Jordan and Steve are at their store in Westwood, NJ where business is doing really well. People are always coming in and out to buy and even sell their own toys. They're about to close up shop for the day, in order to head to St. Louis, MO, bright and early. They're going to re-stock their inventory at the ToyMan Toy Show, one of the largest shows in the Midwest. All of a sudden, two men carrying huge garbage bags walk in and ask Jordan if he'd like to see what they've got. Jordan can never pass on a dig and invites them in to take a look. Todd Rogoff Sr. explains that all of the toys came from his father who is a commercial illustrator and actually created the Nesquik Bunny logo. Although most of the toys are out of their original packaging and not in the best condition, Jordan hopes to find some hidden gems from the old school advertisement era. The first find is a 1975 Mego Comic Action Heroes Robin Action Figure that he scoops up for $30. Steve finds a custom made Sylvester and Tweety Bird with Cage that he offers $25 for, but Todd and his son want $75 and there's no sale. Jordan finds a vintage Mickey Mouse mug that was only given out to employees at the Disney Channel and buys it for $20, while Steve picks up a Funko Mighty Mouse Bobblehead for $20. While finishing up the dig, Jordan gets a call from Greg who works at Gentle Giant Studios, a toy manufacturer that specializes in high-end collectibles. They need Jordan to find rare pieces from Kenner's original toy lines so they can re-create them for a jumbo line. They include the 1981 Kenner Star Wars Cloud City Playset mint in box, and the 1979 Kenner 18 inch Alien action figure with the poster in as best condition as possible. Jordan and Steve then head to the ToyMan Toy Show in St. Louis. They first visit Spike's booth and buy a vintage Universal Monsters Creature from the Black Lagoon Shirt Transfer for $200 and a 1976 Mego Hall of Justice Playset for $60. Next, they visit Vince and grab a 1980 Mego Star Trek USS Enterprise Bridge for $250. Another booth they visit is Mike's, where Steve goes nuts for a 1963 Universal Monsters The Wolfman PEZ dispenser that he grabs for $100 and a 1971 Chemtoy Groovie Goolies action figure for $50. They're last stop at the toy show is to visit Jim Toler who's a newbie dealer with a great collection. He pulls out the 18 inch Kenner Alien figure that Gentle Giant needs and Jordan quickly takes it off his hands for $575. Steve and Jordan then head to Los Angeles, CA where they can personally deliver the Kenner Alien figure to Gentle Giant. Jordan points out that the box is not in the best condition to sales coordinator, Dev. But, he says he can make the box work and is happy enough about the figure and poster that he agrees on it for $600 is already thinking of more toys for Jordan to find.
Jordan and his team are gearing up for the country's second largest pop culture event, New York Comic Con. With a sales goal of $35,000, Jordan is on the hunt for expensive, marquee pieces to display at his booth. He decides to aim for Star Wars, which are ALWAYS popular and highly collectible. Steve suggests they pay a visit to Tom and Ann Spengel in Scottsdale, AZ who says they have the original Star wars action figures. Jordan and Steve make the trip to see if it's the real deal. The first toy they find at Tom and Ann's is a 1950's Paul Winchell's Jerry Mahoney Ventriloquist Dummy that Steve buys for $150. Next, they find a 1978 Hasbro Ronald McDonald doll and manage to pick it up for $30. Jordan then asks Tom and Ann about the Star Wars figures they claimed to have. Ann shows them the box and Jordan has hit the jackpot. He finds the first (12) 1977 Kenner Star Wars action figures, MINT on card that are also called "12-backs." Not only are they in perfect condition, he finds TWO complete sets, which is incredibly rare. Ann estimates the two sets to be worth $26,000 but is willing to take $15,000 and Jordan quickly agrees. Jordan and Steve's next stop is Boca Raton, FL to visit Greg, who has LOTS of Star wars and is extremely organized. Steve finds a 1984 Kenner Star Wars Return of the Jedi B-Wing Fighter that he picks up for $80, and Jordan finds a Masters Replica Company's Star Wars Limited Edition AT-AT and Snow Speeder that Greg sells him for $2100. It's time for New York Comic Con and Jordan, Steve, Dave, and Travis are all ready to sell - Jordan even ups his sales goal to $45,000. Jordan puts out one set of "12-backs" for $20,000. Along with the $15,000 he spent on both collections, he also got the figures graded by AFA (action Figure Authority) for another $5,000. AFA looks for tearing, fading, and creasing on packaging and give the figure a grade between 1 and 10. The higher the grade, the more they are worth. Jordan's 12-backs all scored an 8.5 and higher, giving him the ability to triple the price of its regular worth. The crew decides to bring out the AT-AT they got at Greg's and start opening the shipping box it came in. Jordan spots a HUGE crack in the glass and won't be able to make the money he thought he would. They need to start pushing the 12-backs if Jordan wants to make even close to his goal. Steve, Dave, and Travis all go on the hunt at Comic Con for a buyer. Travis finds a buyer but he's not at the event, he's in Cape Cod, MA and they're going to have to bring the toys to him. They leave NYCC with total sales of $25,750 and head to Cape Cod to hopefully make up for the rest. Jordan and Travis meet up with Ray who wants to do the sale on his boat in Cape Cod. Ray wants all original 12-backs, along with a few extra figures. Travis and Jordan explain how much the figures go for, plus the worth of the grading and Ray agrees to purchase the figures for $25,000.
