Secret Life of the Auction House (2025) Season 1 Episode 6

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Secret Life of the Auction House (2025) Season 1 Episode 6 #CenimaluxMoviesSeries https://www.dailymotion.com/Shumedia

Transcript

00:00this time at the auction house masterpiece or monstrosity the supersized sculpture that's a

00:07haulage headache it's quite scary stuff because it's wobbling all over the place oh my gosh

00:14facing some hard truths about soft furnishings did they cost you for the six over 25,000 and

00:21they crossed over 36,000 did they really do you think should be okay with eight and shaken but

00:28not stirred the 60-year-old spy car that's still practically perfect these are brilliant it's

00:35almost like you didn't play with them I certainly did ten thousand pounds eleven thousand sold close

00:45to the Derbyshire Dales is one of Britain's busiest auction houses hello Island hello America run by

00:51enthusiastic antique specialist Charles Hansen he and his army of expert valuers

00:58that one indicates that it's a true Harry Potter first issue examine thousands of treasures every

01:05year I'm touching a garment that was warmer Queen Victoria this carving is sumptuous from the

01:12familiar where about do you want this bike going then somehow it's absolutely lovely and unusual look

01:18at the movement and that to the phenomenal this sculpture this is something quite special every

01:26object has a story to tell a vampire blanket oh my god it's amazing from surprising revelations

01:3330,000 pounds around my neck antique luggage is really really collectible to jaw-dropping hammer prices

01:4020,000 pounds we're in salt got to be pleased with that there's nothing quite like an auction

01:47well live across Europe with phone lines as well hello France hello Italy behind the theatre of the

01:59sale room 7,000 sold the auction house relies on a hard-working logistics team to keep the objects

02:06coming and going so what would you say the heaviest thing we've ever lifted them I can tell you the

02:13heavy thing we didn't lift because it was too heavy what was that snooker table oh yeah what about that and

02:19prepared for that politician every month 8,000 items are handled by the dispatch team of Elaine and Elizabeth who get

02:28through 33 kilometers of tape and 25 kilometers of bubble wrap each year it's like a wheel isn't it

02:35it is turning sometimes I think buyers expect us to be able to post everything they do don't they

02:43sometimes bad requests for furniture haven't we told me I stood no today senior valuer Carl is off to

02:55check out an item that could be the company's biggest logistical challenge yet you can go somewhere

03:01and find that real real gem that's what I love about being in the antiques and collectibles business

03:09and nothing surprises me

03:19hi Gareth I've heard you've got a sculpture for me to look at come and have a look no wow

03:26what an incredible sculpture this is wow I've just walked around this corner of this scaffolding

03:43place and just seen the most impressive sculpture stood there really high but glistening in the Sun

03:51great thing into what's this made of steel 304 stainless it's very impressive I've been collecting

03:59for maybe 20 or 30 years buying and selling oddball items where I think I can see a little bit of value

04:06in something where somebody might have missed it this particular sculpture I bought after a couple of

04:12glasses of red wine on a well-known auction site and who's the artist what's the artist name the guy called

04:18Malcolm Robertson this was a commission for the old Lexmark printers all right they had a big glass

04:25steel factory unit and they commissioned this to go in the middle of the lake water cascading down

04:31twisting by the pool is the official title of it yeah it's certainly twisted I bet it looked absolutely

04:38stunning water coming down at first I didn't realize it was a fountain as well as just a sculpture it's got

04:45your purpose the creator of this sculpture Malcolm Robertson from Edinburgh is a very successful

04:52public artist whose work has been commissioned on three continents I think he's been going since the

05:01early 90s all right so successful sculptor yeah he's done very well for himself then yeah I can see why

05:07Lexmark closed their Scotland plant in 2006 and Gareth bought the sculpture 14 years later I got it in

05:16the end for 900 pounds 900 yeah but then there was four and a half thousand of transport costs to get

05:24it back down here right I think you honestly quids in in that it's just a really outstanding piece of

