02x04 - All That Bling

[bunniefuu]

[dramatic music playing]

[Ken] John, this is insane.

-Cleopatra. Like, the Cleopatra.
-Yes. The Cle... Yes.

The Queen of the Nile, like, Egypt...

-Mark Antony... The whole thing.
-Queen of Egypt...

How is that possible?

So, this has provenance
going back 200 years, 100 years, 70 years.

-Mm-hmm.
-It's got paperwork with it.

Major auctions in London
looked at it in the '50s,

and then it was buried for many,
many years.

My client wants to remain confidential
with something so spectacular as this,

but we're gonna do everything we can
to prove this is what it is,

and I think it's a home run
and could be worth a fortune.

[mysterious music plays]

[Ken] Cleopatra was the Queen
of the Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 B.C.

As a teen monarch, she was known
for her cunning intellect and charm.

She took on famous lovers,
such as Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.

Most archaeologists believe
she was buried in ancient Alexandria,

which now resides
largely under the Mediterranean Sea

due to a tidal wave
hundreds of years after her death.

The search for Cleopatra's tomb

has puzzled countless
amateur and professional archaeologists,

making this Cleopatra hand
a potential unearthed miracle.

[Ken] Where was it
the previous 2,000 years?

It was captured
by a very famous British general.

He collects relics and he's handed this
as like a prize, as a w*r prize.

That's 200 years ago.

Then another hundred years goes by,

and we find the ownership
with somebody else in London.

Then it makes it to the United States,
and we've got paperwork all the way along.

How can we possibly authenticate
something like this?

So we've done work so far.
What we've done is, we've dated it.

-[Ken] Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
-We know it's a mummy's hand for sure.

-And the next step...
-[hands slap on lap]

...is we're going to test the DNA.

-Sorry, this is beyond comprehension.
-[John] Yeah.

[Ken] I've seen crazy stuff
brought in my office,

but never anything like this.

How do we get a comparison DNA
to even let us know what this is?

Okay, so she's from
what's called the Ptolemaic family.

[Ken] Okay.

And you can get DNA from other mummies
that are people who are from her family.

You realize, if we can authenticate this,
this will be mind-blowing.

It'll just completely blow
everything we've done out of the water

in terms of publicity.
Honestly, it's gonna crash our servers.

-It's definitely seven figures. Positive.
-Oh, without a doubt.

Now we just gotta hope it's real.

I want Goldin
to not only be an industry leader

in sports and in entertainment,
but anything that is collectible.

If this hand turns out to be
the hand of Cleopatra herself,

it is going to propel Goldin
to the top of anybody's mind

when they have
these rare historic artifacts.

Put me on the thread
with whoever's doing the authentication.

-I want to know it the second you know it.
-[John] You got it.

-Okay? Deal? Great.
-Hundred percent.

[Ken] Thank you, John. Good luck to us.

[John] Thanks.

[dramatic music playing]

["King of This Game"
by Get It Done & Gallo Locknez playing]

♪ Okay, okay, okay, go... ♪

♪ Show respect, I pose a threat ♪

♪ I'm the ace, expose the deck ♪

♪ Hold your bets
Or go hard with no regrets ♪

♪ I'm mad smart
And I know it best ♪

♪ I move out with the most finesse... ♪

-Carlo, I need new pictures of baby Roman.
-[Alex] He's so cute.

Chelsea sent me this one this morning.
Look at him, standing up.

-He's almost as big as Ryan.
-He...

[all laugh]

-Carlo?
-[Carlo] There he is.

-Tim.
-[Tim] Good morning.

-[Carlo] Great to meet ya.
-Good to see ya.

[Carlo] Thanks for coming.
We're all excited.

My name is Tim Derk,
and I'm from sunny San Antonio.

I'm the OG Spurs Coyote for 21 years.

-What am I walking into?
-He looks different outside of costume.

-[all laugh]
-Just as handsome.

I'm betting that not a lot
of mascot memorabilia

comes through Goldin Auctions.

I can't imagine
what it's like to be a mascot.

The joke is, what's the difference between
a pepperoni pizza and an NBA mascot?

The pepperoni pizza
can feed the average family of four.

[all laughs mischievously]

You did it for the love and the passion.

That's exactly right,
but I ended up raising a family of four.

What was the visibility like?
How much could you actually see?

Take a roll of paper towels,
stand like this.

-I can't see Carlo.
-[Alex] Wow!

[Carlo] But you're doing flips,
you're jumping on trampolines,

you're in that heavy costume.

It's kind of a dangerous job. [chuckles]

[Tim] Tore my rotator cuff three times,
tore a meniscus. Everything.

[Ryan] You were leaving it all
on the court.

Well, when I first started,
we didn't have any OSHA standards.

After my 992nd game,
I had a massive stroke.

-Oh my God.
-And I ended up in the hospital.

The fact that I beat myself up
as a mascot so much

and developed a high tolerance of pain,

I missed the warning signs
of an impending stroke.

Oy, ay, ay.

He went through a major hurdle,
which changed the course of everything.

And to see the way he brought himself back

motivates me to work harder for him
because he deserves it.

Okay, here we go. How cool is that?

I mean, how hard is it
to sh**t a basketball with that thing on?

-[Tim] Practice, practice.
-[Carlo] Right!

[Tim] This is my original 1983 jersey.

