The long awaited and much anticipated Toy Hunter premiere finally arrived. In this premiere episode, show host, Jordan Hembrough, is hunting for toys in his own backyard on the Jersey Shore. his first stop is with a collector named Andrew, who has a shed filled with totes stacked to the ceiling. It doesn’t take Jordan long to dive in to see what treasures lay within those plastic bins.
Jordan finds vintage Colorforms sets from pop culture’s past, including sets from Mork & Mindy, Star Trek, and Welcome Back Kotter. Jordan buys them all for around $5 each — a great price! He also unearths a 1975 Mego Cher doll, but it’s not in the greatest condition, so he leaves it behind, but snatches up a boxed Kenner Super Powers Batmobile for $75.
Probably the coolest item he finds in Andrew’s shed is a collection of G.I. Joe Manimals. These figures are hard to find and Andrew wants $750 for them, which is too steep for Jordan.
There’s one more item in the shed that Andrew wants to show off — an Aston Martin Vanquish pedal car made by Thermtech Erie, which was a 7-Up promotional item for the James Bond movie, Die Another Day. Jordan and Andrew can’t agree on a price, since Jordan will only go as high as $225, so it stays in Andrew’s shed. I’ve never seen one of these, but after watching the show, I found one that sold at Bonham’s auction for around $750.
Jordan heads south to Toms River, NJ, and visits a die hard Star Wars fan named Brian, who has had his collection relegated to the rafter space in his attic. Jordan buys a couple of GoBot Roguns, but I got more than a little excited at the next item he found–a Gollum bank from the 1978 Ralph Bakshi Lord of the Rings movie. Toys from the 1978 film are hard to find and can be worth quite a bit of money. Jordan bought the bank for $60.
Buried in the dark depths of the attic, Jordan finds an amazing 1983 Star Wars Return of the Jedi speeder bike pedal car made by Huffy. That is one sweet ride! Brian wants $1,000 for it, but Jordan knocks him down to $700, thinking it’s worth around $1,500.
Apparently, Jordan has his very own “Danielle.” Jordan’s lead generator is named Julia, and she calls with information about a collector that Jordan just has to visit.
Curt is an older guy with older toys, so I sat up and paid close attention, not just to what he was showing Jordan, but to all the amazing stuff that was in the background. I could have dropped a LOT of cash in Curt’s basement. Jordan finds an original Mr. Potato Head toy in the box, but passes because it’s too old! He does buy a Mr. Machine for $20 and a boxed Arnold Palmer indoor golf set for $20.
Curt has a true treasure (and one of my personal holy grails) hiding under a sink. It’s a 1979 Kenner Alien figure with the always elusive clear plastic dome. This toy was recalled because it was deemed too scary for kids, which makes it highly prized by collectors. Curt won’t sell it for any amount, and who can blame him!
The show ends with Jordan visiting a Star Wars collector he knows and he tries to sell him the speeder bike pedal car for $1,500. They settle on $1,000 and Jordan is probably thrilled he doesn’t have to store that thing–it’s huge!
I really enjoyed the show and learned about toys I never knew existed. I think Jordan’s prices were what you would expect from a dealer, and actually higher in some cases. It’s really no different than other reality shows such as American Pickers or Pawn Stars–a guy’s gotta eat, right? I’ll continue to be Toy Hunter’s number one fan until Jordan lowballs someone on a vintage Marx windup gorilla.
harleyvj says
I really enjoyed this episode. I really love that speederbike huffy cool as hell. That one guys basement dungeon was so awesome. That guy did want waaaay too much for those Manimals.
Brian says
Yeah, I’m a bit confused about that whole scene because you can get Manimals for $30-40. They’re cool, but not $750 cool. Maybe these are rare prototypes or something, but if they said that, I didn’t hear it.
Shawn Robare says
Oh man, that Speeder Bi9ke pedal car is one heck of an ellusive item. It was only a store giveaway right?
Paxton Holley says
Yeah, that pedal car is sweet. It was only offered as a sweepstakes giveaway in department stores and movie theaters. You had to win it, it was never offered retail. They only made like 250 of them or something. I’ve only ever seen one in real life. It was at a collectible store in Las Vegas.
Great recap Brian.
Brian says
Thanks Pax. If I were to ever come across one of those speeder bikes, I would walk right on by. That thing would take up so much space, and if you ever wanted to sell it, shipping would be a bitch. If it won’t fit on the shelf, I’m not interested. 😉
Jon says
Have you seen the other episode yet, where I think he goes to West Virginia? There was a guy on there who needs to do a crossover episode on Collection Intervention. He’s trying to sell stuff so he can buy diapers for his baby. Plus his huge collection is stored in what is going to the nursery.
Anyway, I am so excited that there are numerous shows like this about toys and collecting. Fun stuff.
Brian says
Yep, I’m working on the recap of that one this morning. Great stuff on both shows so far!
matt says
Hey Brian,
What channel is this on and at what time?
