In case you wonder what Hick is doing over in the BARn on days he's not out buying and selling junk... He's repairing junk to sell. Some of it is high-class junk. And I'm not talking about that portrait of a nude woman he found in his storage unit contents.
That's two clocks that Hick hung up in his workshop. To work on. As you can see, Hick's workshop is a workshop's workshop. Like Mr. French was a man's man for Uncle Bill on Family Affair. It's not a pristine showplace for tours of Hick's Shackytown and Amusement Park. It's a shop where tools are used to work on broken objects.
On the left is a Budweiser clock. That disc part is the "fob" for it. The whole thing is a model of a pocket watch. Hick pointed out that each of the two clocks has a GIRL on the back, serving beer. I think they are intended to spin around. Anyhoo... it's fixed now, and ready to sell. Hick bought the Budweiser clock from a buddy up at the storage units, for $125. He already had the fob. He thinks he paid $10 or $15 for it. Hick says each of these clocks sells for $250-$300 on eBay, or at an auction.
Hick said the Busch clock on the right is one he paid $50 for at the auction. It didn't light up. He discovered it didn't have a power cord. So he put on a power cord, and got a light bulb. Hick also said it has two "sconches" that go on each side of it. I asked what he meant, maybe "sconces," and he said yeah, two little lights shaped like the drum.
Hick stands to make more than a couple dollars profit on his two beer clocks.
Hick is one enterprising man!
ReplyDeleteOh, no. That reminds me of "Risky Business," and the "little enterprisers" group where Joel and his buddy made that memo-minder message thingy... and then of what kind of business Joel ran while his parents were out of town!
DeleteNice clocks and nice profit to be made.
ReplyDeleteI was impressed with the clocks. Hick has a lot of beer memorabilia, but nothing like this. I'm surprised he's not keeping them, so I guess he's pretty confident of raking in a good profit.
DeleteIf he really might like to keep them, he can ask more so that if someone is willing to pay a better price, he can at least have more money if not the clock.
DeleteHick plans to take these clocks to an auction where he can set a reserve price. So if his minimum price isn't offered, he gets to keep the clocks, to try and sell again later.
DeleteHe'll probably do them one at a time, in case the same buyer might be interested in both. I guess they'd be more conservative on their bids, if they thought they might be buying TWO clocks in one night. It has to be an auction that advertises key items ahead of time, to draw in the right kind of buyers.
I like large railway station style clocks that I sometimes see on a favourite show called Salvage Hunters. That looks like a neatly maintained workshop, lots of little storage tubs for bits and bobs, no obvious dust on the shelves.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a show Hick would watch. He's usually organized with his tools and equipment, and doesn't leave them laying around on the workbench.
DeleteI guess this was a work in progress, since he still needs a small hand for another clock that isn't pictured. Yesterday, he had the bright idea to MAKE ONE out of a piece of junk mail. It was a laminated plastic card, about 5 x 8 inches. He said he could cut one out and paint it black. I wouldn't be surprised if that works, if he can't find the proper hand at Hobby Lobby.
The show is set in England and the fellow drives all over to antique fairs, junk yards and secondhand shops as well as ancient English manor houses to buy bits and pieces for his own antique shop. I watch it mainly for the occasional tip on how to mend or restore stuff.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we get it here, but I caught Hick watching a show like that once, where a guy was buying old bricks to use for a project.
DeleteThere was one British show we liked, where everyday people sold their "valuables" at auction. Stuff like war memorabilia, or vases, or antique toys. Stuff that had been passed down through the family.