The premiere show of season two of Toy Hunter has Jordan Hembrough and Steve Savino going to a flea market, when Jordan gets a phone call. It is from Gene Simmons of Kiss. Gene is contacting Jordan to find him rare Kiss items. Jordan has three days to find the items. Jordan and Steve go to a flea market which is the Wayne Collectibles Show. The Wayne Collectibles Show is not flea market, it is a toy show. The flea market is just a short distance away. Jordan and Steve go in and start looking for Kiss and other items.
Jordan finds a Vespa scooter pedal car in excellent shape, which he buys for $1000.00. Jordan states he can sell it for $2000.00. Checking Ebay, there is Vespa Scooter for $49.00 in poor condition. It will need a full restoration. On the internet, Rare Toys offered one for $490.00, which we could not get a condition. Another item that Jordan purchased was the Planet of the Apes Action Stallion. The Horse is remote controlled. Jordan paid $325.00 and was going to sell it for $500.00. There were none on Ebay, one was being offer on the internet. The third item that Jordan bought was a Gomer Pyle Lunch Box and Thermos. Jordan paid $70.00 for the Gomer Pyle Lunch Box and was going to sell it for $250.00. On Ebay right now, there are two Gomer Pyle lunch boxes selling for $122.00 and $149.00.
In the Kiss items Jordan buys Kiss Underoos and Viewmaster. On the Viewmaster reels, Jordan gets into a bidding war with a party that needs the item and has to pay $100.00 instead of $50.00 that the dealer was originally asking. Checking Ebay you can find the Kiss Viewmaster reels for $44.99 to $100.00! Some of the offerings are the Canadian version. Walking around the show Jordan finds a large Kiss Comic Book, which he also buys.
Update Don Perkins noted that the other party had the viewmaster Kiss set in his hands when Jordan said he bought it. That is not correct, when a party has an item in their hands they had first chance to buy it. It is good the situation was not with me as I would have balled Jordan out.
Next Jordan and Steve go to the home of Victoria where Jordan buys some Michael Jackson buttons, Then Victoria shows Jordan the piece he is looking for Gene, the AHI Remote Control Kiss Van Mint in the box. Jordan tells Victoria that the toy is worth $1600.00 and ends up paying $1100.00. Checking Ebay in April 4,2013 a Kiss Van sold for $$613.00 The box was damaged and was from a smokers home. Another Kiss Van sold for $432.00 with a reproduction box.
Update Don Perkins pointed out that Victoria had offered the van to a friend for $600.00 and sold it to Jordan for $1100.00 without contacting the friend. If I was her friend I would be mighty ticked off.
The last part of the show has Jordan flying out to California to met with Gene Simmons. After looking over Gene’s collection of Kiss memorbilia and trying on Gene’s boots, Jordan shows Gene the four items he brought. The first three items Gene has in his collection, Gene passes on the van even though he does not have it in his collection. Gene gives Jordan a signed gold record to hang in his store as he passed the test. Gene tells Jordan that he is looking for proto type Kiss toys. Jordan feels even though he did not sell anything he has established a new customer.
This show is so wrong in so many ways. First if someone like Gene Simmons just called you up out of the blue saying he would like you to find some toys, you have to be very careful that the phone call is not prank. (The true story Gene Simmons contacted the show first.) Once you established that the person is real, you would discuss with that person what he is looking for and what price range he is looking for. A person of Gene Simmon’s collecting caliber, you are going to need to find rare items, which you will work your contact list. The chances of finding a rare item at toy show or flea market are hard with the competition out there. Still you might find something, you never know.
Next we get to the Wayne Collectibles Show. This is a great little show held once a month. They have 75 tables. We like this show as we have found some nice items. The time they were filming the show we got a set of Zorro kid gloves mint. Other good items have been pulled out of the show by other people. As I mentioned earlier it is toy show not flea market and Jordan admits he passes on them. I guess he is afraid of the competition, that is why he does only private sales. The father and son are dealers at the show. Laurie and I met the young man the first time we did Wayne, he was trying to sell Muscle figures. Toy squabbles are few and far between and I felt that was done to heighten the drama. Usually you hear about someone looking at an item passing on it, then came back only to find the item sold. Laurie and I called that you snooze, you lose. The Kiss items that Jordan bought at the show were common, especially the comic book which Kiss gets the artwork as well as copies of the books. Those items were used as fillers. I would not take those items to a cilent, unless my cilent asked for them.
The last part was of Jordan flying out to see Gene Simmons. You are given the impression that Jordan just flew out to meet Gene. Really I figure it was part of buying trip we will see later in the season. If Jordan had just gone out for just Gene it would have costed him $1000.00 plus.
Over all very disapointing show, the purpose was trying to convey that Jordan has very important cilents. To me the important cilents are the everyday people you help find toys from their childhood. They are the ones who make it worthwhile.
