[overlapping chatter] ROBERT HARRISON: Previously on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

GUEST: They said, “How ‘bout $50?” And I ‘bout tore my pants gettin' my wallet out.

PHILLIP MERRILL: From the trash, you saved these?

GUEST: The trash.

PHILLIP: Priceless!

ED MORENO: Quite noisy isn't it?

GUEST: Quite noisy, yes.

ROSS KELBAUGH: How in the world did you acquire this?

GUEST: Nepotism.

JEANNIE BLASSINGHAM: Between $50,000 and $60,000.

[Mickey Mouse playing xylophone] ALLAN STYPECK: As a baby present, they had great foresight because this book is currently worth about $3500.

GUEST: Oh my goodness.

AMORY LeCUYER: What we have over here is not a basket.

This is a Hupa hat.

LEX REEVES: Tell me a little bit about who you have brought today?

GUEST: I brought Plain Jane.

GUEST: This is a map that Charles Lindbergh gave my uncle in 1927.

ALLAN: You have a very desirable book.

LEX: It's a ten out of a ten for condition.

It's about as good as it gets.

GUEST: This bold block of color came out of the trash.

GUEST: I feel like I've danced with George Washington.

ROSS: I have been waiting for somebody to bring this iconic newspaper in.

♪ (theme music plays).

♪ ROBERT: 11 seasons.

That's how long "Chesapeake Collectibles" has been airing on Maryland Public Television.

Not bad for a show that seemed to be about... well, a little bit of everything.

Hi, I'm Robert Harrison.

And you know, for the last 10 seasons, I've been privileged to be one of the appraisers here on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

During that time, I've met a lot of people and I've evaluated a lot of objects.

And now that Season 11 has ended, we thought it would be a good time to look back on how it all began.

Tonight, we're gonna take a look behind the scenes to the making of "Chesapeake Collectibles."

We'll speak to the producers, the appraisers, the technicians, and all the talented people who make the show possible.

We'll revisit some of your favorite episodes.

And we'll hear from the viewers and participants whose objects and stories are the reason we watch.

And so join us now, as we explore the past, present, and future of “Chesapeake Collectibles.” GENICE LEE: Well welcome to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

So what do you have for us today?

ROBERT: While the concept of a locally produced program about collectors who bring in items to be appraised by experts may seem familiar today, the idea actually goes back decades.

STEVE: When I joined the station about 20 years ago, I asked our research person what the number one show on our network was, and it was "Antiques Roadshow."

And imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

So we worked for about a year to get the rights from WGBH in Boston, who produces "Antiques Roadshow," and also uh the BBC, which actually created the show originally.

And we got the rights.

And then one day...

I happened upon Amory LeCuyer, AMORY: But I understand you've got a musical family, so uh you all can do your Tiny Tim impersonations all the way through, right?

GUEST: Sure.

GUEST: Yeah, we sometimes go out with our parents and... AMORY: And you never thought that this metal detector was gonna end you up on television, did you?

GUEST: No.

[Amory Chuckles].

AMORY: I don't think in all the time that we've been doing "Chesapeake Collectibles" have we ever had this where we actually have two big dogs in the same shot.

STEVE: I just saw him right away, and I went, this guy is straight out of Central Casting, he's just too much.

And he brought 15 or 18 appraisers up, and we named it "Chesapeake Collectibles" because we can't call it "Antiques Roadshow."

[title music] RHEA FEIKEN: Have you ever wondered about that dusty old knickknack on the shelf and wondered what it really is?

Or how about that landscape that you got at a flea market?

Have you wondered what it's worth?

Hi, I'm Rhea Feiken, and welcome to "Chesapeake Collectibles," the show where we explore our region's history through its treasures, its people, and their stories.

ED: I hear you brought something from the Fire of Baltimore.

LEX: I don't think it's unreasonable to say in the $10,000 to $15,000 range as a rough estimate.

KEN DAY: Believe it was 2011 was our first show.

I mean, one of the great things is that Maryland was one of the colonies.

So we have stuff that's been sitting in some of these houses for several hundred years.

SUSANNE STAHLEY: "Chesapeake Collectibles" is a unique animal in the sense that it is 90% produced in two days.

One long weekend in which almost the entire station takes part.

We have close to 1,000 people, 500 collectors bringing an average of 2.5 items into the studios.

We have 20-something appraisers who all have different expertise.

And it's a huge enterprise to make that into a 13-part series.

GUEST: I don't know much about it.

I've had it for about 20 years ROBERT: Season 1 of "Chesapeake Collectibles" was shot at the old MPT studios in Owings Mills.

We had more than a dozen appraisers, a very interesting main set, two stationary cameras, and a roving camera.

As with other shows over the years, faces and locations changed.

But one constant remained, our host, Rhea Feiken.

RHEA: We taped 13 shows over two days and I have to appear with 13 changes of clothes I have to bring with me.

That means at home I have to try 'em on.

Does this jacket fit?

What to wear with it?

Do I want to wear this necklace?

What earrings?

So I have to have 13 outfits ready to go with a little, I have a little envelope that I put in the, the earrings.

It takes me forever to get ready.

That's the hardest part of "Chesapeake Collectibles" for me.

Welcome back to the all-new series of "Chesapeake Collectibles!"

We're here at the MPT studios for season 3 thanks to you and your remarkable treasures.

This is our 5th-year thanks to your support and we're celebrating!

We've taken the show on the road.

This season "Chesapeake Collectibles" comes to you on location at Turf Valley Resort in Howard County.

Welcome to "Chesapeake Collectibles" and our all-new 10th season.