-[Carlo] No way. Look at that.
-[Myesha] Oh my God. Really?

[Tim] They're worth more
if they've never been washed.

That's right.

-This has never been washed.
-Oh boy.

-[Alex] Got any jewelry in there?
-[Tim] I do.

-[Carlo] Oh boy. Okay.
-[Ryan, Myesha] Oh.

I think value's increasing a little bit.

During those 34 years
that I worked for the Spurs,

I was fortunate enough
to amass five championship rings.

The first ring took 17 years to get.

-[Carlo] Oh my, look at that.
-[Ryan] No way.

I had them made
so that I can put them on all five.

-[Myesha] Yeah.
-So I had a thumb one made.

[Carlo] I knew that was going on the end.
I mean, that looks crazy.

It's my favorite
because it took 17 years to get.

[Carlo] Wow.

[pop music plays]

[Ken] In the early 20th century,

professional athletes
might receive a keepsake,

such as a pin or a pocket watch
to commemorate a championship.

That changed in 1922, when each player

on the World Series Champion
New York Giants

were given the first championship ring.

The NBA followed suit
after their inaugural final series

by giving rings to the 1947 champions,
the Philadelphia Warriors.

These days, a typical championship ring
contains over 100 diamonds

and is worth tens of thousands of dollars,

making these five
San Antonio Spur championship rings

a sparkling timeline of NBA history.

These are obviously tremendous items.

I think the rings are
what we need to talk about though.

Obviously, look,
I don't think an employee ring

would bring as much
as a Tim Duncan or David Robinson,

but, you know, you being Coyote,
the iconic mascot, for that long,

I think it adds a premium as well.

For me, though, I wouldn't want
to see these all in one auction.

-You wouldn't.
-I wouldn't.

They're unique, special.
Why have them compete against each other?

You know, I think we should put one
into auction, see how it does.

You can find the correct timing,
you think, to fit each ring?

-I do... Yeah.
-Individually.

I'd love to set the bar high

and then just keep bringing in
more diamonds from there,

and let that first ring do well.

More come to Goldin
a few months thereafter.

It's gonna set us up for success
better than running them all at once.

Look, it would not shock me if each one
was around the five-figure mark there,

and at the end of the day, you have


It's a great situation for you.

The ring holder is a little bit more
on that side of the table...

-[laughs] That's right.
-...than this side of the table.

So I'm getting closer.

[Tim] Fifty thousand dollars.
It's a little surprising.

To me, the value of the rings
is in the memories.

I don't know how many carats it is,
but it's 100 pounds of memories.

[Tim] I trust Goldin because

they didn't treat the rings
as necessarily just hardware.

I could get that they understood how much
they meant to me personally as well.

Let us do our thing,
let the world find out,

and then we'll keep it going.

Yes!

["Nobody Help" by KikBak
& Styliztik Jones playing]

♪ I can put this city on a map
You ain't gotta wonder where we at... ♪

[Ken] Great.

[Laura laughs playfully]

-[Ken] Did I just scrape my car?
-[Laura laughs]

-I don't think so.
-[Ken] Okay, we're good.

-[Laura] Ready?
-[Ken] Should we go into Pat's, Gino's?

Insomnia.

Cookies?

Just trust me. Let's go.

[hip-hop beat playing]

[Laura] So, obviously,
the Eminem album deal was a big success.

But when I was there,
I also got a lead on another hip-hop item.

Do you have anything else
that I may be interested in?

-I'm thinking of a jeweler...
-Mm-hmm.

...who might have
an interesting Dre piece for you

[Ken] Why are we doing a deal
at a cookie store?

[Laura] I figured, why not switch it up?

Make him remember us,
even if we don't get a deal done.

-[Ken] Sure.
-At least he can say he had fun.

-What if he's got a peanut allergy?
-Can you just trust me, please?

-Sure.
-[woman] Your cookies are almost ready.

[Laura] Thanks.
We're gonna eat in the lab.

-[woman] Okay.
-Come on.

[soul music playing]

-[Ken] Look at this.
-[Laura] Pretty cool, huh?

[Ken] Tell me again.
What's the story with this guy?

He has a very cool Dr. Dre item for us.

You're definitely gonna have
to work something out with him.

-Give him a good deal.
-So what's your game plan?

We're just gonna bring him in,

I'm gonna butter him up,
and you're gonna close the deal.

Well, this is your show.
We'll see how it goes.

-And when we talk numbers, I take control.
-[Laura] Okay.

Believe it or not, I know my strengths
and my weaknesses.

I'm a people person.

I can get all the info,
I can get things set up.

But my dad, he's the closer.

Exactly.

-Hey, Laura. How are you?
-[Laura] Hey! How are you?

What do you think of the place?

You know, I think you'll have
to buy me a lot of cookies here.

I know, I know.

-Ken. Nice to meet you.
-[man] Nice to meet you.

My name is Hal Ornstein,
and I'm from California.

I have been collecting so long
and have so many things,

my friends call me the high-end hoarder.

[Laura] I'm doing all my deals here
from now on.

-[both laugh]
-[munching] You guys are buttering me up.

[laughing]

I'm meeting with Goldin to possibly
consign my Dr. Dre Death Row necklace.

-Did you bring the necklace with you?
-I did.

[rap music playing]

[Hal] This is
Dr. Dre's Death Row necklace.

[Ken] Wow!

Oh, that is awesome!

