vintage baseball bats. Box of books and bag of clothes. His sense of fashion was offended when he found a pleather purse.
Allen also found a vintage baseball cap collection.
Ton opened a big box. Surprise! More baseball stuff. It was a pitching machine from the 1950’s.
Fact: The world’s first pitching machine was designed in 1897 and powered by gunpowder.
Duo took the pitching machine to a batting cage owner, Cordell. He stated the machine was made by the Master Pitching Machine Company.
Fact: The founder of Master Pitching Machines’ first prototype was built in 1952.
It was the first and only machine to have an arm lever. The lever made the machine’s aim less precise, which meant it was more like a real pitcher.
Fact: A 105 mph heater thrown by Aroldis Chapman in 2010 is the fastest pitch in MLB history.
The machine was in great shape and had no dents. A newer machine would be worth $4,000! This one had historical value.
Pitch.
Swing.
Home run as the pitching machine was appraised at $8,000. Cordell offered to pay $4,500… IF it worked.
Flip the switch.
Arm worked like a pitcher.
Allen hit ball after ball.
SOLD!
Loft Unit
Aluminum ladders, racks, refrigerator, animal crates, and boxes. The locker had a loft, which piqued the duo’s interest. Haff-Ton won the locker for $900.
Ton found camping chairs, feed buckets, and a water trough. Ton found a hydraulic ram used in fire rescue situations.
Fact: Hydraulic rams use special heat resistant fluid to avoid explosion during fire rescues.
Allen climbed up to check the loft. He discovered a “Jaws of Life” up there. Ton was psyched.
Fact: The Jaws of Life is a hydraulic tool used to help free victims from wrecke
d vehicles.
Duo took the “Jaws of Life” to Ryan, a fire fighter and rescue gear collector.
Fact: The Jaws of Life was first used in 1963 as a tool to rescue race car drivers from crashes.
The machine was American made dated back to the 1980’s. Jaws could push a car door apart or pull back a roof.
Ton’s kind of machine!
Fact: The first Jaws of Life machine was so large it had to be transported by a pickup truck.
Ton said he had once been saved from a car crash with a Jaws of Life rescue.
If the rescue tool worked, it would be valued at $5,000. Ryan had a spare junk car and asked Ton to use rescue Jaws to take off the roof.
Pull off a car roof?
He didn’t have to ask Ton twice.
Fact: On average, extrication with the Jaws of Life takes 9 to 15 minutes.
Ton took the Jaws of Life to the car.
RIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPP!
It’s now a convertible. (Not one I’d want to drive.)
Ryan was ready to deal, but Ton and Allen decided to donate the rescue tool to him. It was important that the Jaws of life be in the hands of someone who would use it to save lives.
Fact: Firefighters often use the Jaws of Life to extract victims from burning buildings.
Haff-Ton team selfless act may have saved a life.
Auction Total:
Paid $2200
Sold: $5,840
Profit: $3,640
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