Blow up

BILLY: Tucson -- I love it. SALLY: There are 19 pods full of personal possessions. This is amazing. I like it a lot. Someone take me to the airport. MARK: $600 for an unknown. Yeah! This thing is rare, and it's in mint condition. Way to go, New York! AMOS: In three... two...one. Boom! NARRATOR: Every day, $40 billion in property travels around the world. 1% of that gets lost or left behind. When this property goes unclaimed, it's put up for public auction. Yo! AUCTIONEER: Sold! SALLY: We're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars. NARRATOR: This is "Baggage Battles." -- Captions by VITAC -- Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC. SALLY: We've come to Tucson to attend a pod auction. There are 19 pods full of personal possessions. These are things that people have taken out of their house, put in storage, and for some reason, they've been left behind. We're here to see if we can get a good pod or two. MARK: I got wide load coming through. Wide load. These pods are enormous in size. I didn't rent this box truck to go home with my tail between my legs. I'm gonna make some money in Arizona. Go big or go home. BILLY: I'm looking for that gem buried inside of one of these pods, but they keep you six or seven feet away so you really got to strain your neck. I've been doing this for 30 years. I've learned to really trust my gut and shoot from the hip like the O.K. Corral. AUCTIONEER: It's a bidder look-around. Everybody have a bid number? This pod is warped. Ooh. Okay. When they built it, it was square. Now it's abstract. It's totally like... [ Schlp! ] There's a water heater, some chairs on top, but what has my eyes fixated is the jewelry up front and center. How much is that box worth? The wonderful thing about jewelry is that the box is massive. I think you could make thousands. This one here looks to me like it's the leaning pod of Tucson. SALLY: Do you think, if the pod is damaged, No. I'm an old pod, and I'm doing good. That box is full jewelry -- even if it's costume jewelry -- we'll make our money back and a profit, not a problem. BILLY: It's a little bit of a horror show, but that's good. When a pod is too neat, that means they know exactly what they're putting in there. You know, if I got it for 150 bucks, can't go wrong. All right, here we go, selling it to you. This is lot number 5002. [ Calling ] MARK: I immediately start bidding on this warped pod. It's got a potential to have a jewelry box that is massive. SALLY: Mark wants it because the box says "jewlry." He can read. [ Snickers ] $175. Who's bidding? Something that amazes me -- Billy starts bidding on this. [ Auctioneer calling ] No. [ Calling continues ] No. Don't. Come on, let's go. We got all day. Whoa! Mark always says, "I'm all about the jewelry." All you need to do is put "jewelry" on the side, and he'll go right after it, like the meathead that he is. Truth is, it pays money no matter how you spell it. [ Calling continues ] Come on, Mark! Show them who's boss! Come on, let's go! The damn thing is at $600 for an unknown. [ Calling continues ] Oh! Holy moly! Way to go, New York! There's gambling, and there's the impetuousness of youth, and Mark fell for it. MARK: If it's a deal, it's a deal, regardless of price. Budgets are for [bleep] LAURENCE: You like it? No. I don't like the mattresses at all. "Donate. Fragile." Okay, that means it's their junk. It's packed right the way through. See those two cardboard boxes there? There's gonna be a lot of boxes in here. Mattresses -- You know, people have been known to stuff mattresses full of bank notes. I like this one. I'm so scared of this pod that I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole. It's got two box springs, a mattress, a headboard, footboard, and a box that says "donations" on it. I'm not gonna find an engagement ring inside this room. I'm not gonna find my retirement. I'm not even gonna find anything more than a hernia and a slipped disk. BILLY: This looks like the bedroom pod. It's got mattresses. The furniture is what I call hideous. It looks like it's urine-soaked. You know, I'm not into stained mattresses with bedbugs, but then, all of the sudden, I see "U.S. Air Force" on the side. That's a very, very strong clue that there's something of a military nature inside this pod. Here we go, selling it to you. $100! SALLY: The problem that we have is that Billy wants this pod. And Billy -- the heat has gotten to him. He's bidding more than ever. [ Calling continues ] Billy's bidding on this bedroom pod, and I don't know what he's thinking. BILLY: You see stained mattresses, and your average bonehead is gonna run away from this pod. But they're not gonna look at "U.S. Air Force" on the side. A lot of my work is banking on boneheads. [ Calling continues ] [ Laughs ] Sold, $300. Sold here, $300. Yeah! What a deal for this pod. I'm convinced there's something inside of it. Enjoy the garbage. The urine stains -- You can keep them, Billy. LAURENCE: You got a pump organ in here. It's an Eastlake. It's made of walnut. SALLY: There's two mattresses. There's a painting. I've found some really nice paintings, not even wrapped at