His actual necklace? Like, he wore that?

[deliberately, chuckling] This is
Dr. Dre's Death Row necklace.

[Laura] Wow.

[Ken] Dr. Dre, born Andre Romell Young,

became famous in 1985
with the gangster rap group N.W.A.

Building on his success,

Dre started Death Row Records,
an American independent record label

that was founded in 1991 with The D.O.C.,
Suge Knight and d*ck Griffey.

The label created multi-platinum
hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists

such as Snoop Dogg, Tupac,
and Dr. Dre himself.

The Death Row medallion represented
the gangster rap lifestyle so much so

that some West Coast public schools
banned the logo.

This golden diamond necklace

with "Death Row Records"
spelled out in diamonds

was worn by now-billionaire Dr. Dre,

who continues to be
a prolific artist and music producer,

making this pendant
an auspicious acquisition.

[Hal] He didn't wanna be known
to be with Death Row anymore,

so he, uh, gave it to his jeweler.

-[Ken] Mm-hmm.
-Traded it in on jewelry.

-[Ken] Wow.
-[Hal] It's how I got it.

Probably got this in '93, '94,
like in that area.

Dre, there's nothing 'cause he doesn't
let anything go. There's nothing.

-There's never been a Dre thing sold.
-This'll be the first, hopefully.

-Jewelry is... is close.
-[Laura] Yeah.

You feel like you're part of the person
having a piece of their jewelry,

wearing it around your neck,
showing it off. "This was Dre's."

He's the richest of 'em,
and the most prolific of everybody, so...

Think of everybody who he has discovered.

-Not only Tupac, but Eminem as well.
-I know. Yeah. Yeah.

-[Ken] And everybody since then.
-Everybody.

In our fourth quarter, we're having
a special, um, pop culture auction.

Something like this
would run perfectly in that.

I mean, this is a much bigger item
than we expected, right?

Yes. Significant pieces like this
do not come around often,

and this would really give a big boost
to our music department.

You're welcome.

So what are you looking to do with it?

Well, maybe it's time
I let go of some of these treasures.

This year is the 50th anniversary
of the origin of hip-hop,

so no better time.

Tell me what you need from us
to get this deal done.

I'm looking for something up in a million,
so maybe there's an advance of something.

I definitely would, uh, be okay
with issuing you a $200,000 cash advance.

No. It would have to come up from there.

What would be reasonable to you
as cash advance?

Seven hundred thousand?

[hip-hop music playing]

♪ Yeah, I pull up on 'em
With a top back ♪

♪ We going up now
You can't stop that ♪

♪ Rings only
Homie, you don't know me ♪

♪ Doin' big things
So you can't go... ♪

[Alex] Does your wife style you?

-This is how I look 24/7.
-Natural swag?

-Throw on a flannel.
-[Carlo] Yeah.

-When are you shaving the beard?
-Never.

-I've had this since like 2005.
-[Alex] Actually...

[laughs]

-I don't know what I look like without it.
-Probably have a baby face like Ryan.

-[Ryan] You gotta see this.
-[Alex] What?

[Ryan] Come here. Oh my gosh.

-What the heck is this?
-[Alex laughs]

-Carlo, you... A yarmulke?
-I know you're gonna like this one.

A yarmulke.

This looks like a zucchetto.
We've sold these before.

-[Ryan] What's a zucchetto?
-Dude, Pope Francis, he wears that.

-The pope, 86 years old.
-[Ryan] Not touching it, then.

-Should we get gloves?
-[Carlo] Yes. This is holiest of the holy.

Look at this.

-[vocalizes]
-[Alex and Ryan laugh]

I mean, this is... this is the zucchetto
that Pope Francis wore.

-Good.
-Does it have sweat?

-It's a little stained.
-Smell it.

-I'm not.
-I'm gonna smell it.

-Probably smells like holy water.
-Does he wear one all the time, or...?

-I'm assuming he's got a few.
-You've never seen...?

-[Myesha] He has multiple, right?
-He has to, right?

-2017, okay.
-[Alex] All right.

-That's really cool.
-Pope Francis.

I cannot believe he wore this
and we're holding it. This is insane.

-I feel like my sins have been forgiven.
-[Ryan] That's a lot of sins, though.

-[Carlo laughs]
-[Fung] I've been waiting on this.

This has been a big mail day here.

Oh my gosh!

[Carlo] First edition
of the Harry Potter first book.

-Oh my God. That's so crazy.
-[Ryan] Look at that thing.

Are you kidding? Unbelievable.
In this kind of condition too, I mean...

That looks clean!

[Ryan] And to think nobody wanted this.

She pitched it
to so many publishing companies.

-[Myesha] Crazy.
-People turned her down left and right.

One person took a shot, and it's one
of the most successful books ever.

-[Alex] Yeah.
-[Carlo] This is for kids, bro.

[Ryan] You're out of your mind.
You've never watched Harry Potter?

No, I mean, I'm a grown man.

-[Ryan] What's wrong with this guy?
-[Carlo] Not interested.

I understand the value
and the importance of the book.

-But I'm Lord of the Rings all day.
-I've never seen that.

Epic battle scenes, battles and all that.

Oh my God.

This would be incredible
at our Comic Con booth.

[upbeat music plays]

[Ryan] We're heading to New York Comic Con
next week for the first time.

Pop culture items are a huge initiative
for us, and we have a big goal to hit.