Jordan is at San Diego Comic Con buying toys to add to his inventory. He heads over to Mattel's booth since they had called him before the show and told him to stop by. He meets up with the marketing manager, Scott who puts Jordan on a quest to find vintage Masters of the Universe action figures that they're missing from their collection. Scott wants to be able to display his entire vintage line at next years San Diego Comic Con and if Jordan can pull it off, it would be great exposure for him. The toys include Laser-Light Skeletor, Laser-Power He-Man, Tytus, and Megator that were all released in Europe but never in America. Scott needs them by New York Comic Con, which gives Jordan three months to find these rare pieces. Fellow toy hunter, Dave brings Jordan to his first dig right in San Diego, CA. They pull up to a Vespa dealership where they meet Alex who has his toys stashed right in shop. Jordan first pulls out a Mego's Micronauts Thorium Orbiter, which he buys for $50. They all head upstairs next in hopes of finding Masters of the Universe toys. They come across a Japanese Furby, a Harbert Doctor Who doll that Dave buys for $135, and finally they come across Mattel's Masters of the Universe Tytus figure that is one of the crucial pieces on Scott's list. Jordan manages to haggle it down from $2500 to $2000 and they move on to their next dig. Jordan and Steve hit up the Toy Man Toy Show in St. Louis, MO where they run into old friend, Vince. They look around for the rest of the Masters' pieces they need, but have no luck and head out. Back at Jordan's shop in Jersey, Dave calls Jordan to give him a lead on Eric's Masters of the Universe collection in Strawberry Plains, TN. Right off the bat, they find a Masters of the Universe, Orko action figure that they buy for $60, a Small Soldiers Archer action figure, and finally two more items off Scott's list including the Laser-light Skeletor, and laser-power He-Man that Jordan buys for $1000 each. Jordan's final stop is to New York Comic Con where he meets up with Scott to show him what he was able to find. He starts off shaky when showing Scott the tear in the He-Man card, but ends up breaking even by selling both laser action figures for $2000. Scott flips when he sees the rare Tytus and quickly accepts Jordan's $3500 price tag, giving Jordan a profit of $1500 while also making a great name for himself with Mattel.
Jordan and his crew are busy selling toys at their home turf Comic Con in New York City. Celebrities from all over come to see Jordan including Billy Leroy from Travel Channel's Baggage Battles who quickly notices the Limited Edition Boris Karloff and haggles it down from $100 to $80. Next, DMC from legendary hip-hop group, Run DMC runs up to the booth. He starts listing off to Jordan the toys he's looking for which includes a Big Jim Camper, the GI Joe astronaut, and the 8" Mego Super Heroes line. He needs Jordan to help him find these toys from his childhood to show the kids at his charity for foster kids, Camp Felix how cool the toys were form their generation. DMC has never been on a toy dig, so Jordan decides to bring him on the hunt for the toys he's looking for.