all, worth thousands in these kind of pods. And this is an antique organ. It could be a really nice antique painting. BILLY: Wow, this is a cool pod. It's got a turn-of-the-century organ in there. If it's one of those player piano organs where they just play by themselves like there's a ghost playing it, it could be worth a lot of money. So, that's totally worth going after. MARK: This one's actually better than the last one. The organ looks good. If there's anything in the back of the room that matches the organ, it could be worth more money. When they open the door up on the pod, you can't see what's in the back, and that is generally the best part. Household unit right there. [ Calling ] SALLY: This organ makes me think that maybe there's something really valuable somewhere else in the pod. [ Calling continues ] BILLY: Laurence and Sally -- For sure, they're after it. This unknown dude is bidding on it. Mark is bidding on it. But I want this damn pod. LAURENCE: I don't care if Geronimo wants this pod. We're gonna get it. LAURENCE: I think we're the smart ones. Everybody's blown their wads. This is the last pod, and we're gonna get it. [ Auctioneer calling ] MARK: Sally and Laurence haven't won a pod yet, and they start getting desperate. I can see it in their face. [ Calling ] We're pulling out all the stops on this one. [ Calling continues ] Sold for $350. Sold for $350. We've got it. [ Whistle blows ] All right! We spent $350, and we're hoping that this organ pod is gonna be music to our ears. [ Grunts ] Da-da! Be careful. There you go. See? Glass. All right, it is a piece of glass. I figured this was gonna be a piece of art. No, it's a piece of glass. But it aren't. When we pull it out, it's a poxy piece of glass. It's not looking good. Anything inside it? Body or anything like that? There's an old, stained mattress. Any bodies in there? [ Grunts ] All right. Ready? At least you got somewhere to sleep tonight. [ Sniffs ] Pbht! Oh, look. These -- Ohh. SALLY: What is it? These could be big movie posters. Posters, posters, posters. Bring it here. I got to see it. I want to be careful. The wind will rip it. So, I don't really want to open it out there. Oh, wait. What is it? It's a Pepsi-Cola girl in glassware. So, a poster. Oh, how awesome. So, it's an old lithograph. Oh, it's multiple sheets. But that's pretty awesome. We're not taking any chances with this delicate paper. We need to take it inside so we can really open it up. SALLY: Oh, fantastic. Slowly, honey. We have to be so careful with this 'cause if it rips, it ain't worth the paper it's printed on. Be careful 'cause there's a little -- [ Gasps ] Aah! Cool. SALLY: It looks like we have a vintage billboard here, so we call up Danielle, a local graphics artist. She's really the one who can tell us more about what we've got. This is amazing. Let me take a look at it, here. SALLY: Danielle scrutinizes everything very carefully, and we're getting nervous because she looks pretty serious. LAURENCE: What do you think, Danielle? Well, it looks like you have all the pieces here. It's in pretty great condition. Back in the day, they would hand-paint billboards in sections, and then they would put them all together and then, like, paint spaces in between. In 1953, Pepsi started a campaign -- "The Light refreshment." In 1954, they changed their slogan, so we know from this that it is 1953. This thing's older than me. Mm, not quite, honey. [ Chuckles ] What do you think that this little baby's worth? DANIELLE: Well, Pepsi items are highly collectible. It's amazing historic piece of advertisement art. It would go for about... ...$3,000. $3,000?! [Bleep] [ Chuckles ] SALLY: We came to Tucson to bid on some pods. Not everything was good, but in the end, all the pieces fit. BILLY: I spent $300, but I'm not gonna know if I bust out in the desert or if I get gold until I open this pod. Let's get to work. Old mattress. Ugh. Jesus. A little end table -- Worth about 50 cents. Wow. [ Sniffs ] 22 years old. I'm not surprised to find lingerie in the bedroom pod. I'm aroused, but it ain't gonna make me money. "Made in China." [ Shakers click ] 1 cent. Hideous. Oh, this is really garbage. So far, I probably could get $10 for what's inside this pod. I am screwed. I'm gonna be riding my Harley all the way back to New York with no money in my pocket. But there is one box left. Aha! [ Vocalizing ] That makes me happy! This is a World War II Air Force tunic. So, this is a real keeper. Right now, I probably could get $100 to $150 for this tunic alone. Wow. Look at this. What on earth is this? Wow. Look at this. What on earth is this? It's a German swastika with a Waffen mark. Waffen marks are little eagles with a swastika that the Germans used to proofmark all their equipment. This thing is definitely original. It's in mint condition. But I don't know what it is. Holy smokes. This is some kind of mask. It is the most bizarre, mint-condition-looking contraption. [ Breathing heavily ] [ As Darth Vader ] "Luke, I am your father." [ Normal voice ] This thing has, like, gas-mask components to it, but it's way too big for a human's head. I don't know what this thing