I know the value's there.

I know we put this in our booth,
it's gonna draw people in.

This is a no-brainer for Comic Con.

-[Ryan] Don't know what this would go for.
-That's definitely 100K-plus.

-Easily 100K.
-[Ryan] Gotta be. It has to.

[Alex] Yes.

[Carlo] The crazy part is this is probably
the most valuable thing we unbox today.

-[Alex] Yes.
-[Fung] And what does that tell you?

-That Harry Potter is a good movie.
-This is a book.

Stop referencing the movies when
we talk about this first edition book.

Movies are based off of the books
and there we go, okay?

[Ryan] That's true.

[upbeat music playing]

What would be reasonable to you
as a cash advance?

Seven hundred thousand.

The problem with 700,000 is,
it's 70% of what you're hoping to get.

That's off-the-charts high.

It doesn't mean we're not gonna get
over a million dollars,

it means I wouldn't stay in business
if I did that for every customer.

If this goes right,
it's going to open the floodgate

and you're gonna get a lot
of big consignments, a lot of big things.

What I can do, because I love the item

and I think we're gonna
exceed your expectations,

is I can meet you halfway.

I will issue you
a cash advance today for $500,000

if you're willing
to meet me in the middle,

and we have a deal.

[pensive music playing]

[sighs]

Well... I'd... I'd go for that with you.



-Deal.
-[Ken] Awesome.

-[Hal] All right.
-Thank you!

-[Hal] You're welcome.
-Let's do this!

-We got a deal.
-[Laura] Can I have it?

-Here you go. Here you go. Goodbye.
-[gasps]

[Hal] When I walked in,
Ken offered me a $200,000 advance.

I almost got up and walked out.

I realized he's gonna give,
I'm gonna give,

so let's just give it a shot.

This was, like, on his neck.

Yes, it was.

Am I not the best?

This was a good one, Laura.
This was a good one.

-I told you so.
-Yes, you did. Sugar got to him.

Sugar got to him.

[Ken laughs]

[Laura] I don't know
if working here full-time is for me,

but I kinda like it.

I think I'm taking after you.

-No argument there.
-[chuckles]

At this point,
I must be making more than Ryan.

-[Ken] That's nothing to brag about.
-[Laura] Ah.

["Go and Get It"
by DJ $crilla & D-Werd playing]

♪ I'll admit it that I did it
'Cause I've been up here for a minute ♪

♪ So much time I been spending
So I gotta make it ♪

♪ 'Cause if I do not go and get it
Someone's bound to take it... ♪

-François! How are you?
-[François] Bonjour! Hey!

I'm good! How are you?

Good. Where are you?

You won't believe where I am.
Look at that. Look through the window.

[John] I'm not sure where that is.
Where are you?

-Yeah, I am in Alexandria, Egypt.
-[John] Wow!

Yeah. I'm working on excavations
for a documentary, and this is exciting.

I just jumped from the boat to see you.

[John] François is an Egyptologist,
a filmmaker,

and he's been working
with the owner of the hand.

He's been part of this from the start,

and he's been running point
on the authentication,

which is a highly complicated process.

I'm here for ten years,
so I did more than 50 documentaries,

and I work with the biggest names,
the biggest experts, uh, on excavations,

on Ancient Egypt and Cleopatra.

What you've done in this field,
it's amazing.

Did the hand come safely?

-Brink's truck.Yes.
-[François] Oh my God. I love that.

John, keep that... keep that in your vault.
Maybe you have a treasure.

I guess, you know, when I'm reading
through the provenance,

it was a trophy.

It was given to somebody
who was a military hero.

We could imagine that if someone
in the 19, uh, 18 or 19th century,

found this hand or found the mummy,

it has been cut in many pieces
to give trophies to anyone,

or to important people because,
you know, finding this mummy,

is like a treasure.

Giving a piece of Cleopatra
is something amazing.

I'm really excited.
I think, you know, this is big, François.

It's big.

Finding the Cleopatra's mummy
is one of the Holy Grails of archaeology.

[John] My big question today is,
what kind of evidence do we have

to prove that this is what we think it is?

What I can say today
with carbon dating that we did,

we are in front of a real mummified hand
from Ancient Egypt.

It's not a fake.

This is a high-end mummification process.

We do toxicological analysis,

and we know that all the ingredients
we found are very expensive.

So, this is a business-class
mummification.

So we know it's royalty no matter what,

and we know it's old.

Now we need to go through a DNA test,

but it's very difficult because
we are dealing with very degraded DNA.

It's a real ancient artifact.

It's a very long process. It's one year.

[mysterious music playing]

But with the DNA, it's another evidence

to go ahead with this artifact.

[John] We gotta make sure this is real.
That's the important thing.

Hearing Cleopatra's hand is gonna take
a year to authenticate is a huge blow,

but sometimes,
history moves at the speed of history.

Still, François is featuring this
in a documentary,

so he has a vested interest
in finding the answers.

I just wish they were coming sooner
because there's a lot of money at stake.

I mean, I... I can't wait to do what's next.

This is like a career pinnacle.

I'm... I'm holding this and I feel
like Indiana Jones or something like that.

This is gonna be enormous.

I'm overwhelmed.

["Ready for Whateva"
by KikBak & Styliztik Jones playing]

♪ We're ready for whateva
We're ready for whateva ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Think like a king
It's all in your mindset ♪

♪ Stayin' on point
How sharp can your mind get? ♪

[Ken] Spencer.