I'm your host Rhea Feiken.

And we're at a new location, the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center on the University of Maryland campus.

RHEA: This brings us to the end of season 10.

For "Chesapeake Collectibles" and Maryland Public Television, I'm Rhea Feiken.

See you next time.

ROBERT: At the end of Season 10, MPT saw some important changes.

After 45 years on-air personality, Rhea Feiken retired.

Her retirement was followed by that of Ken Day, our Executive Producer, and Susanne Stahley, our Series Producer.

Their parting brought uncertainty to a program that not only had a successful 10-year track record, but also was consistently ranked as one of the most popular shows on Maryland Public Television.

For ten seasons, new faces replaced those who had left.

and new guests brought new objects to be evaluated.

But now, the future of "Chesapeake Collectibles" was in question.

And then the pandemic hit... HOGAN: No Maryland resident should be leaving their home unless it is for an essential job or for an essential reason, such as obtaining food or medicine, seeking urgent medical attention, or for other necessary purposes.

ROBERT: The pandemic halted production of "Chesapeake Collectibles" in early 2020.

The studio went dark for three years.

TRAVIS: I joined the station right before, one week before COVID.

So I had the unfortunate pleasure of shutting down all of our productions to keep us safe.

And my desire, my number one desire, and the desire of the station was to bring back 'Collectibles.'

We couldn't do it in a COVID environment.

♪ ♪ STEVE: Ten episodes under our belt and, about 15 years later we came full circle.

We're back in our studio, our new expanded studio, and we're excited to have it.

And we're expecting hundreds and hundreds of people today, and we're just so excited about it.

MAN: Patrick!

PATRICK: It's nice to meet you.

MAN: What do you know, my man, there he is!

MAN 2: All these survivors.

MAN: Right.

ROBERT: In early 2023, "Chesapeake Collectibles" began planning for an 11th season.

But this time the taping would be done in an all-new, state-of-the-art studio, in Owings Mills under the direction of a new production team.

[overlapping chatter] PATRICK: All right.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Thank you very much for coming out to MPT on such a miserable day.

ROBERT: Before the cameras start rolling, each new season of "Chesapeake Collectibles" begins with a pre-production meeting.

The meeting is equal parts orientation and reunion.

[overlapping chatter] AMORY: Order in advance now... [overlapping chatter] PATRICK: Do you want to go around the room and introduce ourselves?

It's kind of awkward and horrible, but maybe we should do it, so did I introduce myself?

CREW: Yes.

AMORY: Well, not really.

I'll introduce.

This, this is our new Ken Day.

Patrick Keegan and I have been working now, together for about a year, nine months, and Patrick's been absolutely outstanding.

He is going to be a fearless leader... PATRICK: I have some very contradictory notes in my agenda... AMORY: It's alright, as long as they are not about me.

I, I want to welcome all my people.

Well, here comes Genice!

[applause] PATRICK: Genice, I'm Patrick.

GENICE: Hi.

AMORY: Welcome.

I'm Amory LeCuyer and for some reason, these people have decided we needed an 11th-season of the show.

I'm always stunned when I get a phone call from Maryland Public Television or, for that matter, anybody else.

Um, and says they want to do this.

When, when Patrick called me in the fall, he said, you know, their reruns are still capturing such an enormous part of the market... PATRICK: Still one of the most popular shows on MPT.

AMORY: I-I just wish I had n-negotiated better residuals.

[laughter].

PATRICK: You know you signed a ten-year contract when you and I... AMORY: Yeah, yeah.

[laughter].

PATRICK: So, I did want to say, because we've got some new faces in our appraisers, new faces on the production and the producers team, a lot of new faces in the studio.

You know, it might not be completely smooth sailing tomorrow morning.

We've all worked very hard over the last two weeks, we've all been here late, trying to make this as efficient and seamless and as fantastic as an experience as it can be.

But we will screw up at some point.

So, please forgive us in advance, but I think it'll be a fantastic experience... AMORY: When that happens, we blame Bob.

PATRICK: Okay.

Fair enough.

AMORY: The three criteria for from my perspective, when a guest comes in, and remember that, they are guests in our house, value is certainly always a part of what we look for.

You got a Harry Winston one-karat complete diamond necklace, it's probably goin' on camera.

But a good story, because people ask me, what do I remember uh about what I've appraised over ten years?

I don't remember any of the objects that don't have a good story with 'em.

I remember all the objects that have good stories with them and a particular tie to Maryland.

And, and the other thing is don't, if you think it might go on camera, you don't reveal value table-side because that's the aha moment that we're trying to achieve PATRICK: You know, and I'll say you know, treat the people who are not going to go on TV just as nicely as you treat the other people.

AMORY: Absolutely.

PATRICK: You guys know this.

This is your jobs.

You know that everybody has the items they bring to you, some of them are worthless, but mean a lot to people.

ALLAN: How do we tell people when they ask us, 'Is this good enough to be on TV?'

and you have to tell them, no?

PATRICK: You can tell me to tell them.

ALLAN: Okay.

PATRICK: We'll, we'll go into how exactly that flow is going to work, but ultimately, you know, I'm the gatekeeper of what goes on set.

Um, my producers are the initial point of contact.

I, this is my first rodeo.

I don't know how this is going to work.

I don't know if, there are 3,000 objects that are potentially coming through these doors over the next two days.

WOMAN: Oh, my God.

[nervous laughter] [overlapping chatter] AMORY: Not all of them are going to go on camera!