05:31artwork Carl will need to do some digging into the artist's history before he can give Gareth evaluation

05:38we'll do the homework on the fella who made this let's see what he's done what they're selling for

05:44and I'll get back to you on that top now look forward to see where it goes yeah no problem lovely

05:50first impression is one of relief that I've not completely wasted a bucket load of money can't

05:58wait for the auction but getting this super-sized sculpture ready for auction isn't going to be easy

06:04I think that this is probably the most challenging object we've had to transport into it well it's the

06:12height you need a forklift flatbed there's lots of lots of obstacles so at the moment it's a bit of a

06:19logistical nightmare also on the hunt for new business is Charles who's heading to London for

06:30what could be one of his biggest jobs yet quite excited high net worth clients just called got a

06:38unit full in central London of what I'm hoping is really quite significant furniture this could be good

06:45but make good impression do a good job they have friends and hopefully then other jewels will come

06:52in and the crown jewels who knows might be at the end of the rainbow

06:56client Denise is ready and waiting in the depths of the high-security lock-up hi hi I found you what

07:11amazing places Denise McCullough is a successful businesswoman who wants to downsize a lifetime's

07:18worth of luxury furniture we moved from a very big house into a three-bedroom penthouse yeah and that

07:27furniture doesn't fit yeah I kept about two or three pieces of furniture yeah and that's it I don't have

07:33room for it no you've got some incredibly exciting objects here I'm slightly blown away actually normally

07:40we come to these units and we see just stuff part high it's normally quite low value walking in there like

07:46gallery it's literally the biggest ever unit I've seen in this central London location so these chairs

07:52over here Denise these are quite something this gorgeous guilt detail pursue are they Russian are

07:59they they're Russian Russian Empire they are so we're talking in age 1820 1840 to see not just

08:06four but six chairs and their weights with the the ormolu the detail the embossed back of the headrest

08:14just incredible did they cost you for the six over 25,000 and they're crossed over 36,000 did they

08:21really yeah Denise bought from an exclusive dealer when the antiques market was riding high Charles

08:29knows he can't match that at auction now the markup at the high end can be quite substantial because

08:36you're buying expertise at their resale value being realistic is probably going to be between ten and

08:41fifteen thousand pounds it's with you the Russians aren't here with her contacts Denise could be a very

08:49important client but however much Charles wants to win her business he also needs to manage her expectations

08:56magnificent the pair of these properly set up you might guide three to five four six thousand pounds okay we'll have to sell them right now

09:05to help seal the deal Charles offers to auction her 99-piece collection at his Staffordshire showroom

09:13Bishton Hall a stately home fit for this upmarket furniture we would have the house decorated with your

09:22collection top to toe and while most of Denise's antiques are struggling to hold their value there is

09:29one item that might book the trend this to me could be the one that might surprise you financially yeah

09:36that would be nice it's a carved Chinese altar table of exceptional craftsmanship that belonged to my

09:44father-in-law it was his desk if you look at the quality of this carving it's like a root wood it's a hardwood

09:52it's like an ebony but goodness me this altar or side table this carving is sumptuous and the legs get

10:00better and better fantastic I'll be thrilled and quite honored and quite humble to handle this it's

10:05okay with you that's fine all right it's very exciting one the business it's in the bag we've secured an

10:12amazing job honored to celebrate and showcase fine objects but now it's steering it back into Middle England

10:19business Charles now faces a huge logistical challenge getting this large and precious

10:25collection safely back to Staffordshire where it can be beautifully displayed when they come up in that

10:31big Bentley of theirs we want to make sure that Bishton sings to them the journey starts now

10:49this morning Hanson's Derbyshire HQ has a special delivery

10:56Gareth is dropping off his enormous work of modern art ready to be auctioned

11:01oh my god i'm glad to get it here in one piece oh you got a few double takes going down the road

11:09fabulous it's amazing sales room manager Karen is overseeing operations just a case of unstrapping it and