-Kenny, how are you?
-[Ken] Doing good. Doing good.

[chuckles] Good to see you again, pal.

Spencer and I go way back.
He's been friend and client for 12 years.

He's a big player
in the collectibles world,

and recently he's taken
a huge interest in comic books.

-I think we got some business to do today.
-Absolutely.

If Goldin can dominate pop culture
the way we do sports,

it can literally double
the size of our business,

so I'm hunting for the best of the best.

So as you know, Kenny, I'm interested
in consigning my Detective 27.

-Did you bring it with you?
-I did.

-Let me show it to you. Yeah.
-Let's take a peek.

High grade, 6.5.

-[heroic music plays]
-[Ken] First appearance of Batman.

This is one
of the granddaddies of them all.

-Awesome. Very pumped.
-[Spencer] Yeah.

[Spencer] I've always been
an avid collector.

I'm in it for both the love,
and also for the value.

The collectible market
is absolutely on fire.

Real estate may go up


These comic books have been going up
probably 30% or 20% a month.

So it's been crazy.

[Ken] This will literally make
my comic elite auction.

[Spencer] I'd be happy to.

-The only caveat is...
-[Ken] Mm-hmm.

...I'd like to be able to get an Action One,
the first appearance of Superman.

[pop beat plays]

You're telling me
that I will get first-ever Batman...

-[Spencer] Right.
-...but I need to find you the...

-Holy Grail.
-[Ken] ...the Holy Grail, exactly!

Action Comic # 1, the granddaddy.

Obviously, it's an extremely rare book.

There are maybe a handful of them
that are nice in unrestored condition.

You gotta remember
it came out right before World w*r II,

and almost all of 'em were destroyed.

Action #1 is the single rarest,
the single most valuable,

the single most sought-after comic book.

That is the first-ever
superhero comic book.

That is the first appearance of Superman.

It is the granddaddy of all comics,
it is the most important of all comics,

it is the most valuable of all comics.

This is not an ordinary ask.

The issue is, I mean,
I could see this going for 2.5 million,

possibly more,

but an Action #1 in similar grade
is gonna cost more than that.

How do you want to bridge the gap?

-I've brought one other thing with me.
-[Ken] Oh, man.

-This is... Yup.
-sh*t, here it is.

The first appearance of Spider-Man.

Amazing Fantasy #15.

These are two of the most iconic
and desired books in the comic book world.

Detective #27,
that is the birth of Batman.

Amazing Fantasy #15,
that is the birth of Spider-Man.

To find both of these books
in high-grade condition,

and my friend Spencer
is the one who has them?

I can tell you one thing.

I told this guy when it was time
to sell his Michael Jordan rookies,

and he made a ton of money doing so.

I now know what he put it into.

This will definitely bridge the gap.
Obviously you're looking at $600,000-plus,

so that will take you over the 3 million
that you would hopefully only need to, uh...

For me to pick up an Action #1 for you.
Might be tough, but we'll see...

If anybody could do it, I know you can.

It's only as rare
as a T206 Honus Wagner, right? [laughs]

Whatever I have to do to be able to get
that Action #1, I'm willing to do it.

-[Ken] Mm-hmm.
-And the one I trust to do it is you.

-Thank you, Spencer. I appreciate it.
-[Spencer] No problem. Hey.

-Bring it in.
-[Spencer] All right. There you go.

-[Ken] Have a good one.
-[Spencer] Thanks a lot, Ken.

[hip-hop music playing]

So when did you
finally first use an iPhone?

-Probably about iPhone 4.
-Wow.

The other ones prior to that
were just a little bit battery issues.

I'm one of the top items scouts
here at Goldin.

I'm an expert in Marvel, comics,
Pokémon, video games, tech.

-[Fung] What's up, bro?
-[Ryan] Alex, what's up? How are you?

-How is everything? Good?
-Ryan, Todd.

-Todd, how are you?
-[Todd] Ryan, it's nice to meet you.

-Please, sit down.
-[Todd] Thank you.

My name is Todd Kletter.
I'm from Albany, New York,

and I've brought a first-generation iPhone
sealed in its box

to potentially put up for auction today.

I had the item listed on eBay
for a period of time,

and I got an email from Alex, who said,
"I'd love to have a conversation with you

about potentially selling your item
through Goldin Auction." Here I am.

Are you an iPhone collector,
or how... how did you acquire this?

I'm not a collector. Bought one
for myself, bought one for my mom.

I never used it. Missed the return window.

It's been in a safe, and I said,
"Time to take a look at selling it."

[Ken] In 2007, Steve Jobs
rang in the new year with his demo

of the first-generation iPhone
on January 9th at the Macworld conference.

Today, Apple is going
to reinvent the phone.

[Ken] It was at this conference
Jobs made the first public phone call

from the unveiled phone
when he notoriously pranked Starbucks,

ordering 4,000 lattes.

This revolutionary factory-sealed
Generation 1 iPhone

is a near-impossible find.

Think about this though.
He purchased this back in 2007.

-What was it?
-Well, the 4-gigabytes were sold at 499.

-[Ryan] Okay.
-And the 8-gigabytes were sold at 599.

Sat on a shelf
because you couldn't return it.