It's the phrase, “Well, clearly this has a lot of emotional value, but emotional value and financial value are not the same.” ALLAN: Use "legacy."

Legacy is a great word.

And if you really get into trouble, always remember this.

A Commonwealth British accent soothes people.

[laughter].

American accents do not!

So we're, you can just defer to Patrick.

‘Cause Patrick will have the vocabulary that none of us have and everybody will leave the room soothed.

PATRICK: All the other producers will have British accents by the morning.

[laughter] CREW: And so that means we'll have to go over there to check out the set.

CREW 2: If you don't mind we'll take a few minutes of your time... PATRICK: As soon as I shut up, we're going to walk over there.

[overlapping chatter] ROBERT: This is the first time most of us have seen the new studio, our home for the next two days.

CREW: Oh, very nice!

ROBERT: Very impressive.

GEORGE BENEMAN: You know you have a new space and a lot of new people.

It's just a wonderful way to celebrate the space and to come out of the pandemic with joy PATRICK: So we've adjusted it this year.

We have a set one, set two.

Set one is this set.

Set two is a little bit further back.

Um, you know, it depends on the item, on how busy the set is.

Uh, is it a great item, but the st-st... the story is kind of small, then it might go on set two.

If it's a physically large item, it'll have to go on set one.

You are your own producers on the set.

Yeah, we-we have our producer Frank who, if you are stumped, don't know where to take the conversation, he can jump in and maybe guide you.

But the ideal situation is you're on camera for 10 minutes.

Maybe.

Ideal length is probably 5.

Ten minutes kind of steering this conversation, getting this person to tell you the story of this item and why it means much to them.

And then you have a big reveal for them at the end.

“It is worth five bucks.” [machine beeping].

PATRICK: Um ‘cause the idea is each, from setup to breakdown should be 20 minutes max.

‘Cause that's the goal.

If we want to get 60 to 70 segments shot in the next two days between two sets.

It's pretty ambitious.

ROBERT: It's Saturday.

Day one of the shoot.

KIM: Good morning, ladies.

VOLUNTEER: How are you?

ROBERT: People have been lining up all morning with their treasures.

Guests will be greeted by a crew of dedicated staff and volunteers, many of whom have been working on "Chesapeake Collectibles" since the beginning.

CREW: Ethan, I got you a, uh assistant.

ETHAN: Wonderful.

KEN: It was one of the few shows that we never had trouble getting volunteers for.

And to me, that just speaks volumes about the show, the items, and the people who work at MPT.

KIM: How long have you been doing this?

KAREN FULLER-HARDY: I've been doing it since day one.

KIM: Really?

KAREN: Literally, day one, the very beginning.

So I'm an original.

VOLUNTEER: Okay, O.G KAREN: I'm a O.G.

KIM: And you keep coming back because?

KAREN: Well, I work here so I have no choice.

[laugh].

BOBBIE ANASTASION: My favorite thing to volunteer for.

Meet lots of people from all over the place.

They all have interesting items.

They love to talk to you.

It's great.

CHRISTINE: And I've been working the "Chesapeake Collectibles" tapings for, on and off since they started.

I enjoy it.

I-I've done different types of jobs each time.

I helped at the gun table with Jerry.

ROBERT: That's long-time firearms appraiser, Jerry Coates.

CRICKET: I've been a registrar.

And for the last couple of years, I've been the still photographer.

It-It's just a big family, and I like being part of the MPT family, especially on events like this.

STUART: I've been here since the start.

KIM: Why do you keep coming back?

STUART: Um a-a number of reasons.

I love, I love the show and-and I love watching people, you know, people bringing in things and a lot of the stuff is fascinating, uh but it's also an all-hands- on-deck kind of thing for me, you know?

This is supporting every department within the building, everybody working together.

This is one of the few times where everybody, every department works together on-on a project.

And-and that's really cool.

CAROLE: I'm Carole.

ANDREA: And this is Sarah who's the other... CAROLE: Hi, Sarah.

CREW: What does the lunch break look like for the production team?

PATRICK: Uh, nobody told me you needed a lunch break.

[laughter] Uh, depending on how things are flowing back there, the idea is 12:30 to 1:30.

CREW: Ok JESSICA CAMPBELL: Um, I'm handling all of the craft services, so it's super important to keep our crew and volunteers fed and happy.

Um, we want to make sure that we can cater to any dietary need that you can think of.

So I tried to think of everything, something that'll put a smile on people's face because the crew is working around the clock um to produce an entire season of programming in just two days.

So, we got to keep them energized.

And-and good to go.

CREW: Yes, and there's hair and makeup CREW: Um, but do not touch anything.

You probably know that.

We cannot help anyone with anything, do not touch the items.

ANDREA: It's-it's a liability issue because if you help somebody and break it, MPT is going to have to pay for it.

TRINADEE COATES: Everything is done with care here and the team really works together.

Um, there's never a person alone.

If you need help, they're there, you know.

Ask them anything.

Um so... RAAB: ...and I was going to be in trouble so I said ok, we'll... [laughs] ROBERT: We'll send ‘em to Bob.

RAAB: We'll send ‘em to Bob.

[laughs].

ROBERT: Yeah, right.

It is a bit of an extended family.

We, you know, we kind of look for the old faces when we come back and we find some people moved on, some people retired, A lot of people retired.

Um, but um, yeah, it's it's good to all get together again.

[overlapping chatter] The entire show will be taped over one weekend.

800 people will walk through the doors, carrying with them more than 3,000 objects.

Some of them can be quite large.

GUEST: Tripping would be a bad idea.

[laugh].