Many of your thoughts were my thoughts exactly. And I also noticed that the purported “flea market” was in reality a full-fledged collectible toy show — not a flea market at all.
But the Gene Simmons segment had the greatest air of unreality. I mean, Gene Simmons calls up and asks Jordan to acquire for him some rare KISS toy collectibles. Simmons doesn’t even give Jordan any guidance on what he’s looking for or what he’s already got. When you get to Simmons’ house you realize Simmons already has 99% of KISS items ever made. Naturally he already has every thing that Jordan acquired for him (usually by overpaying). Just think, the one item that Jordon got that Simmons didn’t already have, Simmons declines to pay for, labeling it a “ridiculous price” at $1600.00. But Simmons gives Jordan a signed framed award record as a compensation prize to hang on his wall.
One thing you didn’t mention was the laughable way the lady with the KISS van MIB said she had already promised it to another buyer for an agreed-upon price of $700.00. Then when Jordan offers her more money, she simply takes Jordan’s offer without even giving the other client to whom she had already agreed to sell the item the chance to match the price. If I was the other customer, I think I would be a little miffed. And it was all on national TV for everyone to see.
And then, in the toy show, one client is holding the KISS Viewmaster, talking to the dealer about buying it, and Jordan, who doesn’t even have his hands on the item, announces that he is buying it and it is now “sold”. I admit that at OTSN one year I was tempted to do the same thing when another collector was holding a box of Airfix soldiers I wanted. But I thought it would be slightly on the rude side, so I just let the other collector complete the sale without trying to interject myself. Maybe toy soldier collecting is just a more polite hobby.
Don
You bring up some interesting points some that I have covered and others that I will need to update on the posting. I agree Victoria was wrong in selling the van to Jordan before checking with the friend to see if he would go higher. This can lead to losing a friend.
The viewmaster situation that is rare in other parts of the hobby as well. Jordan is lucky it was not with me as I would have balled him out for unsportsman conduct. The rule is when an item is in your hands, you are in play. If you don’t buy and keep holding then you asked the person if they are going to buy the item. I do not like Jordan’s methods and attitudes.
I like the Toy Hunter show and I like Jordan’s enthusiasm and personality, but sometimes his behavior makes me cringe. Like the moment in last night’s show when he sideswiped the other collector. It reminded my of a Magpie pushing another Magpie out of the way to get a scrap of food. And in the past when he nickel-and-dimed a collector for $5 or something like that, even when the collector had been exceptionally nice and let him into an area that typically was off limits to all but himself. And I thought Gene Simmons came off as a bit haughty, with more than a little air of condescension. It wasn’t my favorite episode, but I still enjoy the show and will keep watching.
Welcome Ray
Glad you like the show. I do not like show for various reasons. First is the prices he throws out on items. Second is the attitude he has with people. As I mention before I did not like how he knocked Steve Savino’s knowledge of dolls in the Virginia episode. Interestingly Jordan has trotted the Blyth doll (I very likely have that name wrong) in interviews that Steve found. Third Jordan plays fast and loose on prices. Fourth he gives the wrong impression on dealers. We are specialists not generalists. Fifth passing off Mark Huckabone as collector, when Mark is a master dealer. These are some of my complaints.
Gene Simmons if you watched his reality show is very closed as he was on Toy Hunter. If you can get pass that barrier, he is more open. I think he was annoyed with the items that Jordan brought. The items that Jordan brought were rookie mistakes. Gene Simmons has a massive Kiss collection which he gets samples of any Kiss product that comes out. Gene is a big comic book collector. As to why he did not buy the van that would be a good question to ask Gene.
Ray we welcome you to express your feelings on Toy Hunter with us.
I think the shows have become less interesting as the episodes have gone on. It’s too much of a good thing. I’m from the UK and spent years collecting vintage toys in the USA, just online, and got the same sort of items, I don’t think there is anything special about the toy hunter. I just wanted to point out that in your review of the show, a couple of the figures you got wrong. Jordan paid $100 for the viewmaster as the other potential buyer offered $75. And he paid $1100 for the Kiss van, not $1000, which makes thing even worse. I don’t understand the huge prices he is paying, the Vespa National scooter can be bought for a fraction of $1000, he is just paying mug prices. A good toy dealer would haggle the price as cheap as possible, I never buy anything until I get a good deal, and always check ebay for the bottom line figure.
Welcome Alexander
I agree with you the show has gotten boring. I agree Jordan is not special, as I have said on the other postings on Toy Hunter. The true toy hunter is Steve. Also I find Travis the young dealer more knowledgeable than Jordan. Jordan is just a pretty face.
Thank you for the corrections, I got upset with Jordan when he pulled the viewmaster out of the person’s hand so I could have missed the price.
Jordan buying practices could have been by the way the show is written. Still the prices he pays are too high, I have already told him he was too high on a Marx playset He blew it off.