11:17uh we'll get it set up for you it's quite scary stuff because it's it's wobbling all over the place

11:35i'm not getting too close and i'm making sure nobody else is getting too close just in case it topples

11:47a couple of wobbly moments yeah i did really well it had me worried for a moment or two but it's off and

12:03it's here now safely in place carl can set to work researching the sculptor malcolm robertson

12:09he's invited art and antiques dealer and brees miller to check it out hi hi how are you this is

12:17amazing it is it's oh my gosh it's absolutely great the amazing part about malcolm robertson's pieces

12:25is that you get this sense of movement and urgency in all of his works yeah yeah he's an extremely

12:30prolific artist he's known for these large-scale really industrial almost kind of brutalist type forms

12:38that are commissioned by either local governments or corporations just because of the scale of them

12:43you don't really see these in private collections it's just fantastic like the way he's sort of

12:50sanded these steel edges when the world comes down it'll give it that glistening effect absolutely

12:57some of his contemporary similar artists like anthony gormley or anish kapoor they try to move away from

13:03the fact that it's so industrial they're working with steel and metal whereas he just really embraces

13:10i think that any collector that appreciates this type of work and the scale of this work is going

13:17to love this sculpture carl's discovered that the sculpture was commissioned for 15 000 pounds

13:24in 1996 but he's worried that the sheer size and scale could affect its current market value

13:30it's not like you can just buy this and have it in your front garden with an eye on comparable sales

13:38he's worked out a realistic guide price if we stick to 30 000 and i think everyone would be happy with

13:47that it's a hard market these are the market will dictate so let's see what happens on it

13:54the logistics team has arrived in london to clear the three truck loads of contents from denise's

14:07underground lock-up be careful with that painting don't want that to be damaged

14:12it's all lovely beautiful furniture lacquered fragile a lot of glass

14:21but an exacting client and a pile of delicate objects aren't the only problems for team leaders

14:27dave and andy we've got three vans all of them really high the place we've got to pick up from

14:33is really low two meters i think it is so if we take our vans down there we'll take the roofs off

14:38it's complicated it's enough to induce a headache put it that way the day's changing it's changed

14:45five or six times in the past hour plan b is to use smaller vans to ferry the furniture to the

14:55larger vans up at street level they're ferrying them out of here where we are on the street and

15:01we're just transferring vans it's interesting yeah what's your feet on there mate there's traffic there's

15:07people you know we can't leave things blocking the road it's like doing a lego set with no

15:13instructions you've got to figure it out it's just yeah

15:25after eight hours it's job done and 135 miles later the massive consignment makes it to bishden hall in

15:33staffordshire here charles has asked specialist valuer nick to catalogue and display the 99 pieces

15:40of high-end furniture this looks amazing i cannot believe the transformation of this room it's nicely

15:47set out isn't it fishden is an ongoing project charles acquired the historic house three years ago

15:55to develop as a perfect setting to display antique furniture and attract high-end clients

16:00it was always my desire to put fish on the map by putting antiques in their interior settings in

16:07the lovely room and the fact that the gilt would reflect so off the bead of mine nick i'm absolutely

16:12really really pleased yeah just walking around now nick has done a brilliant job it looks fantastic

16:19i'm really impressed what's our ballpark figure do you think for the collection as a whole

16:25my head must be about thirty thousand though charles has prepared denise to expect a low return

16:32nick's valuation is a long way off the top dollar she's paid for this collection

16:38i suspect what we've got in that room is easily over a hundred and twenty thousand pounds worth of stock

16:46now we are going to be quoting denise we want to try and achieve thirty thousand pounds back that is you

16:52can work it out a quarter of what she has paid one of the standout items is an elegant set of 19th

17:00century russian chairs but since denise paid over 36 000 pounds for them in the 1980s the bottom has

17:07dropped out of the market for these traditional antiques they're quite stylish i in the lockup was

17:15keen to secure them yeah so i think i may have said to her ten thousand pounds we might get now that's