PATRICK: Beautiful items, an amazing story, but she had hundreds of them.

[overlapping chatter] Here's the key phrase to help them.

“Out of consideration to all our other guests, please pick out some highlights from your collection.” When you get to an appraiser, you aren't there for 45 minutes showing, “And this is the yellow one and this is the blue one.” STUART: I do have one categorization question, real quick.

PATRICK: Yeah.

STUART: Yes, because we're right by NASA, we had a lot of people bring in space stuff yesterday.

Where do you want to categorize space uh memorabilia?

PATRICK: That is uh Ross, which is memorabilia and ephemera.

PRODUCER: And we're at, we're at 9 a.m. ROBERT: It's show time!

KEN: This region is such a treasure chest of uh antiques.

From its colonial days, Maryland has just had so many incredible historical things happen and we have such a engaged audience who has a lot of these items and brings them out.

And we are just, I'm so happy to see it continue in this new rebirth, if you will.

CREW: Go to registration table number one.

FISCHER: My name is Fischer F-I-S-C-H-E-R. STUART: Okay, so are, are you bringing separate items and Susan's bringing... FLANAGAN: No we have we have three items, between each other.

STUART: So this is for Susan Flanagan.

FLANAGAN: Yes.

And I've already checked in right there.

ROBERT: To accommodate the crowds, tickets are timed each day.

GUEST: Now what do I do next?

STUART: You're going to have a seat in the red chairs.

They'll guide you where to sit.

ROBERT: While guests wait to see an appraiser, they can watch the activity on the set from a special viewing area or visit with others attending the taping.

GUEST: As long as we can remember, we actually built our day around 7:30 on Monday, so that we would be home to watch the show and always intrigued and um always learned a lot and always dreamed of the day that we could possibly be on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

So here we are.

So It's like a little dream come true.

GUEST: I forget the name of it INTERVIEWER: So what do you have today?

GUEST: I have my grandfather's grandparents.

BYSTANDER: Oh my.

GUEST: From Talbot County GUEST: So this flask I actually pulled out last night here in Baltimore City uh from a privy in West Baltimore.

GUEST: This was the map of Virginia.

And then, on the back, this is what I want to hope to authenticate today; that it's Enrique One, who is a famous 17th-century engraver of maps.

INTERVIEWER: What do you have here?

GUEST: I have a Warhammer from the battle at Little Bighorn.

ROBERT: People... bring in... everything!

INTERVIEWER: And how did you come about this?

GUEST: Bought it at a auction.

GUEST: Sure, this is the original Apple laptop.

Rick Conte, who bought it in 1976, mounted the keyboard in this briefcase, so you can hook this up to your television set and have one of the first 50 Apple products.

GUEST: This is the first time um my friend and I have ever been at "Chesapeake Collectibles."

And it's fascinating because we watch it, watch the show on TV and are always really just very interested in the people and the things that they bring.

And we didn't know how many things we had that we would want to bring and share.

But just being here is exciting.

VOLUNTEER: Paintings?

Okay, So if you walk right down here to the end of this row.

Drawings and paintings, and then books is next to that.

GUEST: Okay.

VOLUNTEER: And then when you leave, if you can continue around here to the exit, or if they would like to use you on the show, they'll direct you, I think, to come back up to her.

GUEST: Okay.

VOLUNTEER: Have fun, good luck.

GUEST: Thank you.

GUEST: Good morning, how are you?

DENNIS: Just fine and yourself?

ROBERT: Appraisers are not given scripts, and there'll be no re-takes.

The interaction between guest and expert is taped as it occurs.

The process relies on appraisers' professional expertise and experience, with little time for additional research.

GUEST: But now, whether any if that's accurate or not, I haven't the faintest idea.

GUEST: I've been a collector for a really long time.

Estate sales, auctions, yard sales, anything.

We've collected a lot of stuff over the years and some things I could not identify.

So those are the things that I brought today.

GUEST: Look at the bottom.

I was impressed.

LISA: The Curb Pottery Company.

This looks very sort of pre-WWII, like maybe 1930s or something like that.

GUEST: They're my treasures and I like to know what those treasures are all about and maybe get some history on ‘em.

GENICE: Ah, there he is.

A vintage 1930's Schuco wind-up toy clown playing a violin dressed in red.

That is him.

GUEST: And again, this dates back to 1920.

It's the artist's conceptual illustration of the Rotunda, which is a Baltimore landmark.

As you well know.

RAAB: Well what's interesting is that building is not there.

GUEST: Right.

RAAB: But these are here.

GUEST: I've been interested in antiques and collectible things my whole life.

Not so much for the value, but just for the preservation of history.

And I've always watched "Antiques Roadshow."

And then when I saw "Chesapeake Collectibles," I thought, this is fantastic, because it's that plus local Maryland stuff, and I'm really interested in that as well.

ROBERT: The idea of sharing stories with a larger audience and then learning more about a treasured family heirloom attracts people to the show.

GUEST: This was an emotional one.

Didn't care the value.

Don't care about the value.

It's priceless.

I could never replace it.

I don't want to replace it.

But I also know that I'm going to be passing it on.

So as much information as I can pass on to my daughter, my sons, whoever takes it, I want them to have, have more than I had.

And so they can keep it in the family.

ALLAN: But you should go get this graded...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: 'Cuz if this grades anywhere from 5 to 8.

ROBERT: Of course, it's always nice to learn your $10 yard sale purchase might be worth a lot of money.

GUEST: Wow GUEST: Well, he likes to collect stuff.

And I basically have a theory that there's a place for everything.