-Yup. You got it.
-[Ryan] Now you're sitting on a gold mine.

-Why can't I have mistakes like that?
-[laughs]

So I have to ask, why... why now?

I've got a young daughter, and one
of the thoughts I had was selling this,

buying some Apple stock
and socking it away for her.

-One day she'll have a pile of money.
-[Fung] College fund.

-Is there a number you have in mind?
-[Ryan] Yeah.

I always go by recent comps
to see what the trends are.

We have a sale for, like,


Yeah, and then there was one after that,
that actually did over 60.

-Okay.
-That tells me that the market is strong.

And it continues to go up a little.

I'd say this is in that 50 to 70 range.
I'd feel pretty confident about that.

Obviously, you don't see these ever,
especially in this condition.

So we'd make sure it was authenticated,
not that I question it in any way,

but we protect our buyers
just as we protect our sellers.

-That's what it has to be.
-[Todd] Cool.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Ryan] I don't think
we're getting scammed.

This is the provenance you love to hear.

But once we take over and I take
possession of this original iPhone 1,

it is my job to handle everything
from that point forward,

including authentication.

I have to say with 100% certainty

that this item is an original iPhone 1,
and if it's not, we can't do the deal.

That's one of the questions I get on eBay,
how can I be certain the phone's in there?

During this time
there was a lot of scamming,

and what people were doing is

they were actually opening it,
filling it with rocks...

No kidding.

...for the exact same weight,
resealing it and selling it.

[Fung] Scamming is always gonna be around,

and scammers are trying to figure out
new ways to be able to scam the system.

-[Fung] A lot of people got scammed.
-Interesting.

And they were left with pebbles.

["Natural Born Winner"
by Aaron Fraser playing]

♪ I own the ring
I own the court ♪

♪ I'm gonna win
That's how I was taught ♪

-♪ That's how I was taught... ♪
-[beeping on screen]

-[Carlo] Here we go. Incoming bid.
-[Myesha] Carlo, here you go.

-[Carlo] Let's get another one.
-[ping on screen]

The question is,
do you think it'll get more bids?

-[Carlo] I'd love to get a few more bids.
-[Myesha] Yes.

Tim brought a lot of cool stuff,
but his jersey, his paws,

I'm confident they mean more to him
than what we can get at auction.

-The rings are a different story.
-Oh. Spurs championship ring, huh?

-This is it. Tim Derk.
-Tim D... Ah, Tim Derk.

I thought it said
Tim Duncan for a second there.

[Myesha laughs]

-[Carlo] Tim Derk's the man.
-[Robbie Jr.] He's cool.

He's been there since the '80s.
He's one of the original mascots.

-He has all five rings.
-All five.

-[Robbie Jr.] All five?
-Yes.

I dunno what you expect this to do,

but that's one of the best dynasties
in the last 50 years of American sports.

-For sure.
-Exactly.

This... This is a steal
for somebody right here.

We were hoping to get five figures.
We're coming down to the end. I just, uh...

You know, Tim's one of the good guys.
We wanna do it for him.

[Carlo] Tim's rings are so unique,

I wouldn't want to see 'em all
in one auction.

So to me, the best strategy was,
let's sell the '98-'99 ring.

Sets us up for success
for the better rings.

I'm a little nervous because this ring
has been slow out of the gate,

but I'm staying patient.

Items like this usually have
a flurry of bids down the stretch.

[ping on screen]

[Carlo] I really hope so for Tim's sake.

Come on, man. It's the first
championship ring ever. This thing's huge!

-It ain't over till it's over.
-[ping on screen]

-Come on. Come on. Awesome.
-[ping on screen]

If it goes $10,000-plus,
I'm very happy with that sale.

Five figures for a mascot ring.

Some people might think it's crazy.
That doesn't sound crazy to me.

-'Cause there's only one mascot.
-Yeah.

There's 12 other guys on the team,
and the coach, and the front office.

-There's only one of him.
-[beeping]

-Here we go.
-Here it is.

-Carlo. Here you go.
-Come on, let's get another one.

[screen beeping, pings]

-All right! We're there.
-Yes! I told ya!

-You got your five figures.
-Five figures right off the break.

[Myesha] Yes!

-Tim is the man. He deserves this.
-He does.

-I wanna deliver his check personally.
-That's right.

-Yeah, hand it to him.
-I want to put it right in that paw.

[laughing] Yeah! Right?

-Here we go. Coming down to the end here.
-[Myesha] Another bid.

-[Carlo] Here we go.
-[Robbie Jr.] There it is!

-[Myesha] Carlo, here you go.
-[Carlo] Let's get another one.

-[ping on screen]
-[Carlo] All right!

-I'm not a Spurs fan, and I'm excited.
-[Carlo] Three, two, one, come on!

-[Robbie Jr.] Come on, now.
-[Carlo] Yes!

-[Myesha] Okay!
-[Robbie Jr.] Twelve thousand, man!

-[Myesha] Carlo. Crazy.
-[Robbie Jr.] I gotta hug you.

[Carlo] So Tim the mascot's first ring
went for 12,000,

but with my commission,
it went for 14,400.

So Tim clears 12K, which is great,

because he thought
it was gonna get 10K at most.

All those years
of doing backflips, breaking bones,

it's really worth it when good guys win.

[Myesha] How exciting!

