Walking into this house, I'm going to go out on a limb
and say that these guys are bachelors.
[chuckles] Because the dining room, the living
room, everything is coin-op.
It's boxes.
It's stacked up.
And Jack and Jack Jr. are kind of just
living in the collection.
I used to have a couple of arcades
around 1980, right when people were getting
interested more in video games.
And I thought, well, this wouldn't be a bad idea.
So I started looking for a location, and I found a place.
So I had it probably for about five years.
Then it started kind of petering out.
That's when they started making all the home
versions for everything.
OK, so that's back in like, "Pinball Wizard"
days and stuff. - Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, from probably '80 to '85.
- Yeah. - Yeah
What was the name of yours?
Pinball Jack's.
- Pinball Jack's. - Oh, yeah?
Yeah.
I still got guys calling me that.
- (INCREDULOUSLY) Really? - Yeah.
So were you playing at them, then, if you
grew up around this stuff?
I was born right when he owned them,
so yeah, I've been playing this stuff since I was a little kid.
Yeah.
Danny said you were selling stuff with him
at the shows and everything. - Oh, yeah.
We've been pretty much together since the start.
- That's awesome. - Wow.
So when you guys would set up at the shows together,
were you selling contemporary pinball,
or did you have to go back?
Mostly beer signs.
Go to the beer shows, buy and sell them.
Well, you're in the right-- you're in the right city, man.
In Milwaukee, there's a bar on every corner.
Yeah.
What's going on with the spaceship here, man?
That's pretty cool.
Yeah, that's the Burgie Beer--
the Burgie Beer sign.
I bought that just because I know there's very few of them
made.
I thought it was really-- a really cool beer sign.
Yeah, it spins.
You plug it in, it spins around.
- Oh, it actually works! - It spins.
They only made a handful of those in the '50s.
This is obviously a piece that was made by Paul Stanley,
and it is the coolest thing in the room.
Because he made this.
He made the Hamm's, I think.
Paul Stanley made the kind of displays that have been sought
after by collectors for years.
Burgie Beer was brewed by Pabst Blue Ribbon Company.
We need to see this thing, what
works on it and what doesn't.
Here, here's a plug right here, Mike.
That's the plug for it.
None of Paul Stanley's stuff was ever mass-produced.
There's probably only a handful of these known to exist.
- There you go. - Yeah, there it goes.
That's spinning.
Yeah, see, it's rubbing a little, but--
It was called Burgermeister, is what the real name was.
And then they started calling it "Burgie Beer," for short.
And they just-- they made some of those displays to help
sell their beer in the liquor stores.
Go ahead and unplug it, Robbie.
I think what happened was, this spun, and that spun as well--
- Yeah. - --so you had this going on.
That one probably went one way,
to this one went the other way. - Absolutely.
What do you value this at?
Would you be interested in selling that?
The only thing I can tell you is,
I got one guy that, I could make a phone call,
he'd give me $7,000 for it.
- (INCREDULOUSLY) $7,000? - Yeah.
Really?
We all need a guy like that.
- He's got a store in Iowa. - Oh, really?
Yeah.
Online, you can see these have sold at auction anywhere
from $3,000 to $4,000. - Uh-huh.
Yeah.
So what's your bottom on it today?
For today. We're here--
- Today, we're here. - Yeah.
Buying it.
$7,500.
- [chuckle] - See, you asked.
Give me a break.
I don't know.
What do you got in mind?
I think my top dollar is going to be $5,500.
Um, I'll tell you what.
I'll go to $6,000 since you're here.
You take it, it's gone.
It's worth more than that.
I appreciate you coming down on the number.
Yeah.
But I feel better at $5,750.
Split it with me.
- You're gonna split it. - Yeah.
I want you to split it with me.
[chuckles]
Um--
$5,750.
All right.
You're right. [chuckles]
Woo!
- This is a done deal. - Dang.
Wow! Jack and Jack.
We got it.
Done deal.
I love spending time with guys that
are passionate about what they do
and have been in the business as long as Jack has.
I'll get the big one.
All right, the other big one? Yeah, thanks, man.
- There we go. - Whoo!
Jack
Jack, that was a hell of a day.
- Thank you. - It was fun, man.
It was fun.
All right.
Jack's been living the American dream,
and he's not doing it on his own.
He's doing it with his son.
- Yeah, that old good home deal. - I know.
Love spending time with you, my friend.
Yeah.
How cool is it to do something that you truly love
and have your son right by your side?
See ya.
[beeps horn twice]
See you, Jack!
Thank you!
See ya.
Thanks.