And everything has a place.

And if it doesn't, it's trash.

INTERVIEWER: And what did you find out about the items you brought in?

GUEST: I found out they were NOT trash.

[‘Cha-Ching'].

RAAB: Ok, so here's some interesting, here we go again there's some other ones, uh, and that one sold for $3900.

GUEST: I find it fascinating to see the things that people have picked up for maybe $5 or $10 and they find out that it's worth a lot of money.

I mean, that's the biggest joy is when people find out that something that they have that they inherited or purchased and they find out that it's valuable and I think that's why we're all here.

DENNIS: This one is definitely ivory.

Uh, I'm pretty sure this one is also ivory.

Um, this one I'm less sure of.

Um, but it does have a-a character signature on the back of it.

GUEST: Yeah.

This one also has a...

GUEST: So the story, it means something to me because of the story behind it.

LISA: Sure.

So, you know, it does date to the late 1930s, maybe early 1940s, and it's set in white gold.

ROBERT: Oh yeah.

GUEST: All his cigars and he had a bunch of old currency in like just a jar.

And when my dad got 'em, he put them all in sleeves and stuff to try and preserve them.

It's honestly a miracle it still looks like that.

ROBERT: Um this is actually very interesting.

What I would say about this before I give you a value on it.

And it looks to be in pretty good condition, except for the expected watermarks and things like that.

GUEST: Yeah, exactly.

ROBERT: And the back is even pretty crisp too, you can see it... is that you want to get this like you would with a coin, you want to get it graded.

GUEST: Right.

ROBERT: And then have it, you know some of the grading societies that are out there, I think it costs about 35 bucks.

It could go as high as $385.

So it's somewhere between, I'd say $200 and $385.

GUEST: I don't think it's an original drawing for a couple of reasons.

There's a little bit of a blue line... ALLAN: Yeah.

GUEST: ...visible there.

And it looks like "Field Enterprises," which was a Chicago newspaper, attached a copyright label over... ALLAN: Yeah, no, you see, you know what this is?

This is a stock copy that was used by the, by the um newspaper company when they were, when they were probably putting this to print.

GUEST: So stock copy means a photo?

ALLAN: Or a photo reproduction.

Unless you took it out of here and tried to see if it has the ink goes through, but, but it doesn't it doesn't really look right.

Look here.

RAAB: If it's gold or not.

Is there gold in them there hills?

AMORY: And, and that's what I wanted to see.

And we just took this from a $200 Hunter case pocket watch to about a $1,000 pocket watch.

The easiest way would be you would look at that dial.

But we've got the picture there.

And when we've got the picture there, we're not going to remove the picture of your sister.

GUEST: No.

AMORY: Um now, the other question is, and this is how, scientifically I've wound the watch a little bit.

It's got it's got tension in the springs.

But this is the scientific part.

[hammers pocket watch on table].

You've got to give it a little encouragement.

Now, this is not moving.

ROBERT: No surprise there.

AMORY: Probably just needs a good cleaning GUEST: I think I've watched "Chesapeake Collectibles" since the beginning.

I remember getting all excited when I heard about it and uh came to one of the early tapings.

Not that we've ever gotten on television, but we do watch it every week and we always are sorry it's over so soon because the stuff is interesting, especially the local things.

ROBERT: Many of our appraisers are not only valuation experts, they're also collectors.

ED: OK, alright.

MICHAEL STANTON: Alright, the new collectibles.

ROBERT: And they bring a passion and zeal to their subject that makes them a pleasure to watch.

MICHAEL: Magic the Gathering collectible game, that goes along with Pokemon.

INTERVIEWER: And how long have you been doing this?

MICHAEL: I started with the first year.

INTERVIEWER: First season?

MICHAEL: First season I've been here.

INTERVIEWER: Wow.

MICHAEL: I've been collecting toys pretty much most of my life.

I collect trains and Britains, and Tootsies and Dinkies, and Elastolin.

Now, I'm even into Lego.

INTERVIEWER: I can see that.

MICHAEL: It-It's really nice if you're passionate about something and you know your material pretty well.

It's-it just flows.

I mean, I've been researching toys for the last 30 years.

Once you get familiar with what you're looking at and you see it over and over and know what conditions look like, everything in this world is about condition, and that's what bears the price.

Earlier today, there was a 1920s wind-up toy and it had its original box.

And it was the original Donald, with the long bill.

And on the very bottom corner, it said, “permission by Walt Disney.” And that was pretty neat.

It was in disrepair, but it was a nice piece.

Alright, he's almost fixed.

INTERVIEWER: It's so cute.

MICHAEL: 1930s.

INTERVIEWER: Really?

MICHAEL: All you need now is get a piece of tape.

JANINE: This is a uh centerpiece bowl made by Samuel Kirk or S. Kirk and Son, the renowned Baltimore silversmiths who are so well known for fabulous, chaste, or repoussé decoration.

The lovely pattern that is raised on the surface, that's all hand-hammered.

So that's a wonderful example of naturalism.

And the other feature that's also characteristic of Baltimore is this um engraved pattern in the center uh that kind of um, almost textile-like patterning of the background is something that you find much more commonly associated with silver made in Maryland, than any other part of the country.

ROSS: As any sneakerhead would uh recognize the Air Jordan number one originals.

And they are the of the variants that actually Michael Jordan wore uh playing.

Now, unfortunately, he didn't wear these, but what makes these particularly special is for anybody who collects Air Jordans, of which there have been more than 35 different styles and hundreds of color variations.

This is the Holy Grail starting here, number one.