17:20do you think do you think it should be okay with eight so when i say to denise we're going to guide

17:27your chairs at six to eight thousand pounds if i hear a bump and just walk a chair that's time to

17:36worry my favorite piece nick is this yeah do you think it's late 19th chinese yes it's china late 19th

17:44yes i think so late ching dynasty so we're talking circa 1900 yes i agree yeah i'm hoping with chinese

17:51interest this might make four or five thousand pounds it could yeah i hope we can get away with

17:55like a guy price of probably 1500 2 000 pounds yeah what i don't want to do is try and impress

18:02denise with two high guys and sort of and we have a have a cell that bombs yeah with sale day approaching

18:09charles calls denise to see how low she's prepared to sell at hi charles denise how are you i've got

18:17your figures here if we can we'll run over each lot art deco thousand pound reserve yeah discretion

18:27ten percent discretion no no discretion on this one it's a very nice one though keen to expand his

18:32portfolio of high-end clients charles is discovering it's not easy money oh dear dear dear she's actually

18:40increased her reserves by about 20 000 pounds gross goodness me will we sell a third of it

18:47i don't think we will back in the 1990s and 1980s in furniture antiques were making 20 times more

18:56than what they make now so talk about pressure

19:06i'm not going to get up to that

19:09it's auction day for the sculpture and barry and aid have been asked for exact measurements

19:14by a potential bidder so do you want the heavy end or the light end it's the light end yeah thank

19:23you very much all right this is all yummy we're about there okay that looks bang on 4.5 meters it says

19:34dimension so i'm guessing we need to do the long the widest part i would think as well right 3.6

19:43yeah so they've obviously done it to 3.6 okay the last for weight next

19:52measurements done how you doing carl good to see you again oh yeah and you mate yeah there she is

19:59seller gareth is hoping to get a nice return on his weighty investment

20:04what the hell am i going to do with it if it doesn't sell

20:06it's definitely too big for my mantelpiece after receiving carl's valuation gareth set the reserve

20:14price the lowest bid he's willing to accept at 30 000 pounds there's any sort of leeway if it got

20:20to 28 29 oh absolutely yeah well i'll let the auctioneer know that we go put a discretion on it

20:26as well but hopefully we won't need it fantastic brilliant top man charles is auctioning the sculpture

20:34and knows full well that no sale means hansons make no money what's the latest he's happy with

20:41discretion but if you can talk him down yeah it'll be where do you think we can go with him um 25 okay at least

20:55the room's very tense we don't know whether we're going to get bids it's the bit that always

21:00gets the heart fluttering it's the start of the sale good morning the world good morning darbush

21:05how are you all here today 164 here we go fingers crossed right we have got a really really wonderful

21:14sculpture malcolm robertson's titled twisting by the pool i will start with a bit of 12 000 pounds

21:21i'm not sure what's going to happen or where it's going to go it's such a peculiar niche item 12 000

21:29i'm asking 12 and a half 13 000. charles is yet to receive a real bid instead he's doing something

21:37called walking up the numbers 14 000 to get it closer to the 30 000 reserve price legally we are okay

21:48to walk up to within discretion of the bottom guides 15 000 16 000 and so i can create an energy i can

21:58create a feeling of interest when there's nothing i'm asking 17 000 i will walk it up 17 18 19 we're on

22:07the market just about if i see 20 000 do i see 20 000 pounds i'm looking around and there's no one in

22:16the room in my eyes who's going to be buying it do i see 20 000 in the room i'm asking 20 000

22:29it's just a vacant hole of nothingness surely one more i'm thinking there isn't going to be anybody for

22:38this

22:3919 000 for an iconic sculpture the super-sized fountain sculpture by malcolm robertson is going

22:58under the hammer do i see 20 000 pounds but so far there hasn't been a single bid do i see 20 000

23:08i'm really nervous nothing this is a dead duck

23:12i'm now thinking i might have to take this back with me i'm asking online 20 000 pounds