Jordan is not only attending Stan Lee's Comikaze for the first time ever, he's also selling there as well. He's hoping that by bringing lots of comic book and superhero memorabilia, he'll be able to meet his sales goal of $35,000 and maybe even meet Stan Lee himself. Although Jordan has some superhero inventory, he really needs to step it up to get the most incredible pieces to make his display case stand out. His first dig is in Stamford, CT with toy insider Jose who has helped him with leads on super rare toys in the past. They visit Ann who went to college AND worked with Jose on the Thundercats line in the 80s. She shows off her first ever toy design, LJN Thundercats Astral Moat Monster who had less than 5 minutes of screen time total. Then they move onto her drawings from the 1993 Toybiz X-Men line that she drew all the blueprints for, which the sculptors would then follow to make into the toy. All the drawings have matching toys that Jordan thinks would pair up and sell great at Comikaze. Out of the 324 drawings, Jordan buys 50 for $25 apiece making it a total of $1250.
Jordan is in Los Angeles, CA at the Frank & Sons Collectible Show. He's meeting up with Grammy award winning artist, Taboo from The Black Eyed Peas to dig through 65,000 square feet of toys, sneakers, and sports memorabilia. Taboo scores the first buy, an OJ Simpson action figure and 2 Rocky action figures that he haggles down for $235. The duo heads to the next vendor where Jordan checks out Shogun Warriors' Gaiking and agrees to buy it for $200. Taboo then asks the vendor if he has any LJN Wrestling figures, because old school wrestlers' stage presence is his inspiration when performing. Jordan tells Taboo that he'll keep his eyes out for any of the figures he's looking for and leaves the show with a new mission. Jordan heads to Louisville, KY with Steve, who has two digs lined up with collectors that will hopefully have some wrestling figures. First up is Connie, whose late husband began collecting toys when he was working for toy manufacturer, Hasbro. Steve finds a 1988 My Little Pony, Loving Family Ponies that he trots away with for $50. Steve then finds a store display Oscar Meyer Wiener-mobile that he grabs for $350, while Jordan picks up a Transformers Beast Wars Megatron gold edition for $2000. Although they didn't find anything wrestling related at Connie's, they still picked up a few great things and have a chance to find Taboo's figures at Tim's house. Tim is a HUGE wrestling collector but unfortunately, he's only looking to sell items in his storage space, which doesn't consist of much. Finally, they find some LJN figures but not in the best condition. Out of the lot, Jordan only grabs a Randy 'Macho Man' Savage for $80. Now they have to scramble to find somewhere else to find at least one other figure for Taboo. Steve makes some calls and he and Jordan heads to Hogan's Beach shop in Clearwater, FL to dig through Hulk Hogan's personal stash of vintage wrestling memorabilia. They meet up with Hogan's co-owner Ron who takes them into the back to do a little digging. They first find a Deluxe Hulk Hogan Workout Set that they start reminiscing about, until Hulk Hogan himself pays a visit to the Beach Shop. He shows them where the real money is, and pulls out a 1989 Grand Toys Hulk Hogan mint on the card. Jordan and Hulk go back and forth on the figure until they finally agree on an even $700. Jordan flies solo back to Los Angeles, CA to deliver the two wrestling figures he managed to find for Taboo. After explaining that he got the Hulk Hogan card from the man himself, Jordan is able to sell the figure for a little more than its worth and gets $1000 for it, along with another $150 for the LJN Macho Man 'Randy Savage' figure. More importantly, he now has another celebrity client that is happy with his work and wants to do business with again in the future.
