02x05 - King Con

[bunniefuu]

[dramatic music playing]

["Let the Games Begin" playing]

♪ Let the games begin ♪

♪ You can hear the winning ♪

♪ When you hear the call
The competition is finished ♪

♪ 'Cause any day now
We are about our business ♪

♪ There's no coming back
Especially when we're winning ♪

♪ Let the games begin
We can hear the winning ♪

-Look at this. Oh my gosh.
-Oh my God.

-This is so cool.
-[Carlo] This is nuts, man.

[Ryan] This is insane.

-There he is!
-Oh, wow.

[Myesha] Hey, Ken!

-[Ken] Okay.
-There he is!

[Dave] Cosmic Ken.

Love the shirt.

-Everybody excited?
-[team] Let's go! Yes!

-Everybody excited?
-[team] Yeah!

[Ken] When you look out there,
what do you see?

-[Ryan] Money.
-Thank you!

-That is my man! Exactly.
-Yeah! Money. Money.

We've done hundreds
of sports collectors conventions.

We have never been to New York Comic Con
before. Think about that.

This is unknown territory for us.

This has to be conquered
by the Goldin team.

Remember, we are here to bring back
millions for our next pop culture auction.

Your goal: Two days, $2 million.

That's the bare minimum.

We need to go out
to all the dealers, all the sellers.

People even walking the floor.
See what they have.

Sell them on Goldin.

There are hundreds of millions of dollars
worth of product on that convention floor.

I want as much as possible
to come back to Goldin.

They should be getting me $2 million
of product in the first two hours.

Here's the plan.

Alex, you're gonna be out there
getting us leads.

I know every dealer in this room,
from comic books, to cards, to Funko.

This is definitely my territory.

But reaching that goal of two million
is a little up there.

Goldin really isn't well known here,
so I'm definitely stressing out.

[Ken] The rest of you, you're out there
to find us product and get it consigned,

and get a contract locked down
no matter what.

We have to show them
what Goldin is all about.

Right now, there's multiple
other auction houses in this building,

a lot of them in business 20, 30 years.

My goal for Goldin
is to let everybody know,

"Hey, we've arrived."

I don't wanna break in the door,
I want to kick down the door,

so that when they think of comic book
and comic book collectibles,

they immediately think of Goldin.

My goal is, by the time we attend
next year's New York Comic Con,

we are viewed as the industry leader.

[Ken] One other thing.

Action #1.

What's going on with that Action #1?
I haven't heard anything.

You had promised me
you were gonna take care of it.

Spencer is what's known
in this business as a whale.

I do millions of dollars
of business with him each year.

If I lose him,
not only do I lose his business,

but any of the other clients
he talks to me about.

The whales in this business need to know
you can take my word to the bank.

I'm giving you my word,
I'm gonna get this done.

Comic Con is coming up in New York.
I'm gonna be there.

I'm not gonna leave that building
without an Action #1.

You see an Action #1, you stop
what you're doing, you contact me.

I'm gonna go over, and try and close
the deal. That is priority one. Okay?

-All right.
-Let's go out there.

Let's kick some a*s,
and show 'em what Goldin's all about.

-Let's go.
-Come on.

[dramatic music playing]

[thrilling music playing]

-[Pikachu] Pika!
-[Carlo] Yes, Pikachu.

Thank you.

[Myesha] Oh, here we are!

Look at this!

-Wow.
-[Myesha] Oh, that's nice.

-The boys are live at the Con.
-We're live. We're live.

-The Goldin boys!
-And girl.

-What up?
-And girl!

We have some amazing items
displayed from our pop culture auction.

If you want to check out some items
that are on display. Not just comics.

We have music.

[Dave] Nirvana signed photograph.

Michael Jackson
personally owned and used fedora.

Look at this, Superman #14.

We are accepting
consignments at the booth.

Come drop off video games,
comic books, action figures, man.

We got great stuff on display here today.

[hip-hop music playing]

[Fung] Carlo,
I've got a good contact for you.

I know he's got one six-figure item.

-Alex, you're coming up huge this trip.
-Big-time collector.

-We're in his wheelhouse, baby!
-Okay.

[Fung] Anthony. What's up?

-What's up, dude? How are you?
-How are you?

I want to introduce you to Alex.

-Hey, Anthony.
-And Carlo.

-Anthony. Pleasure.
-How you doing?

-This your friend? Even in this jacket?
-Yeah.

Oh my God.

Fung introduces me to Anthony,
who owns a comic book store.

He tells me he's got
some great vintage books.

I'm looking forward
to taking some off his hands.

-I heard you got some good books for us.
-Maybe.

-We'll see.
-[Anthony] Maybe for them, not for you.

-You're the worst.
-[Carlo] He was talking you up, Anthony.

-I'm pumped to see these, man.
-All right. It's...

-They're significant, I guess. I mean...
-[Carlo] Okay.

-Can't get more significant than that.
-[Carlo] God!

Number 1?

-First Captain America.
-That's ridiculous.