23:22i noticed that on barry's platform i see someone hovering so they're obviously interested

23:27charles can see that they're hovering as well on his two laptops there coming at 20

23:31and make a memory you walk away at 20 right walking away i think walking away if you come at 20 now

23:40you may have a most magnificent object of art

23:44there's a flicker hello someone playing games here it's as though there's some activity charles

23:53myself and barry we all knew that there was somebody out there that was obviously interested

23:57this is where the market will be 20 000 pounds we're in i see charles jump in the air as a bid comes

24:07in on the internet fantastic 20 000 we've got 20 000 pounds in all my career i've never gone from

24:16nothing to everything 20 000 pounds the room can't believe it i can't believe it 20 000 not we are bid 20

24:2520 000. gareth has set the reserve at 30 000 pounds but he's free to lower this limit if he chooses to

24:35it's quite helpful to have the seller in the room charles can just have a look over at the the seller

24:40and they can decide for themselves whether to take the the bid that's uh come in so to be absolutely

24:46sure i looked at the vendor at least three times we've got it we've got 20 000 but are you happy happy

24:55happy happy with 20 yeah 20 000 the thumbs are up and in that moment i gave him the the nod back to

25:03say yeah it's good to go at the 20k and we are selling it at 20 000 pounds congratulations carlos

25:10congratulations to our clients as well online it's yours sold congratulations to buy a three one zero zero

25:18that's good you know i mean it's i know it's got it away congratulations well played wow

25:25the person on my platform puts his bid in at 20 000 pounds i've got goosebumps again now just

25:31thinking about it it was a 900 pound investment and it went out the door at 20 000 the bottom line

25:39is i've made a tidy profit on the thing so yeah everyone's a winner fantastic day

25:43yeah yeah it was you know it was quite exciting wasn't it yeah to me it's nice nice to see somebody

25:49come in right at the death for a moment there i didn't think i was going to get anyway but charles

25:54managed to ring it out of somewhere yeah yeah well done gareth no well spent money wisely

25:59not all logistics challenges are about size sometimes it's about quantity at biston hall

26:13toy valuer mark holder has to deal with thousands of very small items that keep the postal department

26:19on its toes the toy market is is huge nowadays it's almost like stocks and shares market there's

26:26websites showing you the growth available and people are investing the savings rather than

26:30keeping in the bank believe it or not you can sell from your bedroom online and it can be shipped

26:35around the world for you know a few pounds one person hoping his own collection of childhood toys

26:42has gone up in value over time is keith lumley we're considering a house move um i'm going to have

26:50to downsize so i've got a lot of stuff in the loft that i need to get rid of including lots of toys

26:55i used to play with them as a child oh yeah what have you got for me today i've got a few corgi

27:00cars to show you right wow okay so dating from what circa 1960s um early 60s yes the diecast toy

27:11collectors they always look for period toys from the 1960s at those times nobody collected toys

27:19so to get them in the original packaging is always a rarity to be honest with you well the first thing

27:26that strikes me is the condition the original box is in great condition it's almost brand new i used to

27:34play with them regularly as a child but i was always taught to look after them couldn't crash them into

27:40each other and that sort of thing and uh keep them in the boxes now these are these are brilliant

27:45it's almost like you didn't play with them i certainly did in the 1960s special editions started

27:53to appear tied into popular films or tv shows next one's a man from uncle car wow great these are probably

28:02you know some of the best examples i've seen last one possibly my favorite james bond's aston martin dv5

28:08oh fantastic yeah again the condition is there you've got everything in the box the looks of it this also

28:16had a lot of features didn't it yes um the guns pop out of the front just like the movie you've got the

28:24shield at the back they were sold as a toy a throwaway item so the kids used to obviously just

28:31get the toys throw the boxes away and not many survive with the original packaging without any damage

28:41in all keith has kept 47 of his toy cars including some rare corgis a fiat 600 and american models of an

28:48ambulance and a mail car potentially you know you've probably got you know 800 to a thousand pound on