Jordan and Steve are at the Hollywood Heroes store buying and selling toys and getting everything organized. A customer walks in looking for an appraisal from Jordan. He brings in a Masters of the Universe bouncing He-Man Battle-Cat that Jordan says is worth $250 retail but he'll broker it for $400. In a few days, Jordan is headed to Birmingham, England for his first ever, International Comic Con. He wants to focus on bringing toys that have to do with American TV and film, but also wants to incorporate some English toys that he'll buy before the Con in England itself. Jordan and fellow toy hunter, Travis are headed to their first dig to focus on buying American toys first. They visit Sean at his storage unit in Harlem, NY who has tons of 80s toys. Right away, Jordan finds a group of 1988 Playmates Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures that he scoops up for $125. He also grabs a group of 17, 1985 Kenner Silverhawks that he fly's away with for $350, and a 1986 Matchbox Robotech Veritech Fighter for $80. Next stop is London! Jordan and sidekick, Dave head to Metropolis Vintage Toys in Warwick, England and meet Chris. He brings them to the back room so they can start digging for vintage English toys. Dave digs out a 1977 Lyonsmaid ice cream shop display that Jordan haggles away from 1100 down to 950 pounds. He then finds an English version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles) Rocksteady's Pogocopter that he grabs for 30 pounds, and a Palitoy Action Man Talking Commander for 145 pounds. Jordan and Dave then head over to their last stop before the Comic Con in Reading, England called Just Imagination Memorabilia where they meet Jim. The first item they find are a few sets of 1960s Chad Valley Give-A-Show Projector that Jim sells them for 100 pounds. Jordan then finds a Holy Grail piece hidden in the shelves. It's an extremely rare 1966 Ideal Batman Helmet, Cape, and Utility Belt that he buys for 5000 pounds and hopes to sell for almost double. Dave and Jordan are setting up for Birmingham Comic Con. Jordan's sales goal is 15,000 pounds, which is roughly $22,000 American dollars. Right off the bat, Jordan sells off some of the Silverhawks for 300 pounds. Jordan and Dave are selling tons of American toys but not having as much luck with the English ones. Jordan quickly decides he might be able to still come close to his sales goal if he lowers prices on the European toys and ups the prices on the US ones. They put the Batman Utility Belt on display to help get the word out about it. Another customer comes buy and buys a set of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for 400 pounds. Jordan doesn't quite make his sales goal but he's hoping to sell the Batman Utility belt for around $14,000 when he gets back to the States to cover his costs of this trip. But he did make new friends in a new country and has a better idea of what his next International Comic Con will look like.
Jordan is in Chicago, IL at the C2E2 Convention. He's meeting up with Israel Idonije, defensive lineman for the Detroit Lions, to discuss a possible consultation position. After launching Athletic Comics' The Protectors comic book, the NFL All-Star is now looking to release a line of action figures and wants Jordan's help. Jordan emphasizes the importance of toys' articulation, costuming and sizing, and promises to find examples of each to show Israel at their upcoming meeting. If Jordan can pull through, Israel will hire him as a toy consultant for his upcoming action figure line.
Jordan is on the hunt for superhero memorabilia to display at the Hall of Heroes museum in Elkhart, IN. Jordan hopes to impress the Hall of Heroes founder, and land him as a new client, with a mint condition1946 Captain Marvel statue.
Jordan Hembrough discovers a 1965 James Bond Attaché Case that he's been trying to get his hands on for the last year. This Holy Grail piece can sell upwards of $3,500 in pristine condition, but there's a catch to this big find.
Jordan is gearing up for Portland Comic Con in Oregon. Because Portland has such a large amount of young people in the area, Jordan is going out of his comfort zone and focusing on newer toys from the 90s and early 2000s. Because so much of this is new to him, Jordan is bringing Travis along with him on the digs. Travis is a young collector and aspiring toy dealer who is a freshman in college and the target demographic for Portland. The first stop is at Abby's in Philadelphia, PA. Abby is a young mother who is selling off her brother's toys to make money for her new family. They find a bunch of Power Rangers toys, including a Megazoid valued at $300, and also a rare edition Lucky Draw RED sword for the WHITE Power Ranger, which is worth about $1500. Next, Jordan and Travis head to sunny Florida to visit Dave's home and dig through his garage. Dave is another young guy who's just wrapping up college and has a bunch of items that Jordan thinks will sell great at Portland. They buy a lot of Star Trek ships for $400 and then various other "young" items. Their last dig brings them to Doug, who has over 400 bins in his home filled with toys! While there, they find some Transformers, which include a rare VSX Optimus Prime and Megatron set from Japan, valued at $10,000. Finally, Jordan heads to Portland Comic Con with sidekick Dave. First they stop to visit the house from the movie, The Goonies that overlooks the ocean. They then make their way to Portland Comic Con where Jordan's theory was right! All these newer toys are really relating to the kids in Portland. He sells a ton of his inventory and gains more happy customers.
Jordan is on the hunt for some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles memorabilia for rapper, actor, and television host Rob Van Winkle, better known by his stage name, Vanilla Ice. While Steve on the other hand, has 4 potentially priceless pieces of Beatles memorabilia with autographs that he needs to get authenticated to prove if they are real or not.
Jordan is headed over the border, on the hunt for high priced Mexican versions of American toys. He's looking to stock his inventory and also pick up toys for Chelsea Lately's Chuy Bravo. Jordan gets Mexico City toy hotspot advice from WWE Superstar, Zack Ryder.
Let's explore this country together.