-That's a nice grade, 5.5.
-Timely.

-[Carlo] Captain America #1, CGC 5.5.
-[Fung] 1941.

[heroic music playing]

[Ken] This Captain America comic book,
released in the golden age of comics,

features one of the first known
representations of Hitler

on a comic book cover.

It was considered a bold
and even dangerous move

to humiliate a world leader in this way,

and there was fear that,
if angered by the cover,

Hitler or one of his many supporters
could retaliate,

making this Captain America #1,
graded 5.5 comic,

a daring piece of American history.

They didn't want to publish it
because of the w*r,

there was too much controversy going on,
but Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, and Stan Lee,

they pushed it through.

This is one of the bigger things
I've seen, man. This is very special.

I don't want to personally, like,
get rid of it, get rid of it.

[Carlo] Understood.

I just wanted to, like, sell it
to maybe upgrade to a better copy.

I'm thankful even to see it, man.
What... what else we got?

So the other one that I have
is an X-Men #1...

[Carlo] Oh my God.

...9.2...

-Dude...
-Dude!

I love X-Men. I'm an X-Men fan.

This was one of the first
to be comin' off the printing press.

Wow.

You see with the secondary ones,

-when the pressing ran out of ink...
-Okay.

you'll see this in a lime green,
and like a faded red.

This is dark green, dark reds,
and a really white cover

that you could see through.

I mean, look, this is... this is the top.

-You... you see these maybe once a year.
-Right.

[Carlo] The collectors know
they might not get another chance at that.

I know right away if I'm able to get
both these books, even one of them,

it's gonna be a big step towards our goal,
and it's gonna be a big splash.

I mean, so for me, Anthony,
these aren't just comic books.

-This is a piece of American history.
-[Anthony] Right.

Literally. Let me ask you this, Ant.
What's your number?

For, uh...

For X-Men 1...

my number might be a little aggressive,
but I would probably be asking like...

-250, 250,000.
-[Carlo] Okay.

[Anthony] The white pages alone,
it makes it a rarity.

For Captain America, I truly believe
there is no price value for this.

I honestly believe that this book
is more important than Action Comics #1

because it literally doesn't fall
under the category of a comic.

It's more of an antique and collectible
at this point.

But if I had to put a number figure on it,
again, aggressive ask...

-270,000, or...
-[Carlo] Wow.

-We're Italian. Always go aggressive.
-Right. You got it.

It's a big number, though, Carlo.

So, we're looking at half-million-plus
all in with these two.

[Anthony] Yeah, absolutely.

[Carlo] I mean, I don't think
the numbers are that crazy,

but it's hard to find
that buyer privately,

whereas, you know, with us,
you're going to have the entire world.

Every qualified buyer,
they're gonna have to battle to get these.

You don't see these often.

If this was a book we saw
every single month, I'd say, "Maybe not."

But you see this maybe once a year.

That creates that kind of desirability,
that creates a sense of urgency. I mean...

Let's consign these.
Why don't we find you the next ones?

This way, you sell these, let's get you
that half-million-dollars-plus.

Let's roll it into a better copy,
and then it's a win-win.

-Right.
-Anthony, let's climb the ladder. Come on.

-That's what you want, right?
-Climb that ladder, baby!

For, uh... For my friend
"Macho Man" Randy Savage over here...

[Fung] Yeah...

-You don't even have...
-...I would consign this.

-I'll do the Captain America.
-All right, my man.

-Wait. What?
-Let's do it, brother.

Yes, sir.

[Carlo] We locked down
the Captain America #1.

This book is iconic.

I can't wait to bring it back
to the booth, show Dave, Ken, the team.

"Look, man, this could be
a quarter-million-dollar book."

Nice chip away towards our goal.

This is what it's all about.
We're taking big swings and we're winning.

[Carlo] Oh, last thing.

-Have you seen an Action #1 here?
-No.

[upbeat music playing]

Have you graded
any Action #1's at the show?

No, we have not.

Do you know if anybody at this show
has an unrestored Action #1?

I haven't seen one. We rarely get them.
We get them maybe one or two a year.

Have you seen an Action #1 at the show?
Unrestored?

I have not.

Okay. [sighs]

[Ken] Oh my God, I'm dying.

Ken's like a god at sports shows.

Honestly, it's the craziest thing
you'll ever see.

But at this event, he's less known.

He's running around
looking for this Action #1,

almost in a sense of urgency/desperation.
Like, he has to make this happen.

I'm trying to find an unrestored,
high-grade Action #1 for a client,

and I'm trying to see if anyone
in the show either has a lead,

or you've seen it around the show.

I've not seen it around the show.

-[Ken] This is crazy.
-[man] Yeah.

-What's the next booth we're going to?
-I was really after like a Charizard PSA.

-Yeah.
-This is... this is a big boy.

Matt DiMasi is a mosaic artist.

Alex is bringing me
to meet him for the first time.

And it's a great thing
because Matt, in the past,

sold a Jordan mosaic with Goldin
for almost 30K.