28:55the table on a good day lovely i really appreciate that thank you very much thanks for bringing them

29:00in great yeah see you see that was really interesting and very surprising i was quite shocked at just how

29:06much some of those items could possibly fetch but i'll be sad to see them go because they're my childhood toys

29:13at 3 300 pounds while etwall hq hosts two auction days every week it's yours thank you

29:27bishden hall holds the same number every month and today charles is pulling out all the stops to

29:32impress denise with an auction focusing solely on her collection of luxury furniture i want denise on my

29:39left-hand side so i can see her with either funds up or thumbs down but he's worried that the reserve

29:49prices denise has insisted on will scare off buyers i sleep very well because the reserves are so high

29:57and my concern is denise just is living in a retail market trying to not give me a chance in a wholesale

30:05market denise how are you hi you've made it well this is called staffershire here is a cell room

30:19it is absolutely fabulous room isn't it and i think the furniture your biedermeier sits so well in here

30:26yeah i think the cell today obviously you've put your reserves on quite right i would have gone in a bit

30:32less i have put the prices of some of the items up because i thought they were far too cheap because

30:40i paid for them a lot lots more than i'm selling them for the good news is it looks like the auction

30:48has attracted a full house morning good morning good morning welcome welcome to our sale we say good

30:56boys while bars online where do we start a really good maple portico clock 600 pounds i bid i'm asking

31:04620 now it's not quite close enough there are 73 separate lots on the catalogue are you sure one while

31:12take not quite it's thumbs down from denise she won't accept less than the reserve it's not going very

31:20well not quite there not sold oh it's really bad because the reserve is so high the first three lots

31:30don't sell at all and even though the next few do good morning america at 560. prices are low very low

31:40sold congratulations america first big challenge and where i really feel i've got to deliver are those

31:48russian chairs they are wonderful the best chairs i've seen in 10 years their reserve is just six

31:56thousand pounds a fraction of the 36 000 pounds denise originally paid for them take a look these are

32:04scintillating dining chairs four eight i'm bid i'm bid five thousand five thousand pounds a bidder comes in

32:15but can i take that five thousand bid up to six five six five eight time bid i'm asking six thousand

32:23i'm bid six thousand pounds in the uk six two do i see this is an important sale and these are wonderful

32:31chairs but we're going at six thousand i look at the knees she gives me the thumbs up and that means

32:38everything yeah thank you yes you've got a big sale going going going sword wow that's great i mean

32:48the hammer's gone down it's a very high price congratulations your chairs that's a big thumbs up

32:54for a big price yes but charles still needs more big sales to break even and cover all his haulage costs

33:03next up the chinese altar table that valuer jim will be bidding for on behalf of an interested buyer

33:09from abroad yeah you can hear me okay yep yeah good i'll keep you on the line i've got my client on the

33:19phone in china and there's a couple of us obviously taking the telephone bids my number now is this chinese

33:26hardwood of the table the table has an estimate of three to four thousand pounds and it quickly finds

33:32its legs and i start at five thousand pounds six thousand pounds seven thousand pounds suddenly the

33:41price is going up a grand a grand a grand grand and it's reaching up to very high figures valuer scott

33:50has a second phone bidder while a bidder wishing to remain anonymous is keeping a low profile just outside

33:56the sale room 10 000 pounds we're bid we're live in china 10 and a half 11 000 11 and a half 12 000

34:07pounds i'm bid in the room with the guide price smashed bids are still rising fast and show no sign

34:14of slowing down 13 000 pounds i've got you

34:26be Hasta here

34:28like

34:2911 000 000

34:3511 000 000

34:48I feel like all my prayers have been answered.

34:50The altar table, hallelujah, we're in.

34:5314,000 bids, sir.

34:55We'll have a room, 14,000.

34:57Asking 15 now.

34:59No more, 14,000 pounds per bid.

35:02And Scott's buyer then drops out.