And what's really particularly interesting about this is they've never been worn.

Absolutely mint.

That makes them special in itself.

The fact that they are mint, but something that you never see.

Here is the original box that they came with Another extremely rare piece that you never see, is the original receipt for when it finally sold for $10.50 oh back in January 27th, uh 1987, at Todd Moore, which is a sports facility uh in Columbia, South Carolina.

To have it mint, in the packaging, even the original tissue paper.

Has the original laces, came in black and white, and uh a set like this complete could be worth probably low, minimal low $10,000.

On Sotheby's, they have a pair that are mint uh that they are appraising at the value of 32,000 right now.

FRANK SHAIA: Because I'm a rug dealer and this is all I deal in, I'm really caught up by the really interesting ones, and I don't get quite as many interesting ones as I like.

I sort of see that normal thing.

I go, "Oh, that's an old Sarouk.

Oh, that's an Isfahan."

But I don't say it like that, because I realize it's their pride and joy.

So I have to go, "Oh, what do you have here?"

And I'm thinking "It's just an old Sarouk," but... ROBERT: I've seen a lot of samovars in the last ten years.

[laughter] MICHAEL: 1739...

GUEST: Yeah, so you can see there, 1599.

PATRICK: Wow!

OK So we gonna, are you comfortable talking about this?

GUEST: I'm just so, so happy to be here because I've been watching for so many years.

I can't believe I'm finally here, you know, and I made it and I'm having a blast and it's, everything's been going smoothly, and really enjoying it.

My girlfriend's going to be on camera.

I don't know which item she's going to be on camera for yet, but I get, I can't wait to see that.

CREW: So, you only do powder sometimes?

ROBERT: Ah yes, being on camera.

"Chesapeake Collectibles" is a television program and many people come for one reason, to be on TV.

GUEST: I've been watching "Chesapeake Collectibles" for a very long time.

This is the third show that I've been I've come to.

PHILLIP: But never in my wildest dreams GUEST: And in 2017, we got on camera, PHILLIP: Now just look at this.

GUEST: We were lucky enough to get filmed again this time.

GUEST: I've been uh bringing a few of my own things uh over the past few seasons, and I was able to get on to have a uh televised um appraisal on a couple of occasions.

And uh it's fun.

PRODUCER: If you see something that's really interesting, what are your thoughts?

Do you just basically- MICHAEL: I say, PRODUCER: Do you try to contain your excitement?

MICHAEL: Well no, I try to keep calm and I just say “How would you like to be on TV?” [laughs].

MIKE: Mike.

ALLAN: Mike?

Allan.

Hi.

Mike has a couple of really good uhm baseball cards.

Okay.

MIKE: So I was a reporter that covered- ALLAN: No!

Ok, tell her the story MIKE: You want me to tell her?

ALLAN: Yeah, but we're going to, if we do this for a shoot, we want to hold it for the shoot.

MIKE: Okay.

ALLAN: Okay.

PRODUCER: Wow.

MIKE: And so the provenance is me, in the locker room with them in the, it's either 80 or 81.

PRODUCER: That's amazing.

I love this.

PRODUCER: And Joe Montana, I mean that's amazing, and the provenance is spectacular.

That's a great story.

ALLAN: Okay.

PATRICK: What did you, what did you think when you saw that?

ALLAN: What did I think, when I saw it, I thought it was worth a lot of money.

Okay, and also has a very interesting provenance... PATRICK: Yes.

ALLAN: That Mike will explain.

GENICE: And when I came back with the producer and said, you know, “Can we go on camera”" She looked disappointed.

[laughs].

And I said, “Oh, you don't want to go on camera?” She said, “I just want to know if it's hand-carved!” I said, “Well can we get you to go on camera?” She said, “Yeah, I'll go on camera.” But she really wasn't interested.

INTERVIEWER: That's funny.

GENICE: Yeah, that was funny.

ROBERT: Well, stardom's not for everyone.

CAMERA OPERATOR: See how it's all black and white?

ROBERT: For some people just being in the studio is a memorable experience.

CAMERA OPERATOR: You put that with that one.

ROBERT: And everyone gets a behind-the-scenes look at how the show is made.

CAMERA OPERATOR: ...and it's all blurry.

TRINADEE: Yeah, so today, me and my assistant, uh we are the makeup assistants.

We're helping them flow and making sure that they know where they're going.

And we send them from Alex over there And then we come here, they'll sign a uh waiver making sure everything is fine.

We'll get their makeup done, and then we send them into the holding area for them to wait and be on set, whether it's set one or set two.

We just make sure there is no shine, we are shine control.

[laughs] Um making sure that all the hairs are in the flyaways.

They look nice on camera.

Yeah.

Any person.

Yep.

INTERVIEWER: Great and how long have you been here today?

TRINADEE: 8:15, 8:45.

We started with the appraisers and we kind of rolled through them, and we're just trying to make sure we continue to roll through everyone and that it's a nice pace.

We don't want to hold anyone up on set.

[laughs] JOE CAMPBELL: ‘Cause essentially, we're creating 13, 30-minute shows with two days of shooting.

So the more items we can get, the better off we are.

We can make a better season.

The main set has, they probably have four or five cameras.

Um, they also use a control room and they switch the show as they do it.

Uh, the second set works in conjunction with the main set.

Items that may not be able to be eligible for the main set will come over to the second set.

We can deal with smaller items.

We have an audio person, an assistant producer, and uh a runner who takes people back and forth and also a um an intern who logs the items.

I've been doing it, I think six years?

I've been working on the second set the entire time.