Matt typically does
his glass mosaic tile replicas in sports.

But today, it's a Pokémon replica,
so I'm excited to check it out.

Walking up and down these aisles,
there's so many amazing pieces.

But, I mean, these just catch your eye
right off the bat.

I don't even know what it...
Is it like a tiling?

It's a mosaic
made out of shattered pieces of tile.

[Ryan] Wow, it just stands out.
I mean, all your artwork does.

-We sold the Jordan before. Huge success.
-Wow.

But I mean, these catch my eye.
But I gotta be honest with you.

This is the one that catches my eye,
I'm not gonna lie.

Would you consider putting it
on the market, putting on auction?

Let the world see it.

-I'd like to have the world see this.
-[Ryan] Okay.

And you guys have awesome exposure,
so, greatly appreciate it on the Jordan.

I need to consider a few things
before it goes that route.

-There's a possibility of a private sale.
-Okay.

I don't know the details of yet.

I heard some of it,
but I don't know the full story.

Okay. Obviously, you're not there yet.
You're not ready to let it go yet.

Not yet.

Obviously, with the Jordan,
you came when you were ready.

-We did great things.
-You did wonders. I appreciate...

As long as... Whenever you're ready,
you come to me, you come to us.

-We can take care of you. It's all I ask.
-Perfect.

-Can you do that?
-Yeah.

-Man, I really appreciate you. Seriously.
-Thank you, Ryan.

-I appreciate it.
-Good to see you.

There's a $2 million goal.
So you have to turn out deal after deal.

Time is of the essence right now,
and this doesn't help.

[Ryan] All right. I mean...

-[Fung] It sucks.
-[Ryan groans]

-I wanted that one bad.
-Give him some time.

[Ryan] Yeah. I wanted that one bad.

[upbeat electronic music playing]

[man] He's right over there.

Peyton texted me
that Eli was gonna be here.

I just didn't think I'd get
the opportunity to talk to him,

but the Comic Con gods
have clearly brought us together today.

-[Ken] Eli, what's up, man?
-Hey, Ken.

-Hey, how you doing?
-What's going on?

-Good to see you.
-Hey. You gotta help me out here.

You gotta handle a little dispute
I'm having with Peyton.

Now, he says that his jerseys
are worth more than mine.

Yet I'm hearing something different.

Can you kinda settle the truth here?

Oh, God. Did he tell you
I said his was worth more?

Yes.

Eli and I were talking,
and somebody told him

that his first Super Bowl-winning jersey
is worth more

than either
of my Super Bowl-winning jerseys.

Tell me that's not true.

Okay. So, here's what I told him.

I said, "You're Super Bowl 42.
You beat the undefeated Patriots."

-Right.
-"You beat Tom Brady."

-"k*lled their undefeated season."
-I remember.

I said, "That is the most valuable
Super Bowl jersey of them all."

-Right.
-"You were MVP."

-Right.
-Um...

-And I don't know what else to tell you.
-I think that hurt his feelings.

-Okay. Probably did.
-I think that crushed Peyton a little.

-His ego just like went down.
-Yeah!

-His head's really big. It's like...
-Right, of course!

He's worried about...
We need to get that thing smaller, right?

Of course.
Well, let's not let him know, okay?

-I can't promise that.
-Listen.

While we're talking
about the Super Bowl jersey,

do you have something from the Super Bowl
you want to put on Goldin?

-I can probably find something.
-Awesome.

-I got a little archive of some stuff.
-Beautiful. I'd love to...

-I'll come visit. We'll pick something.
-I love it.

I'll let you get out of here.
Thank you so much, Eli.

-Good seeing you,
-Have a good one.

["Push It to the Limit" playing]

♪ Push it to the limit
Push it to the limit, yeah, yeah ♪

-[Fung] This guy over here.
-Yeah.

Basically, every creative
toy vinyl artist, he's involved.

He's the guy.

-Meet my good friend... Carlo.
-How are you, man?

It's a pleasure. Nice to meet you.
Alex spoke so highly of you.

[Carlo] Fung introduces me to Lev.

This guy has been in the game
longer than I've been alive.

He owns Toy Tokyo. I mean, this guy
is the authority on action figures.

He has all these figures from KAWS,
a really well-known artist,

and I see a lot of value here.
I'm trying to get some items from him.

You want to talk about
getting this out there?

I mean, this could explode with us.

I brought a rare piece here.
I can bring that out and show you.

[Carlo] I'd love to see it.

Goldin, we're all about the grails
and some of those rare pieces.

[Lev] This is the KAWS BFF.

This was hanging in one
of the Christian Dior stores.

-[Carlo] Okay.
-[Lev] In fact...

-You see where they hung it off that.
-Exactly. So these were never for sale.

You ever think about consigning them?

We're Goldin. We're obviously the biggest
collectibles marketplace in the world.

-But this is from my collection.
-Okay, I understand.

-I respect that.
-And I... I will not sell it.