35:05It's between Jim's phone line and the guy on the door

35:07who really is just not waving at all.

35:1016,000.

35:12The man just behind the door is a specialist collector

35:15who doesn't want to be identified.

35:1817,000.

35:2118,000.

35:2419,000.

35:2520,000 pounds per bid.

35:28We've got a phone bidder in the room with Jim from China, it seems.

35:32And then we've got a man at the door standing right in front of me

35:36so I can see both of them and I'm going left, right, left, right.

35:3921,000.

35:4022,000.

35:4223,000.

35:4324,000.

35:45Amazing.

35:45It keeps on going.

35:4628, 32, 5, 8.

35:49Oh, my God.

35:50I'm just inside, just feeling relief.

35:5438,000.

35:5540,000 pounds per bid.

35:5840,000 pounds.

36:00It's still going.

36:01It's still going.

36:0142,000, 44,000, 46,000, 48,000, 50,000 pounds.

36:1050.

36:11Wow.

36:12I can see a twinkle in Charles's eye.

36:1550,005, 60,000.

36:20It's against you, asking 60,000.

36:24You're out.

36:25Are you sure?

36:26My client in China says last bid.

36:30Thank you very much.

36:31I'm selling it to you, sir.

36:33The bidder in the room is clearly determined to own this table.

36:3655,000.

36:39Fair warning all done.

36:41Sold.

36:42Congratulations.

36:44Wow.

36:46If Charles was hoping to impress Denise and win more high-end business, it's job done.

36:52I had no idea it was getting to that price.

36:55Charles is fantastic.

36:58And he's really, really, really a good auctioneer.

37:01What a journey.

37:03It was the most hair-raising, the most momentous auction probably for me in the past 10 years.

37:11Although it was bumpy and we were, in many respects, you know, below guide on a lot of lots,

37:18that lot just made up for it.

37:20It's been a joy.

37:21Hope to see you again soon.

37:23Having impressed Denise, there are still hundreds of other items that need the same care and attention

37:35to get ready for auction.

37:38That includes the childhood corgi car collection,

37:41which requires just the same amount of careful research and cataloguing before its sale.

37:47Really made well, these were.

37:49They're better than they throw away toys nowadays.

37:51Oh, God, yeah.

37:53I was a 70s child, really.

37:55So it was all action men and matchbox.

37:58I was Star Wars and A-Team.

38:02Cataloguing done.

38:04All right, come on, Patrick, let's get this social media video done.

38:07Mark's keen to go viral to attract bidders from around the world for his corgi sale.

38:13Two, one.

38:15Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Toys and Juvenalia auction.

38:20People say to me, oh, is it worth putting, you know, a social media post on?

38:24Absolutely.

38:25It spreads the word.

38:26You only need a couple of bidders on the day and things will fly away.

38:34To help his post reach the true corgi aficionado, Mark's inviting avid toy car collector and author,

38:41Giles Chapman...

38:42Hi, Mark.

38:43How are you doing? Are you OK?

38:44Good, thanks. How are you?

38:45..to take a peek under the bonnet of Seller Keith's 47 toy cars.

38:51You know, if you can help perhaps push this out on the socials for us now,

38:55get it out to some of your collectors.

38:57Yes.

38:57And he just, you know, brings a bit of a wider audience.

39:00There's no doubt that the internet and buying online is something that collectors like me,

39:06when I started early 80s, you know, we would have just dreamed of that.

39:10That's a resource which you didn't have.

39:13You know, it was going around junk shops, it was going to jumble sales,

39:16it was picking things out of skips.

39:19You know, you had to sort of develop your collection by stealth.

39:23Wow, this is absolutely fantastic.

39:25As you can see on the roof, there's a little clicker just there.

39:27You press it down and it makes this gun-firing sound.

39:31They're sort of firing guns, and this led to quite a problem,

39:35because I think the product planners thought,

39:37should we be selling toys that are encouraging shooting and firearms and so on?