is. I got to bring it to my old friend Jeff. The rest of this stuff, I can just smash. [ Grunts ] I'm heading out to meet my buddy Jeff in the middle of nowhere. Great. Good to see you, Billy. He knows everything there is to know about militaria. Wow. I've never seen one of these up close. This is really amazing. This is terrific. What is this thing? Well, it's a horse gas mask. A horse? Yeah, there still was cavalry during World War II. They needed to protect their animals as they protected themselves. This would cover the muzzle of the horse something like this. [ Exhaling deeply ] [ Coughs ] Well, this one doesn't work quite as well as it should, I think. [ Both chuckle ] We do know that Hitler was gassed when he was a soldier in World War I, and that's why he didn't use it against the enemy troops. Because neither side really used gas, it never got used. So it's mint? It's about as close to mint as I've ever seen. You're telling me this thing is rare, and it's in mint condition. Would that affect how much it's worth? To an extent. I've seen others listed for about $300. $300? Because of the outstanding condition of this one, I would value it at... ...$500 to $600... ...maybe more. In New York, I bet you I could get 800 bucks for it. Tucson -- I love it. I made some money. I really feel like I was once here back in another lifetime. Billy the Kid. MARK: The locals bid me up $660 on this pod. My profit's gonna depend on what's inside the jewelry box. So, this is a lazy Susan -- 10 bucks. An incomplete set of golf clubs -- 25 bucks at a yard sale. Let's go. Okay, why would you pay to move a broken chair? This a luxurious chair. At one time, probably cost -- Ouch! You [bleep] Grandma put pins in this. Ow. I'm bleeding. This box is the reason that I bought this pod. I love the weight. When it comes to jewelry boxes, you want nothing but heavy. There is no positive hope right now. Coffee maker in the jewelry box. What is this, Mr. T's jewelry box? [ As Mr. T ] "I pity the fool." [ Clatters ] [ Normal voice ] This is the kitchen. This is as far away from the jewelry box as you can get. Note to self -- If you can't spell "jewelry," you probably don't own any. I can't get anything for this. Aw, this could get good. There looks like there's a big trunk back there. Let's get rid of this crap. I got to get to the good stuff. I hear things inside. What? [ Sighs ] Can someone take me to the airport? There's nothing but junk in the trunk, and this last box of toys -- It's all I got left. This is amazing. If you want to see more of the stuff we got, go to travelchannel.com. This is amazing. Oh, yeah. I open up the box of toys, and I find the ultimate toy -- a blasting machine. In Arizona, you got copper, gold, and silver. They've been mining here from the 1800s. If it's that old, this could be worth a tremendous amount of money. This is the only man toy in the whole pod. This is exactly what I came for. [ Creaking ] Boom! I'm going to meet Amos, and he's a pro pyrotechnician. So, you brought me a blaster to look at. Yes, I did. Uh-huh. Is this, like, Wile E. Coyote status? [ Chuckles ] Almost. Not quite. Not quite. What you have here is an original Du Pont 50 Blasting Machine, also referred to as a hellbox. A hellbox. Hell, yeah. Du Pont actually started about 1880. This machine will handle 50 blasting caps. That's enough dynamite to level a city block. Wow. If this machine is that powerful, it could be worth more than I thought. What is this blasting machine really worth? In poor condition, not working -- $250. If this is in working condition, what's it worth? [ Sighs ] $600, $650. 600 bucks isn't bad. I just got to find out if this thing works. We could always hook it up to some explosives. ♪ We're gonna burn this mother down ♪ ♪ We're gonna burn this mother down ♪ We're gonna keep this between me and you. Don't tell my mom, [ Chuckles ] All right. Well, let's get our leads hooked up here. So, on the count of three, lift. On one, you press it down. Let's hope for the best. See if this baby works. In three... two...one. Fire! Yeah! Wow! [ Chuckles ] Shall we? MARK: Oh, man! Is this why they call it the hellbox? This is the hellbox. Look at your poor trunk over there now. It went sailing through the air. ♪ ...Where the sea is blue and skies are bright and clear ♪ I lost money in Tucson, but I still had a blast. NARRATOR: Sally and Laurence finally put all the pieces together, realizing a giant Pepsi billboard and over $2,600 in profit. Billy was suffocating in the desert heat until he was saved by a horse gas mask and an unexpected profit of $460. Mark dug deep and found something really dynamite -- an old vintage blasting machine, blowing up his profit into a great ball of fire. Got a lot of saleable furniture, a nice antique table, great ottoman and chair, an old first-type flat screen. These went for a lot of money back in the day. Today, this is not worth a whole lot of money. I've cut myself. [ Groans ] That TV will turn on if you wait long enough in this desert heat. Wow, the sun is beating down on my head so hard. I'm actually watching a show. "I Love Lucy." This is the life. I love Arizona. Whew.