Okay. Okay. No, I respect that.
I respect that.

I'm going to...
I'm going to hold onto this piece.

I can appreciate the passionate collector.

I mean, look, obviously at Goldin,
we're always looking for grails. I mean...

Anything else in that realm that you have?

I have to think about that.

-Okay
-Yeah.

Listen, you're well-connected
in the space.

We're always looking for comics,
vintage toys.

We're gonna keep talking.
I'd love to see that at Goldin one day.

Always a possibility.

-Lev, thank you. A pleasure.
-Thank you.

[upbeat music playing]

-Ken! Hey, Ken.
-What?

-We got a DM from Nerdy Girl. She's here.
-Danielle too?

-Okay.
-Yes, and I know she has an Action #1.

-Do you know where she is?
-I don't know, but she's in the building.

-Let's get outta here.
-Alright.

[Ken] Where are the dealer booths?

Danielle, a.k.a. Nerdy Girl,
is a top seller and buyer of comic books.

She's been doing this her whole life.
Danielle is one of these people

that's buying these now-grail comic books
when they were pennies on the dollar.

-What kind of rush on this?
-[Ken] Here we are.

-[Myesha] Hello.
-Danielle!

Hey!

She's very savvy, and I'm hoping that
I can rely on her help once again today.

-All exhibitor passes are sold out.
-Yep.

You can't even buy
extra exhibitor passes this year.

-I should sell this when I leave, right?
-It's a golden ticket. A "Goldin" ticket!

-[laughs]
-Exactly!

Myesha tells me either you have
or you have a lead on an Action #1.

-I mean, I have an Action #1.
-Mm-hmm.

-I really don't want to part with it...
-[Ken] Uh-huh.

So, I did a deal with this guy.

-I got from him a Detective #27.
-Yep.

-And an AF #15.
-Oh, that's nice.

-Nice grades too.
-Yeah.

He said, "Can you sell this for me?"

"You need to promise me
you will find me an Action #1."

-That was like a hard task, though, right?
-Yes, of course. Of course.

This is one of my most important clients,

and I will not leave New York
without an Action #1.

And it's gotta be a decent grade.
It's gotta be above a two.

-I mean, that limits your pool even more.
-Yeah, I...

-It gets harder and harder.
-It does.

The higher you go,
the scarcer they become.

-What is it, a couple dozen? Above that?
-Yeah. At best.

-We are at New York Comic Con.
-Yeah.

Like, if you're gonna find one,
this is the place you're gonna find it.

-What's yours, a 3.5?
-[Danielle] Yeah.

-[Ken] Nice. I've seen it multiple times.
-[Danielle] It's a nice copy.

[Ken] What do I have to do?

I mean, it would take a lot. A lot.

What if I found you
like a 2.0 or 1.5 and cash?

No, I wouldn't want a downgrade.

And it's such a nice...

I don't think you'll ever get that grade
with that eye appeal ever.

What about this?

Two million dollars. Cash.

Zero consignment fee
for the next five years.

Everything you sell, you get all of it.

[breathes deeply]

I just can't do it. I can't replace it.

I know you're a collector,
but this is your business.

I always tell people,
"Don't fall in love with your business."

I mean, you can love your business,
but you can't love your inventory.

I will try to track one down for you.

Action #1 is the book.

I think unless I find a collector
who really wants something else,

or who needs the money,

I'm gonna have a tough time
prying this book away from anybody.

-Sorry.
-[Ken] We're out of here.

-Okay. Time to go.
-Not sorry.

[Ken sighs]

♪ What's up now?
I ain't scared to fight ♪

♪ I ain't new to this
I'll be there tonight ♪

♪ Made my enemies
I got loads more ♪

♪ They sent me for the remedy ♪

♪ And I'll come back for the encore ♪

Big Bob, can you intimidate some
of these guys to consign with us or what?

[Myesha laughs]

-I can't do it, Dave.
-[Dave laughs]

-Hi.
-Hey, how you doing? Dave.

-Dave? Mike Kowalske. Nice to meet you.
-Kowalske. Nice to meet you.

-Yeah, come on.
-All right.

Mike Kowalske is a staple
at the comic conventions

for the last five, six years.

He's a backroom guy.
He's getting the signings.

He's got relationships
with the CGC and the comic graders.

So when he asked me for a meeting
at the Comic Con

to discuss a possible consignment,
I couldn't say no.

-Yeah. Let me take a look.
-Why don't you just take a look?

Okay. This was the ACE Comic Con,

signed by the entire cast
of the Justice League.

So Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Ray Fisher,
Ezra Miller, and Jason Momoa.

[Dave] Henry Cavill and Jason Momoa
on one book? Wow.

There's only a few people
that are on my wife's "top five" list.

-[Mike] Yeah.
-And there's two of them on there.

You know that's a good one.

[Mike] When we did a group picture,
my wife stood next to Momoa.

-Okay, look. So we're in the same boat.
-I know how you're feeling.