I worked with another producer, Mike English, he was the person in charge of the second set.

I was uh, I would work on the blocking and the propping up of the items, and now I'm carrying on that tradition since Mike is retired and I'm working on as a producer for the second set.

ALLAN: This is the most elaborate set ever created by MPT... JOE: And nobody sees it.

ALLAN: On set two and not to be seen by anybody.

So this is hidden.

This is like before they bury a pharaoh and they close up the tomb.

And now somebody has to be the tomb raider.

ROBERT: It's good to have people to rely on, especially the staff behind the scenes that most of the people don't don't see.

I've been helped through this in so many years by a sound man or a cameraman or a producer or an assistant producer will come up to me and give me tips on what to do and how to approach it.

It's like It's like machinery at some point.

Everybody works together.

JOE: Could you, ah lift that up for me?

GUEST: Oh, that's right.

You guys aren't supposed to touch it.

What do you want me to do?

JOE: You can put it on this stool.

CREW: I think if you could lift them off so we can just...

GUEST: Oh ok.

CREW: ...make the tablecloth look a little prettier.

Sorry, we don't have a pink one for her.

PHILIP: And there's ah definitely a feeling of camaraderie among the team.

I think it's uh the staff is happy to be able to work on bigger projects together again.

ROBERT: So many working parts.

So many stories.

And yet the technicians, production crew, volunteers, and appraisers somehow bring it all together, [crew laughing] as they do every year.

It's a wrap.

And every year we all line up for group photos to commemorate another season because "Chesapeake Collectibles" is more than a TV show.

It's an event, a celebration of the MPT community.

CREW: We're actually just stalling for time... [laughter].

For more than 15 years now, hundreds of individuals have worked to bring you more than 130 episodes of "Chesapeake Collectibles."

We've evaluated tens of thousands of items, treasures brought in by you, our viewers.

And together we've all shared big surprises, great stories, and some very special moments.

COLLEEN WALKER: On today's market, it would probably be somewhere between $12,000 to $16,000.

GUEST: You're kidding.

COLLEEN: Nope GUEST: Say it again because I... COLLEEN: $12,000 to $16,000.

GUEST: 12,000 to 16,000.

COLLEEN: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: Wow.

ALLAN: You have a very desirable book.

In the current market, based on the condition and the fact it's rebound, but it's intact, I would price it for somewhere in the vicinity of between $150,000 to $225,000.

GUEST: Wow.

[laughs nervously].

ALLAN: So I hope if this is a price that you're comfortable with... GARY BROSKY: You have about $40,000 here.

[gasps].

GUEST: No!

Are you serious?

GARY: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: Are you really?

GARY: Yes.

ED: And as a sterling piece of this time, it's going to be worth about $3,000.

[laughs].

So does that is that a little bit...

GUEST: Wow.

ED: More than your parents paid for it?

GUEST: I'm sure.

They didn't know.

GUEST: Wow, great buy for 50 bucks.

[laughs].

RAAB: Great buy for 50 bucks.

ROBERT: I had a lady who brought in a brass handmade clock from Holland from the 16th century, um who, I'm sorry, the 17th century.

And it was actually engraved and signed, it had a fusee movement, and she bought it at a church sale for $10 or $15.

And I think I appraised it for about $15,000 in that condition.

FRANK: Someone brought in a polar bear rug.

They took it around the room, you know.

Amory didn't want to do it.

Nobody wanted to do it.

So they left it with me and um I thought thanks, guys.

FRANK: What did you bring today?

GUEST: I brought a polar bear skin rug that my father brought back in 1949 when he was living up in Point Barrow, Alaska.

FRANK: The story was so great.

Her father came back from World War II and was suffering with depression, and he decided to go to Alaska.

FRANK: Did your father actually shoot this?

GUEST: He did.

He'd been living with the Inuit and they took him on a hunting expedition.

FRANK: He had all the paperwork to bring it back in and everything, which is all concerning because when we do the, the show I had to show the uh the paperwork saying, “Look, this is legally here in America.” It was a very exciting story to-to appraise but was nerve-wracking, you know?

Behind the scenes there, you don't see what goes on behind the scenes.

And I was as scared as can be.

TRAVIS: Every artifact, every piece of furniture has a story behind it.

And so the fact that the appraisers get an opportunity to help people value their property, it really affirms them.

GUEST: Alright thank you, thank you.

TRAVIS: People walk away feeling fulfilled, walk away, feeling inspired.

And we thank the appraisers, for all of their efforts in making collectibles what it is.

GUEST: Interesting.

MICHAEL: Very, very, very, rare piece.

What do you think it's worth?

GUEST: I have no idea.

MICHAEL: You have no idea?

This piece would probably go between $25,000 and $30,000.

GUEST: Wow, that's a lot.

MICHAEL: It is like the Holy Grail of Lionel collecting.

People like to find these.

They're very hard to find.

ROBERT: If you've ever wondered why so many of us return to "Chesapeake Collectibles" year after year, it's because we enjoy being a part of the show as much as you enjoy watching at home.

LEX: We did a little bit of poking around and if you look, there is your picture.

Another version of it.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: You have a great eye.

It's a wonderful piece, I mean academically, it's strong, color's great and here we have 2 by 4 inch with an estimate of 10,000 to 15,000.

So conservatively, I would certainly put it in that category and the market for Orientalist works right now is at an all-time high.

JERRY COATES: Can you give us an idea of what you brought here today?

This is quite a piece.

GUEST: It's quite a piece.

It's a gun that was given to me by a college friend and it's an Atkins gun made in London.

