Auction Hunters: Season 2, Episode 18: “Viva La Vegas.”
The Haff-Ton team drove to Henderson, Nevada, a suburb 20 miles south of Vegas and a popular vacation home spot.
Fact: Jason Giambi, Chris Tucker and Flavor Flav all reside in Henderson.
Henderson had a reputation for great auctions and lots of professionals had showed up to bid. The Haff-Ton team had to keep on their toes.
Trash Bag Unit
Canvas sheet, open suit case, folder, walker, trash bags and boxes. The duo won the unit for $120.
Allen started going through the trash bags. He found a lot of trash inside, but also $150 dollars. Not bad! Allen also discovered some old German beer steins from the late 1800’s.
Fact: Stein lids were invented in the 1300s to repel flies carrying the Black Plague.
Ton was definitely excited.
Fact: The world record for beer drinking is 1 litre of brew in 1.3 seconds, set in 1977.
Ton found some Elvis Presley t-shirts. In a box he discovered a cane with a telescope and sword inside. Very cool.
Haff-Ton team took the sword cane to Lu
ke, a blade specialist. He told them full length sword canes were hard to come by. The telescope probably meant this had been used by an explorer.
Fact: Canes that hold various tools are generally referred to as “gadget canes”
Luke dated it between 1820-1860. In excellent condition a sword cane would be worth up to $3,500.
Fact: Sword canes first emerged after dueling was outlawed by the King of France in 1626.
This one had been used and there was obvious wear on the blade.
Luke bought it from them for $1,500.
Safe Unit
Couch, keyboard, safe, vintage suitcase, and fake plant. The duo won the locker for $200.
Ton was excited to get his hands on the safe. The keypad was broken, but this didn’t stop Ton who got his tools out of the truck.
Fact: A $339,000 safe designed to hold luxury clothing is the most expensive in the world.
He drilled a hole through the safe and used a snake cam to look inside. Duo spotted some money inside and got very excited. Ton also saw the safe’s key and with the use of a magnet, got it out.
Fact: Snake cams are used by SWAT teams to detect threats under doors and around corners.
Duo were extremely disappointed when they opened the safe and found the money was fake.
Allen opened the vintage suitcase and found magician props inside, including a wand and magic hat.
Fact: The world record for most rabbits pulled out of a magician’s hat is 300, set in 2008.
In the back of the unit Ton found a magic box and saws used for a magic trick to 
cut a woman in half and then put her back together again.
Haff-Ton team took the magic box to pro magician Larry. Larry called it the Zig Zag Girl and said it was invented by Robert Harbin.
Fact: Robert Harbin was a popular British illusionist in the mid-1900s.
Larry explained it was very important in magic history. Depending on how well the parts worked, it would be worth between $1,200-$3,000.
Larry brought out his assistant Angela to help him test it out. Together with Allen and Ton, Larry performed the trick.
Fact: Black paint on the sides of the box make the space inside appear smaller than it really is.
All the parts worked well, and Larry paid $2,500 for the box. Now that’s pretty magical!
To wrap up the day, duo treated themselves to some beer in the beer steins. Bottoms up!
Auction Total:
Paid $320
Sold: $5,070
Profit: $4,750
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