-We might want to sell that one.
-[laughs]

-[Mike] Get that out.
-[Dave] That's cool.

And this is a comic with a movie.

Tom Holland has signed here,
and Stan Lee signed there as well.

[Dave] Wow. So this was right
when Tom Holland became Spider-Man?

That was actually... Yep.
Avengers: Civil w*r movie came out.

-That's his first appearance.
-This is one of Stan Lee's last signings.

-Absolutely, yeah.
-Wow.

[Mike] We also have the cover,
which was done by Billy Martin,

and we have Chris Evans and Tom Holland,

then I also snuck in some
Stan Lee signatures on those as well.

There's actually only ten of these
signed by all three.

And you have more than one of these?

I actually have eight of them.
Out of the ten.

-Okay. Wow.
-Yeah.

You're looking to consign these,
or you're not sure yet? What was the plan?

Well, I'm going back and forth
with it, right?

And I can't decide,
is this the right time to do it?

-Whom should I sell with too, right?
-Yeah.

We're not the only show in town,
I get that.

I've obviously heard of your name
as well in the hobby.

So you've built up a nice reputation.

Can I at least count on you
to not sell these today?

And at least we can have another convo?

I... I, uh... Okay, for today, sure.

Goldin's gonna get you the most,

but I want to do it right.
I don't wanna rush things.

That's not the answer I expected.

I actually expect to be talked down
and, you know, trying to get these.

And so I appreciate that.

-It's not about making a quick buck.
-Yeah, right.

This isn't gonna keep my lights on.
You know?

Obviously, I wanna earn your trust
even more.

-There's a lot more we can do together.
-All right.

I could just take the books and chip away
at the $2 million goal Ken has for us.

We're running out of time, but something
tells me there's just a lot more there.

Why didn't you lock it down?

I realize we have a quota,
but he's got a lot of stuff.

-So I set up a call for next week.
-Good luck on that. I have confidence.

We still gotta hit the quota.
Hopefully the guys come back soon.

-I know. [laughs]
-[Dave] With some good stuff.

Something good, right?

[upbeat music playing]

So, where are we on Action #1?

-I'm working on it.
-I need a lead. We gotta cut a deal today.

I've kind of entered
a little bit of the panic stage.

I feel like I'm a door-to-door salesman,
knocking on a door, and saying,

"Excuse me. Do you have an Action #1?"

"No!" "Wait!"

"You know anybody who has an Action #1
you can refer me to?"

-[phone rings]
-[Ken] Here we go.

Danielle, what's the good word?

[Danielle on phone] Hey, Ken. I may have
found a lead on an Action #1,

but the guy cannot come to the convention.

[Ken] Danielle's got a possible lead
on an Action #1.

At this point, I'm running out of options.
I'm hoping this is the big break I need.

-Can you text me his info, please?
-[Danielle] Absolutely.

-Let him know I'll contact him.
-[Danielle] Sounds good. Good luck.

[Ken] Thank you.
You might be a lifesaver. I owe you.

-[Danielle] Thanks.
-[Ken] Yeah, bye.

[Ken sighs]

[hip-hop music playing]

♪ Keep it all crash
So we gotta take it back ♪

♪ While we're ahead
Be prepared for the last ♪

♪ Push it to the max
So we gotta take it back ♪

♪ We gotta take it back
We're going right back ♪

All right. It's day two here
in New York City at Comic Con.

This place is absolutely wild.

Packed with people in cosplay.
Come by to the Goldin booth.

[Dave] Yeah, look,
we had an okay day yesterday,

but, man, we gotta have
a really good day today.

-Ry, what you got going on?
-I'm all Pokémon today.

So Alex introduced me to a couple
of good ones, so I'm working on that.

-Nice. Myesha, what about you?
-I am on Action #1.

There's pros and cons that come

with the responsibility
of being head of the team.

And the pros are, I got a lot of say.

Now, the con side, we have big goals,
and the team falls short,

everything falls on my shoulders.

As head of the team,
head of auctions, head of revenue,

when the revenue doesn't equal the goal,
it's my neck on the line.

Big man!
What are you working on, Carlo?

I got a big lead. It's off-site.

Movie props, something very valuable.
I'm gonna go see it through.

-Bring Alex with you. Lock it in.
-Let's do it.

-It worked yesterday, baby.
-[Carlo] Let's do it again.

We've had to re-strategize.
We have to go outside the Comic Con.

It's gonna be a lot less crazy than here,

and there's gonna be
some high-priced items everywhere.

We've got to do whatever it takes
to hit that goal.

-You guys ready for this?
-Yup!

-[Dave] Let's do it.
-[Carlo] Let's go.

[hip-hop music playing]

What's up, Big Bob?
What are you doing here?

-Guarding the safe.
-What's in the safe?

-None of your business what's in the safe.
-All right. Man's good at his job.

[hip-hop music continues]

-Mike, how you doing?
-Mike. Nice to meet you.

Yes, so I was with Steve
not that long ago,

and he told me that you guys
were partnered up with Hello Kitty.

