American Pickers Guide to Picking

American Pickers debuted on the History Channel last year and turned the wheeling and dealing of pickers Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz into the biggest new cable television show of 2010. Mike and Frank, along with Danielle and author Libby Callaway, now bring their expertise on rusty gold and antiques dealing to your bookshelf in … Continue reading American Pickers Guide to Picking

American Pickers’ DVD Giveaway!

In celebration of Season Two, and all things American Pickers, we’ve been given two copies of American Pickers: The Complete Season 1 to giveaway! American Pickers is the antiques and collectibles show on the History Channel, featuring childhood buddies turned business partners Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz who travel the country “picking,” hoping to find … Continue reading American Pickers’ DVD Giveaway!

Are You Ready For New Episodes Of American Pickers?

Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz are once again searching the back roads, junkyards, and filled-to-the-brim barns in America for “rusty gold” with all new episodes of American Pickers, the #1 new cable series of 2010. I also confess loving the White Stripes in the latest TV American Pickers commercial; the song is Rag & Bone. … Continue reading Are You Ready For New Episodes Of American Pickers?

American Pickers

Monday night was the premier of the History Channel’s American Pickers. This hour long show is the channel’s latest foray into the world of collectibles and antiques, following one of my other favorite shows Pawn Stars. So I was wicked excited to see it. The show documents the actions of Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz … Continue reading American Pickers

Finding Frank Fritz

Frank Fritz may be one-half of the American Pickers (or one-third, if you include Danielle), but Fritz is not partners with on-air partner Mike Wolfe in Antique Archaeology (neither in LeClaire nor Nashville). However, Fritz has his own shop in Savanna, IL, called Frank Fritz Finds. According to Barb Ickes at the Quad-City Times, the … Continue reading Finding Frank Fritz

Oh, The Places You Will Go!

On shows like American Pickers or Pickers Sisters, every once in a while the pickers go into some unassuming building and find themselves someplace surprising, a place where the outside doesn’t betray what’s inside. It might seem like TV magic, something that doesn’t happen in the real world, but my Wifey and I ran into … Continue reading Oh, The Places You Will Go!

A Trip To Hippie Tom’s

In May, I went with my parents to an open house at Hippie Tom‘s farm. (If you don’t completely recall the name or recognize him, Hippie Tom is a fan favorite on American Pickers.) Walking about Tom’s farm is phenomenal. There’s almost too much to take in! Along with the incredible vintage and antique pieces, … Continue reading A Trip To Hippie Tom’s

Picker, Collector, Hoarder… Where do you Fit In?

I explore abandoned houses and such places. The rule is not to take anything (or leave anything, like garbage). I photograph the outside of old farm houses mainly, seldom entering them at all. In more than five years exploring the only thing I have ever taken was a green Pyrex bowl which I found out … Continue reading Picker, Collector, Hoarder… Where do you Fit In?

How Does The Deal Measure Up?

Frank Fritz of American Pickers calls it “the bundle” when he groups multiple items into a single sale to negotiate for a lower price. I think as collectors we’ve all done that… You spy a few records you want in the box and decide to make an offer on the whole box so you can … Continue reading How Does The Deal Measure Up?

In Praise Of That 6 Degrees Thing: People & Other Flea Market Finds

This is a photo of my dad, aka the Grinnin’ half of Inherited Values own Antiquips, aka The Dean. It was taken at the Elkhorn Antique Flea Market by Urban Flea Marketer, the photo-blogger of You Bought WHAT?! From Who?. My dad’s story from her post: I mean, he was just cute. He was totally … Continue reading In Praise Of That 6 Degrees Thing: People & Other Flea Market Finds

Pickers Sisters

Last Tuesday, August 2, 2011, Picker Sisters aired on the Lifetime Television. (If you were confused by the ads showing American Pickers Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz promoting the show on the History Channel, that’s because both Lifetime and History are part of A&E Television Networks — but that really didn’t help those who went … Continue reading Pickers Sisters

Haunted Collector Has Me Screaming Into The Night

SyFy added another collectibles show to it’s lineup. Sorta. Haunted Collector is a marriage of sorts between SyFy’s Ghost Hunter franchise and the ever-increasing television line-up of shows for collectors.  It sounded like a marriage made in heaven, but I think Ghost Hunters, the folks at TAPS, all collectibles programming, and all television viewers should … Continue reading Haunted Collector Has Me Screaming Into The Night

Auction Hunters On Spike

Spike TV enters the antiques and collectibles television programing fray with Auction Hunters. Similar to Storage Wars, this show’s action is focused on the bidding, buying and selling of the content of storage units; unlike Storage Wars, the show has a much stronger focus on antiques and collectibles, and only follows two men. The two … Continue reading Auction Hunters On Spike

The Discovery Channel’s Collecting Show Auction Kings

Another entry in the slew of antiques and collectibles television programming is the Discovery Channel’s Auction Kings, airing Tuesday nights. This collecting reality show focuses on the world of auctions via the activities of Gallery 63, a consignment auction house in Atlanta, Georgia, owned by Paul Brown. As far as the personality aspect of the … Continue reading The Discovery Channel’s Collecting Show Auction Kings

American Restoration

The collectibles spin-off show I’ve been waiting for is here: American Restoration. You may have heard about it, sometimes promoted or promised under other names such as Rick’s Restorations and Rusty Nuts (I prefer the title Rusty Nuts, but with the success of American Pickers, I guess the corporate guys figured American Restoration was more … Continue reading American Restoration

New Collecting Show: Hollywood Treasure

In what may seem like an unlikely match, the SyFy channel enters into collectibles infotainment with Hollywood Treasure; yet given the nature of the show, it may not seem such a strange match… Hollywood Treasure follows the activities of Joe Maddalena, the owner of Profiles in History, the world’s largest auctioneer of movie and television … Continue reading New Collecting Show: Hollywood Treasure

ANTIQUIPS GRIN’S RAMBLINGS WHILE PICKS AWAY

Hello again, Grin here, Pick is out shopping in one of those bedroom communities where the old stores that once housed the local butcher, baker and bookie, now are home to the crafts crowd, crepes kitchen and bobbles and bangles boutique.  So I’m left to ponder what’s new in our antique world. Wait, is “new … Continue reading ANTIQUIPS GRIN’S RAMBLINGS WHILE PICKS AWAY