39:41So their very clever solution was to put some bullet holes in the windscreen.

39:46You can see them just there.

39:47And the whole idea is, the narrative of these two private eyes in there

39:51is that they're defending themselves.

39:52They've already been shot, and they, as they're driving along,

39:56are shooting to defend themselves, if that makes sense.

39:58So it's a very interesting sort of piece of political correctness

40:03about the products at the time.

40:05I would love to tell other collectors about these,

40:07because this sort of thing doesn't come up very often,

40:09so I think there's going to be a tremendous amount of interest in them.

40:12They're lovely.

40:13With the word out, auction day sees Keith's corgi cars taking centre stage.

40:26Morning, Keith. How are you doing? Are you OK?

40:28Yeah, I'm very well, thanks. Nice to see you again.

40:29All in, Mark's valued Keith's collection at £1,000.

40:34I think they're really going to fly today,

40:36because it's all about the condition, isn't it?

40:38Yeah, yeah.

40:38There's always that anticipation,

40:42because you've told vendors how much the items are going to make

40:44and your expectations,

40:46but now you've got that on your shoulders.

40:48Right, shall we go in there and let's get this out of the way?

40:50Yes, fine, let's get on with it.

40:52A few butterflies in the stomach, a little bit nervous,

40:55but fingers crossed.

40:56Good morning.

40:58Welcome to our toy sale.

41:00We have some wonderful early objects of corgi.

41:03They're shaken, not stirred.

41:04James Bond, this is Goldfinger, Aston Martin, DB5 of 1965.

41:10And I'm bid here straight in.

41:1275, 85, 95, 100, 110, 120 I'm bid.

41:18I'm asking now 130.

41:20130 I'm bid, do I see 140 now?

41:22Come on!

41:23As an auctioneer, you're almost teasing, goading, encouraging.

41:29Are you sure in the room?

41:30The brakes are on.

41:31I can hear the screech in the room.

41:33There's no more interest.

41:34At 130, are you sure online?

41:37Who wants it?

41:38I will sell this lot.

41:40Bid 140, asking 150.

41:43You're just on the edge,

41:44just waiting to see how much extra Charles can eke out

41:48from the people that are bidding.

41:49Are you sure, madam?

41:50You're out in the room, lead in the black.

41:52You're out as well?

41:53Are you sure?

41:54You're out, sir, as well.

41:56Fair warning, all done.

41:57At 140 pounds, sold.

42:01It's really strange seeing things being sold like that

42:05when they're with your childhood toys.

42:07I want them to go to good homes, if you like.

42:09It's just good to know that somebody can get some enjoyment out of them.

42:12At 95 pounds, three, two, one, sold.

42:17Keith's beloved cars are finding no shortage of new homes.

42:21At 50 pounds, going, going, going, sold.

42:26And last up, it's the man from UNCLE.

42:29At 140, they think it's all over in the room.

42:33At 140 pounds, sold.

42:37Quite pleased with that.

42:38Yeah.

42:39And why not, as all of Keith's toy cars have sold?

42:42Keith, well, great news.

42:45The numbers have been crunched.

42:47Right.

42:47And for your selection of Corgi toys,

42:50we've got a grand total on the Hammer of 1,507 pounds.

42:56Brilliant.

42:56That's absolutely wonderful.

42:57Thank you very much indeed.

42:58Really appreciate that.

42:59Overall, I think we've done much, much better than I thought.

43:03Absolutely wonderful.

43:04There's just one final logistical hurdle to clear.

43:11Yep.

43:12Perfect.

43:12Hold it there.

43:14Delivering the giant Malcolm Robertson artwork to its new home

43:17in a Surrey sculpture park,

43:19and the person who bid for it, Eddie Powell.

43:22I was attracted to the working feature of a sculpture for the park.

43:28It's different to anything I've got here,

43:30so that's always one of the first decisions I make.

43:34It's certainly something I'm looking forward to seeing installed

43:38and plumbed in as a working fountain and twisting by the pool.

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