Yeah, as you can see.

MetaZoo's been rocking and rolling.

They're a TCG company, Trading Card Game,
just like Pokémon.

It's a lot of fictitious characters.
You know, kids love it.

It plays like a game,
but it's got a lot of collectability.

It's the fastest-growing TCG.

I wouldn't be surprised
if five, ten years, it blows away Magic.

Might even give Pokémon
a run for its money one day.

That's huge.

So this is our... one of our uncut sheets
for the Hello Kitty collab.

-Kuromi.
-Wow, that's sick.

-Now, you can't have this.
-[Dave] Oh, okay. All right. [laughs]

-But I do have an idea.
-[Dave] Okay.

We brought some of our grails here
from the beginning of MetaZoo.

So these are some of the original promos,
done very humbly for $20 a pop.

-Okay. You've got the original art.
-We have the original art.

Nice. Wow. That's good.

This is the first time that
it's actually being seen in public.

Let's go. All right, Mike.
Awesome, man. This is great.

Actually, what we can do is,
the original artist is here. Poncho.

-Great. This is awesome work.
-Thank you.

You mind, uh, signing this?

[Dave] Only at Comic Con are you gonna be

in the same room with the owner
of the company, the artists.

You know, everybody's in one spot.

Like when you're working with an athlete.

You're like, "I got this Willie Mays bat."

"Oh, Willie's right here."

"Here, Willie, can you sign it?"
You know, it's the same concept.

And cha-ching, we're chipping away
at that $2 million goal.

That's awesome. Thanks, Poncho.
Appreciate it. That's great.

-Thank you.
-Wow. This is cool.

♪ Hey! Here we go ♪

♪ We don't play ♪

♪ You spot that trend ♪

I mean, look, Fung said
it's like right up here.

We're not making major headway
at the actual Comic Con event,

so Alex spent all night lining up
high-end deals outside the convention.

The strategy today is go for bigger items
in a more intimate setting,

away from the hustle and bustle.

This way, we're not trying
to chase down consignments at the event.

Alex hasn't told me much
other than the seller's name is Anthony.

He works in the film industry,
he has a large item. We'll check it out.

-Anthony.
-Hey, guys!

-Carlo. It's a pleasure.
-Nice to meet you.

-This is my colleague, Alex.
-Hi, Anthony. Alex. Nice to meet you.

-Come on in.
-[Carlo] Thanks for having us.

[Luzi] My name is Anthony Luzi.

I've been collecting since I was
a teenager, all kinds of things.

Come on in, guys.

Oh my God!

[heroic music playing]

-[Luzi] There it is. What do you think?
-[laughter]

That is so sick.

[Luzi] I came in possession
of the Batman suit about two years ago.

I am rather attached to it.
I'm a Batman fan since I was kid.

But I feel that this is an item
that needs to be shared with everyone.

So I'm considering
putting it back up at auction.

[Carlo] I mean, dude,
Fung said he had a great lead.

I had no idea I'd be walking in,
staring at Batman.

[Luzi] What you're looking at
is the original suit,

worn by George Clooney on-screen,

in Batman & Robin, 1997.

Oh my God!

This is like a fantasy of mine,
I'm not gonna lie. [laughs]

This is mind-blowing.
I mean, this is... this is incredible.

[Ken] On the Batman Forever set,

lead sculptor Jose Fernandez

took advantage of previously unavailable
rubber molding techniques

to make the anatomically correct Batman,
featuring n*pples.

Fernandez explains that in comic books,

the characters always looked like
they were naked with spray paint on them,

and he wanted to push that anatomy.

Joel Schumacher carried the same look
into Batman & Robin,

creating such a controversy with fans

that director Schumacher claimed,

"It's going to be on my tombstone.
I know it."

Making this George Clooney Batman suit
a Dark Knight legacy.

The detail on this suit, I mean...

These boots, this crest.
I mean, this bulge. The six-pack.

-[Alex laughs] What?
-Look at these perfectly crafted n*pples.

-Now, let me...
-I mean, what's going on here?

Are you gonna tell me those are
the size of George Clooney's n*pples?

-Allegedly, let's put it that way.
-[Carlo] Ah!

-Allegedly!
-[Alex] For real?

You see the Batmobiles.
I never see Batman suits come for sale.

You don't that often, and when they do,
they usually go at a premium.

Most recently, two Keaton suits
sold for a little over 100K.

What kind of expectations
do you have for this?

Since we have a floor set in the market,
that would be what we would start with.

Okay.

I'm hoping that whoever acquires it
will take into consideration

the opportunity to make it
available to the world.

At Goldin, we're the premier auction house
for high-end collectibles.

We have the global audience.

We have the vetted buyers.
They can afford these items.

We know who's looking for these.
We're gonna market it, gonna call them.

-Alex will market this herself.
-Promise you.

[Carlo] Our reach is the globe. Right?
This is something the world needs to see.

This is a special piece.
We'd love to represent you with this.

I... I feel confident
we're gonna exceed your expectations.