["Good Vibrations"
by Altitude Music playing]

-♪ Better on a shoulder ♪
-♪ Good, good, got that good vibration ♪

♪ Rescue rattlesnake bites on the python ♪

♪ Good, good, got that good vibration ♪

-Have you ever done this before?
-I have not. I'm a little nervous.

-Like, do we need lead vests or something?
-I have no idea.

-[Ryan] Hey, John. What's going on?
-[John] What's up?

-I'm Ryan. John, good to see you.
-[John] Good to see you again.

[Ryan] Here's obviously the item
in question.

-I'm dying to look at it.
-I feel confident though.

-[locks click]
-Love this.

-[Ryan] Look at this.
-[John] Love it. I remember mine.

-[Ryan] How special is that?
-Wow. We gotta take a look.

[upbeat music plays]

[John] It might seem crazy
to use something like an X-ray machine

in the final analysis,

but I'd say probably


is at least questionable or fake.

It's an arms race.

The forgers and fakers are getting better.
We need to get better.

So that kind of thing, we've gotta develop
more and more and more.

-I have a great story about Apple. Uh...
-Okay.

Many years ago,
one of the original partners, Ron Wayne,

approached me and said, "I have
the original contract for Apple Computer."

And I bought it from him
for not a lot of money.

It was the '90s,
and I sold it to a software guy.

Jobs dies. I see it in a major auction
in New York a month later.

-It sells for 1.7 million.
-[Fung] Oh my God.

-[John] Probably worth 10 million today.
-[Ryan] That just hurts.

-Yeah. Who knew?
-Who knew about this?

[John] All right, time for the main event.

-The iPhone 1. Let's do it this way first.
-[suspenseful music playing]

-[Paul] This is going to be the real deal.
-Okay.

I have like 60,000 riding on it,
so that's nothing, right?

If that X-ray comes up as inconclusive,
or not what we're looking for,

I lose $60,000 and a huge deal.

-Is this supposed to be nerve-racking?
-I'm nervous.

[Ryan] As long as it's not just me.

This is the best way to authenticate it.

[suspenseful music continues]

[Ryan] Oh boy.

[music stops]

-[Ryan] All right.
-[John] All the things are there.

The phone's on top
and the accessories are there.

The charging cable,
you have the charging block.

You have the headphones,

and the phone
always sits over the accessories.

We won't know that it's authentic
unless we get a clear view of the phone.

-Let's flip it around.
-[Ryan] Okay.

-[John] It's the $60,000 question.
-[Ryan] Here we go.

-[suspenseful music resumes]
-[Paul] And here we go.

[music stops]

-[John] iPhone.
-[Fung] Looks good.

-[Ryan] All right.
-Bingo!

-All right. Dude, let's go. Come on, now.
-Yeah! Yes!

The battery sits
underneath the logic board.

So, yeah,
that is a first-generation iPhone.

-That's it. A little 60K there.
-[John] Bingo! Great consignment, buddy.

Thank you very much.

It is freaking legit.

This is what makes Goldin Goldin.

We do whatever we have to do to make sure
that an item can be 100% authenticated.

It's not only a value add to us because
we're keeping our reputation where it is,

but it also is a value add
to the seller himself

because to be able to put that stamp
that this is exactly what it is,

it's not something he could do himself.

That's what drives those prices sky-high.

If you have time, I would love for you
to X-ray some of my personal items.

-Sure. Absolutely.
-I want to see.

-Let's go.
-[John] What you got?

[Fung] I personally have a lot
of sealed iPhones in my collection.

And once I heard
that John had the X-ray machine,

I was like,
"I have to bring them to Goldin."

[Ryan] Oh, my...

-Yeah. Not a 2G, but, you know, sealed.
-[John] The mother lode.

-[John] iPhone 3GS's.
-[Ryan] Oh my gosh.

[Fung] I always try
to keep one of everything.

-[Ryan] So what does one of these run?
-Between five to ten thousand.

[Ryan] All right, so dinner's on you.

-[suspenseful music plays]
-[clicks]

-I wish I'd bought some.
-I know. I'm, like, jealous.

[music builds, stops]

-Looks good.
-All right.

They always put the phone on top
and the accessories on the bottom.

-So that's how it is. Tighter.
-[John] Yeah. It looks neater and tighter.

It's gonna increase the value
significantly.

-[Fung] Let's try this one.
-[Paul] Okay, it's processing.

-Nervous again?
-Yeah.

-[Paul] This is the hard part.
-I'm nervous for you.

-[John] Ooh.
-[Fung] That does not look right at all.

It's not an iPhone. Flip it on its side.

The sealing is very different here
than these other two.

-[Fung] Let's try it on this side.
-[Ryan] Yup. Are you crushed right now?

Definitely got screwed.
There's no accessories!

-Whoa, whoa. You're opening it?
-It's not real!

That sucks, man. I'm sorry.

-[Ryan] What are you gonna do?
-Stand back. He's got a knife.

-[clatters]
-[Fung] It's a T-Mobile Sidekick.

[John] Disappointment.

-That's incredible.
-Wow.

-[Paul] Wow, wow, wow.
-I love this phone, by the way.

But I hate that I lost this.
I'm, like, sick to my stomach right now.

Holy crap, dude.

[exhales forcefully]

Wow. Alex lost $5,000 or $10,000
on a phone that was fake.

But that pinpoints
why we must use this type of technology,

and we got to keep going with it
to protect ourselves and the clients.

