[music playing]
Where are these from?
Where are these clowns from?
Those clowns were from a defunct amusement park
in San Francisco called Playland at the Beach.
Playland at the Beach was San Francisco's version
of Coney Island, they actually called it
the Coney Island of the West.
You would put the ball in his mouth or something,
is that what it was? - Exactly.
The head would turn, and you'd throw ping pong balls in there.
Yeah.
That's something that my brother picked
when he was really young.
Like, what time period do you think they were from?
Probably '40s.
'40s.
God, these are killer!
They're unusual.
They're a slice of America that we all romanticize about,
that's gone forever--
the American carnival, the American circus.
How long ago did your brother buy these?
He got those when Playland closed down--
that would have been early '70s.
The remnants of what's left of that
is really a shadow of what that industry used to be.
Look at those guys!
So when you find artifacts from that time
period in its heyday--
especially, scary, spooky clowns--
you got to buy them up.
You know, this is the kind of stuff that's always good.
What are you thinking?
Just throw me a number.
I mean, all I can do is say, no.
Man, I would say--
probably, I mean, I think they've got to be
worth about $1,200 apiece?
Yeah.
See I was thinking they were worth about a grand apiece.
- Yeah. - So we're not that far apart.
Right.
[music playing]
$1,400 for the pair, if they're 2,000 bucks,
gives me a little room.
Right.
What if I kept one and sold you one today?
[groans] - They got to be together!
[laughs]
They got to be a pair?
I can't separate B from E?
They got to be together.
I wouldn't separate them.
Yeah.
$2,000.
I'd do that.
Made it easy for you, see?
I'm making it easy for you.
I do that.
I got to, I got to!
These things are nuts!
With all the things I already have in my house,
there was really just no place for them.
I think they're better off in somebody's collection
that can really appreciate items like that.
All right, there's the little man himself, right there!
There he is!
When I first see this piece across the room,
I'm looking at like, a deranged Johnny Roventini,
because he's got a bellhop uniform on.
Can we pull him out?
Yeah!
But as you get closer, and if you
know what you're looking at, then you know it's a Brownie.
It's a Palmer Cox Brownie.
Brownies were characters in children's books.
They were like a little toad goblin.
They were known for being mischievous, but also,
doing good deeds.
Wow, look at his face Robbie!
At the end of the day, they're like, downright scary.
But that's what's cool about them.
Is this something you'd sell?
That I would sell.
My mom bought that in late '60s.
There's a place in San Francisco called the Cliff House, which
has been there since the 1800s.
And at one point, they had a collection
of these tall Brownie figures.
Mine was made by a company named Schoenhut.
Look at him, he's anatomically correct!
[laughing]
He's got knees.
Look at his little legs!
And they made large Brownies for storefronts.
Extremely rare.
I look at a lot of this early store display stuff,
and it's amazing that this exists.
It's art.
Right.
My mom had a great eye.
That's killer.
So what are you thinking on him?
It sounds like you've given it some thought.
I've seen him go at auction for $6,000 and over.
Wow.
So if they're $6,000 are you talking like,
super clean, super perfect?
Yeah.
Well, all-- he's pretty much there.
He's dirty, but--
No, I know that.
There's not much wrong with him.
Well, his clothing is definitely faded, tremendously.
Yeah.
If you look at this, just even the discoloration
here, and then the top of it.
You know, I'm just saying that if something's
going to warrant that kind of money,
it's going to be pretty damn nice.
And what year is from?
From what I can see, looks like turn
of the century, late 1800s.
You know, I think he's at least three grand or so.
Yeah.
$2,500.
I mean, he's not mint.
Mint is mint.
Yeah.
But here's where this falls into the category,
good stuff's always good.
Right.
This is good stuff.
So what's the bottom number on this?
You know, like I said, I think the bottom number really
is 3 on this.
All right, well--
make me feel like I'm getting a good deal-- $2,900.
- You got it. - All right.
- There you go. - OK, man.
[music playing]
This wasn't made for the consumer,
this was made for display.
The fact that it still exists, it's such a large size,
and it's in great condition-- all of those things
make it extremely rare.
It's brilliant.