I wanna close this deal. If I can get
the Batman suit with the Captain America,

Dave and Ken are gonna be impressed,
and this will just bring eyes to Goldin.

I mean, this is a one of one.
A one-of-a-kind.

It's just so badass.
I want this one badly.

Are you ready to go with Goldin?

-Yeah, let's do it.
-All right!

-Really? Really?
-You had me nervous! We get a Batman suit.

-Let's do it.
-We got Clooney!

Yeah!

-[Alex] Whoo-hoo!
-This is incredible.

-We're gonna make sure we do right by you.
-[Alex] Do it justice!

-We're gonna do it justice!
-Justice! I like it!

-The Justice League.
-Right!

I like that. "Do it justice."

[upbeat music playing]

-What's going on everybody?
-Oh, God!

I got original MetaZoo artwork.
The artist was there.

-He signed this right in front of us.
-This is like 25,000.

-[Myesha] Twenty-five.
-That's pretty good.

[upbeat music continues]

[Ryan] 38th, okay. All right, perfect.
Yeah. I think I'm pretty close.

Okay. Yep, I see it right up here.

Perfect, brother. Thank you.

After yesterday,
our $2 million goal seems very far-off.

Luckily, Alex has another
Pokémon contact for me.

Hey, how are you?

-My name is Ryan. Nice to meet you.
-How are you? Nice to meet you.

-[Ryan] Is a Sean Tucker here?
-I know Sean. He's right upstairs.

[Ryan] Perfect. Thank you so much.

-Come on in.
-[Ryan] Thank you.

So I'm meeting professional
video game player, Sean Tucker,

at a video game bar in New York.

Sean. What's going on, brother?

How are you? What's up, man?
So nice to meet you.

Yeah.

Sean Tucker isn't just
a Pokémon UNITE video game player.

He is a two-time champion,
one of the best in the world.

[upbeat music playing]

[Ken] While Pokémon cards have been
a global sensation since 1996,

Pokémon UNITE,
a game created for the Nintendo Switch,

was released in July of 2021,
and after only six months,

the popular game
had been downloaded 100 million times.

[cheering]

Every year, regional championship teams
gather on an international stage

to battle within
the Pokémon gaming universe

in hopes of garnering
a Pokémon UNITE world championship.

So the whole reason
I started playing games a lot,

and even becoming
a pro player on accident,

uh, was because my dad died
from cancer, um...

-[Ryan] Oh my gosh.
-...back when I was 16, so...

-I'm so sorry, dude.
-[Sean] Yeah. Um...

I started to have severe depression.
I just stayed in playing games all day.

So, this was kinda like your outlet?

Yeah, it was my outlet
for just everything.

Um, so gaming has definitely
meant a lot to me.

I have some very special
Pokémon cards for you.

These are cards that you can only get
by winning the world championship.

Okay. Heck, yeah.

This is really cool.

There's four different cards,
and there's a quarterfinalist card,

a semifinalist card, a finalist card,
and a champion card.

However, only one person or team
gets the world champion card,

and we get the whole set
of four cards together.

[Ryan] I think something like this,

you want to get graded first
and then sell it as one set.

Yeah, I mean, I'm not an expert on cards.

I definitely know I should have
got them graded, but...

We can handle that for you.
That's what we do, we'll get them graded.

That's really important,
do the marketing behind it.

Maybe have you do a video on them as well.

I mean, it sounds like you really have
a great plan here. I'm convinced.

-Awesome, man. This is great. I'm excited.
-Yeah.

-This is a big win. I'm excited. This is...
-I'm excited too.

This will be a lot of fun,
hopefully the first of many deals.

There's some more right here.

-Right here?
-Yeah. Right here.

I mean, let's get into it then.
That's what we're here for.

Oh my gosh, I'm excited now.

Yeah, so, the cards
really show my achievements well,

but nothing shows
achievements more than a trophy.

-Oh my gosh. Are you kidding me?
-Yeah.

This is the actual
world championship trophy?

This is the world championship trophy.

I don't want to touch it. You keep...
Oh my gosh, you've gotta be kidding me.

So that has to be 2022?

-Yeah, this is the second I have.
-[Ryan] No way!

Trophies like these
do not come up for market.

There is no comp. There's not
something to base it off of and say,

"But the last one sold for this."
There is no last one.

Whatever you set the price at,
that's the market.

And that's a powerful thing.

Tell me exactly
what I'm looking at right here.

Yeah, so this is the 2022
Pokémon world championship trophy.

I won it in London.
My first world championship win.

It was definitely
the best moment of my life.

That's unbelievable.
And usually, it's a one-time feeling.

-Why not do it two years in a row, right?
-Yeah.

So, Sean, I'm so excited
to work with you on these.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
to sell something like this,

but I do have to ask.

Something like this
that's so personal to you,

and I know it means like the world to you,

why would you ever wanna sell
something like that?

During COVID, um... my mom,
who's pretty much raising me alone now,

has been struggling with all the bills,
mortgage payments.