But we can X-ray anything, then.
Anything that's sealed.

-Great for the authentication process.
-[John] I wanna buy the machine.

-[Fung] Yeah, how much?
-[all laugh]

-It's not for sale.
-[Fung] Not for sale.

["Respect My Title [feat. Lambeau]"
by Bigger Story Music & Lambeau playing]

♪ You better respect my title
You know I feel the greatest ♪

♪ I know I'm still elevating
I'm still trying to step in the game... ♪

-Hey, Tim!
-Oh no!

-[chuckling] Hey!
-How are you? Congratulations!

[Tim] Well, thank you.

You thought five figures
and sure enough, it did.

It was slow in the beginning,
and then that last hour was crazy.

It is not for the faint of heart. [laughs]

[Carlo] That's right.
That ring, it's their first championship.

So the sentimental value's there.
Very special.

But you know, now as the years move on,
so does the gold and the diamonds, right?

-So, you know...
-[Tim laughs]

...the rings themselves are more valuable,

and I think now when buyers see this,

it's gonna help
the value of the other ones.

So we're at a great place right now.
Great start.

I trust your strategy and also your logic.

I like the momentum we started with,
that's for sure.

I'll give you a high four.

[laughs] That's great!

I mean, look, every time
there are certain consignors,

you just want more for them,
and after hearing your story,

we were really pulling for you, so...

-I appreciate it.
-Yeah.

It's a big deal, and for you
to entrust us was a big deal for me.

To see it come full circle
with a great sale

is obviously, you know,
kind of the cherry on top here.

Oh, awesome. So my thanks to all of you.

[Carlo] Tim is the man.
He deserves as much as anyone else.

His story, the way he entrusted me
and for myself and Goldin to deliver,

it was the best feeling.

[Carlo] All right, Tim,

congratulations on a great start,
and we're ready to do it four times again.

And again, and again,
and again, and again.

Congratulations. We'll talk soon.

["Ball All Night"
by Bigger Story Music playing]

♪ I'mma ball, I'mma ball
I'mma ball all night... ♪

Guys, I've been looking at the numbers,
and you guys have just been...

You've been crushing it.
But we've got Comic Con coming up.

-[Carlo] Mm.
-Yeah, what's the plan there? I mean...

We're bringing the A-Team.
We're all going to Comic Con this year.

-I've never even been to a Comic Con.
-Me either!

-I don't know what to expect.
-[Alex] I'm so excited.

-[Ryan] I know you've been before, but...
-It's the best time. It's the best time.

The best way to put it is Comic Con's
like a sports collector's show,

but instead of big, heavy,
sad, smelly guys,

there's girls in costumes
and it's actually a fun place to be...

-And also smelly guys, though.
-[Ryan laughs]

Comic Con New York
is the pinnacle of pop culture.

It's a four-day event in New York City.

It's the biggest convention
for non-sports.

You've got hundreds of booths,
tens of thousands of people,

and people that are really there
to make big deals.

When we go to sports conventions
like the National Convention,



Those were all goals we've had
and we've crushed.

We get into the Comic Con,
I've never even been to a Comic Con.

We just can't be distracted
with all the fluff,

and focus on those big deals
because they're there.

We gotta dig through and find 'em.

[Dave] With us in the non-sports realm
right now where we're at,

people are gonna want to give us
comics, give us figurines, toys,

you know, but there's
a pretty decent-sized goal for us.

Ken wants $2 million...

-[pop music plays]
-[Alex chuckles] What?

[Dave] ...in the first 48 hours
of Comic Con.

Two million.

Where did that number come from?
We've never even been to a Comic Con.

It's a very lofty call, as you guys know,

but we've done 5, 10, 20 million
at these shows in sports before.

-There's gonna be...
-That's our world.

When we work sports shows,
we're teeing things up ahead of time.

We have leads. Do we have anything?
Are you talking to anyone now?

Alex Fung, he's gonna be there.
He's gonna be teeing up some deals.

-This is Alex Fung's Super Bowl.
-[Ryan] True.

He's been talking about this
to me since the day I met him.

He knows every dealer,
been setting up there for decades.

But we're going to have to get
on the floor and close some deals.

Do you know if Ken found
that Action #1 for Spencer yet?

[Dave] No. Spencer's a big customer order.

A lot of pressure on Ken now,
which is why we have a $2 million goal.

And you know when Ken says $2 million,

he probably wouldn't even be happy
with near 2 million.

Yeah, 2 million is probably bad.

I think a lot of times
people might interpret Ken saying,

"Oh, I want you guys to do $2 million"
as, "Let's try to do that."

That's not how he operates.
This is not, "Let's try to do that."

It's, "You better consign $2 million
worth of product in those first 48 hours."

Like, that's it.

It's you either do it,
or you don't and face the consequences.

[Carlo] Pressure's on now.

[pop music plays, then stops]

["Ready for Whateva"
by KikBak & Styliztik Jones playing]

♪ We're ready for whateva
We're ready for whateva ♪

♪ Gifts from a higher source
Driftin' in a flyer Porsche ♪

♪ Yes, it is I, of course
We 'bout to body morph ♪

♪ So metaphysical
We do the science ♪

♪ Only big checks now
We do the signing ♪

♪ We're ready for whateva
We're ready for whateva ♪

♪ We're ready for whateva
We're ready for whateva... ♪