The ALIEN toy is one of my watched items on ebay. Its crazy how just the plastic trans helmet is what makes the price skyrocket. thought many times of buying it without one but then it would just not be complete.
Brian says
It’s on the Travel Channel. Here’s the show’s web page: http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/toy-hunter
I’m with you–I’ve almost bought that Alien several times but always got sniped or couldn’t stomach the price. One day. one day!
kngfu says
I go to a bunch of rummage (fill a bag from $2-5) in that area of NJ. There are some cool finds there.
Brian says
Let me know if you find Andrew’s shed. 😉
Kevin Hellions says
We need to find out more about Julia. Agreed? Who’s with me?!
Brian says
Ha! Julia seems to have received a LOT of attention for her brief appearance. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of her in future episodes.
The Goodwill Geek says
Finally got around to watching this in DVR last night. I really enjoyed it! It didn’t give me the willies the way just the ads for the pseudo-hoarders show on sci-fi did… Although my wife did have a few comments about collectors who just shove stuff in the attic or basement in tubs and how hoarder-ish that seems. I sort of agree, as u want my stuff out on display where I can enjoy it… But I know the pain of those guys who are forced to relegate their collections to one small space.
Overall, I really liked this show and didn’t feel like the host was actively trying to outright cheat anyone. It was all fairly good natured and it is his job after all.
Brian says
I’ve been amused at how all the wives out there reacted to this show and Collection Intervention. So far, for me, my wife has enjoyed the shows and is happy that I am nothing like some of the folks on the shows! 😉
My collection is relegated to my cave–nowhere else in our house will you find any of my collection except some bins in the basement, but that’s all stuff I’m selling.
I agree that this show was totally fun and no one seemed to get hurt. 😉 Jordan did a great job.
John says
Oh no! Were there two episodes on the other night? I totally missed it. I really want that Super Powers Batmobile.
Brian says
Yep, they aired two episodes back to back. That Batmobile was fresh out of the box (and the box looked pretty good too!).
John says
I finally had a chance to see this episode. Jordan said the box for the Batmobile was in bad shape, but I still would have picked up it up anyway. It didn’t look that bad to me.
The Sexy Armpit says
The speeder bike part of the show was sort of ridiculous. The ending seemed a little bit staged. It felt like the ending was a little bit contrived for the show. Unless you are really well off no father I know would be buying their kid a thousand dollar ride on toy that will probably collect dust because it shouldn’t be played with. That father must have been rolling in the dough to pull something like that. Plus, young kids right now don’t want vintage ride on toys they want stuff that’s way more high tech.
Brian says
Yeah, I kind of had the same feeling. The ending was a little contrived, and you can bet my kid wouldn’t have been allowed to touch that bike, let alone ride it around. 😉
Noodleer says
Great show fun finds and love that Julia!
Kevin says
I kind of like these shows. Good nostalgia and great seeing items you missed growing up.
BUT…..
This always happens in every one of these shows:
Buyer: “I can’t believe you have ____! Do you know there is only one of these in the entire known universe! _____ is worth a lot of money to collectors! And I know a lot of people who will die for this. I gotta have it! How much will you take for it?”
Seller: “$___”
Buyer: “Woah, for me to make money I’ll need to get it a little less. Not sure I’ll be able to find a buyer either.”
Every show…
geno says
I totally agree Kevin!!!!!!! These shows are so unbelievable. I am watching Toy Hunter as I reply to your comment. If you watch closely at some of the shots it shows that somehow the seller had a camera in their attic,closet,garage .shed etc. etc. The one that killed me was Abandoned…….the host was suppose to be dropping into a hole in the floor of a barn ….when he hit the ground the camera angle showed him standing and looking up at the hole… But I do enjoy looking at the items all of these shows find….They’re prices are mind blowing. I’ve been collecting and selling all types of items for over 20 years and never see this kind of money paid……maybe because my location is in SC……WHAT SHALL WE DO?????? right……
Hey sexy armpit,,,,,,,,you hit the nail on the head with your observable comment……
Brian says
You guys do know this is TV right? The term “reality” does not actually mean “reality” when it comes to TV. Of course the cameras are in place and every scene probably takes 4-5 shoots. It’s TV.That’s how it’s done. I don’t think we want to watch poorly lit, shaky cam footage of a guy’s back as he’s digging through boxes, so it has to be staged in order to be watchable.
Mermade says
Hey lets see more of Julia.
She adds some spunk to the show.
Albert says
Julia got her graduate in toyology from
FSU and is living/working in NYC while
pursuing her phd in Barbiology.
Albert Johnson says
Hey,
More of JULIA!!! I watch the show to see her!!! Only on two episodes. Very disappointed!!!
Adam Johns says
I have a Speeder Bike Pedal Car that I am trying to sell….if anyone is interested. I won it as a kid, well my parents won it; to be honest. This is not a joke, I really am trying to sell it. It has a few of the stickers gone and and two small cracks where the screws go into the frame. It works like a gem, though. Shoot me a message on Facebook if interested. My name is Adam Johns and I live on Punxsutawney, PA.