These trophies mean a lot to me,
but it would mean so much more to me

if I could just pay off
my mom's mortgage completely.

Dude, stop.

Oh my gosh. I mean...
Oh, I just got chills all over.

Oh, man, Sean's story's a k*ller.

This is a kid who had to grow up very fast
because he had to take care of his mom.

I mean, that's priority number one,
as it'd be priority number one in my life.

I'd do the exact same thing as you
if I was ever in a situation like that.

I would do anything necessary
to take care of my mom.

So I can't tell you how much respect
I have for you.

Thank you.

I'm gonna do everything in my power, man,
to do whatever I have to do

to make these sell super high,
get top dollar for you,

so we can take care of your mom.

I can tell you're gonna take great care
of them, and I'm in good hands.

Seriously, brother, it's awesome.
Give me a hug, man. Come on.

This is... We're family now, bro.
Seriously.

It's definitely a difficult decision,
one that's not made lightly.

But at the end of the day, I think
the money will help my family,

and it's not the final trophies
I'm gonna win.

I'm gonna win way more.

-Great story. I appreciate your trust.
-Thank you.

This will be great.

[hip-hop music playing]

♪ Yeah, we
Yeah, we ready for this right now ♪

♪ Watch us take flight
Watch us fly now... ♪

[Ken] Dave just checked in with me.

Doesn't look good. Does not look like
they're gonna hit their $2 million goal.

But I can't even think
about that right now

because Danielle found somebody
who is in New York City,

a private collector with an Action #1,
so I'll try and make a deal in person.

-Ken!
-[Ken] Will, hey.

-Pleasure.
-[Ken] Good to meet you.

-Thanks for having me.
-Come on in.

[tense music playing]

My name is Will Mason.
I am a vintage comic collector/dealer.

Ken may be in for an unfortunate,
uncomfortable discussion,

because it's gonna be
hard for me to move this piece.

I'm glad Danielle
put me in touch with you.

I'll be honest,
I'm really not interested in selling,

but when she asked, I figured I'd at least
entertain you coming over and talking.

[Ken] Came up all this way.

-Mind if I take a look? Great.
-Without further ado, right?

It's one of those things
I enjoy showing off.

I can see why you would not want
to bring this into Comic Con

with a 100,000-plus people there, right?

No, no. Not something you want
to be walking around with,

a multimillion-dollar comic book.

There she is.

Beautiful.

Action #1, June 1938, 3.0.

First-ever appearance of Superman.

-[Will] It's the one that started it all.
-Beautiful copy.

What would it take
to pry this from your hands?

You don't come across them every day.
You're aware of that, obviously.

-Yup.
-It's why you're here.

I... I'd have to get two million for it.

[sighs deeply]

[Ken] It's a 3.0. Not a 4 or a 3.5.

I'm willing to go to 1.6 million,
which I think is an extremely fair price.

I appreciate that completely.
Two million's gonna be the number.

Two million? Really, Will?

I don't know what Danielle told him.

I don't know if she said
I absolutely need the book.

"Throw out a crazy price."

In the world of comic books,

a half a grade could mean hundreds
of thousands of dollars in value.

I offered Danielle $2 million
for her 3.5 Action #1.

There's no way Will's 3.0
is worth the exact same.

I think Will knows I'm in a tough spot,

and wants to get as much
as he possibly can out of me.

Here's my situation.

I have to take care of a client.
A very special client.

Been with me since
the beginning of Goldin Auctions.

He consigned to me his two best books.

-A Detective 27 and an Amazing Fantasy 15.
-First Batman.

-First Spider-Man.
-[Ken] Exactly. So...

The only way
you get better than that is this.

And I go the extra mile for my clients.

I will go well above market.

I'm willing to go to $1.8 million.

[breathing deeply]

I mean, I sympathize with you.

I think your offer is more than fair,
but 1.9 would have to be my bottom.

[exhales deeply]

You're k*lling me.

[Ken laughs]

I can see that Ken is frustrated
by the situation with his other customer,

and while I am sympathetic to that,

I also know this could be an opportunity
for me to profit generously.

This is the centerpiece of my collection.

Similar to the situation you're in
with your current customer.

I would basically then
be swapping places with him,

because then I'd need one myself.

I know he wants two million.
He's not gonna get the two million.

I'm gonna make him an offer
he can't refuse, he's gonna love it,

and we're gonna get the deal done
because that's how I roll.

[tense music playing]

♪ Let the games begin
We can hear the winning ♪

♪ When you hear the call
The competition is finished ♪

♪ 'Cause any day now
We're about our business ♪

♪ There's no coming back
Especially when we're winning ♪

♪ Let the games begin
We can hear the winning ♪

♪ When you hear the call
The competition is finished ♪

♪ 'Cause any day now
We're about our business ♪

♪ There's no coming back
Especially when we're winning ♪

♪ Let the games begin
We can hear the winning ♪

♪ We're all about that action
We don't do pretendin' ♪