It's a tiger gun and this gun belonged to James Corbitt who's a very famous tiger hunter in India.

JERRY: Double rifles are in a world of their own and this is a world beyond that world, I think.

There was one sold last year that belonged to Corbitt, but it was a later gun, it wasn't as early as this one.

It sold for over a quarter million.

[laughs] JERRY: I personally think this is worth closer to $300,000.

[laughs].

So, so your friend did well buying.

GUEST: Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Today's my birthday, great present, great present.

PHILLIP: This is so important because this is the only known copy in the world of this information.

GUEST: That's right.

PHILLIP: That you, the good doctor, the head of pediatrics, saved from the trash.

And if we could just, just quickly flip through, there's just pages and pages upon primary source documentation from the 1860s forward.

In 20 years of being in the industry, I've never seen anything of this magnitude.

This is just beyond anything that I could ever imagine.

You could just go on and on for years studying what was documented in here with these former slaves.

Priceless!

JEANNIE: Um it is one of the finest examples that I've seen and probably the finest example that we've seen here on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

GUEST: Oh great, well thank you very much JEANNIE: Yes, yeah.

And a conservative estimate um for this particular quilt would put it at a value between $50,000 and $60,000.

GUEST: She said, "What's this thing doing in my house".

[laughs].

GUEST: She was so upset he offered to sell it to me.

GUEST: Oh good.

GUEST: So I said, "Sure, what would you like to have for it?"

and he said, "How 'bout $50?"

and I 'bout tore my pants gettin' my wallet out.

GUEST: Very good investment.

AMORY: I could see this easily doing $5,000 to $7,000.

GUEST: Wow.

AMORY: And, and it's a lot of fun, and if Dad is, I mean how old is Dad?

GUEST: Dad would be 85 in August.

AMORY: Rock on Dad.

GUEST: Bless his heart.

AMORY: I mean this is fabulous.

LEX: Well I must say, in the six years that I've been doing this show, this has received more interest than anything that's walked through the line.

You've had more people looking and gawking and asking questions than just about anything.

GUEST: This document was left uh following the president's departure from the auditorium.

ALLAN: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: It was left on a table about this size.

ALLAN: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: That Peter Salinger had been sitting at.

ALLAN: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: And uh I was able to obtain it as a piece of memorabilia, that's how I got it.

ALLAN: We call it securing it for history.

GUEST: I have... ALLAN: Which is the right thing to do.

GUEST: I'm the little girl in the blue dress.

This is my oldest brother and my next oldest brother and this is our babysitter.

LYMAN SPECKHEUER: And you said it was in front of your elementary school?

GUEST: Yes elementary.

LYMAN: So this means a lot to you?

This is your family history.

GUEST: It does.

It is.

LYMAN: Well who's this fine fisherman guy?

GUEST: This guy is my great-grandad.

Grandad Long.

LYMAN: I mean It's just beautifully painted in palette knife, great colors, it makes you just adore the gentleman.

Mr. Fry...

GUEST: Yes.

LYMAN: The artist.

GUEST: The artist.

LYMAN: Um it's a family member.

GUEST: Right.

LYMAN: And he was pretty prolific.

GUEST: Yes he was.

LYMAN: But where's all the art?

GUEST: We have it!

[laughter] We still have it.

LYMAN: So it stayed in the family?

ROSS: But today we have one of the treasures of Colt history and memorabilia and a collectible himself, my guest today is Mr. Tom Matte and now you brought a few things in here today, but you have the helmet here.

Did you uh, how did you get these autographs on here?

TOM: Well we have different meetings and we had some shows you'd go sign autographs.

ROSS: Mm-hmm.

TOM: And I've collected these through the years, you know?

I got John Unitas and John Mackey, Lenny Moore, Jim Parker, Ricky Volk, Sam Havrilak.

It's part of my life.

And it's one of the real helmets that we played with so, but it was fun collecting 'em myself, you know?

Instead of me having to sign all the autographs this was uh this was this is a special thing for me.

ROSS: Well I want to thank you very much for coming in today.

GUEST: I appreciate it this is this is a new thing this whole programming is great and to see the people and the participation and the interest, wow, I mean it's fun.

ROBERT: Okay.

GUEST: So I figured I'd save it and trade it in on a baby Arabian horse someday.

ROBERT: Well I don't know if we can get you your horse.

[laughs].

But, in terms of value right now, even in this condition, the value of this at auction would be about $10,000.

GUEST: Woah!

ROBERT: Yes, this is a very rare...

GUEST: I could buy an Arabian pony!

Or a Chesapeake pony.

ROBERT: Yeah, well yes, you might be able to.

GUEST: Or maybe a turtle.

I would be better off with a turtle.

MICHAEL: You have a little message in here we've got to decode for the people.

GUEST: Okay.

MICHAEL: We're gonna decode it right now.

"MPT rocs!"

GUEST: Great!

[laughs].

MICHAEL: Great, thank you for bringing it in.

GUEST: This is some of my grandmother's jewelry that I inherited a number of years ago.

GARY: Cool, do you know anything about it?

GUEST: She obviously had interesting taste.

I liked all of the animal motifs.

GARY: So you have no idea what the value of some of these pieces are?

GUEST: No, they've just been in the closet.

GARY: Bracelet, ruby and diamond bracelet, custom made about $20,000, $25,000.

GUEST: No!

Oh my gosh.

GARY: Your dragon ring, you made mention you played with it as a kid.

That's about a $8,000, $10,000 ring.

[sighs].

$5,000 to $8,000 for your pendant here.

Your unicorn pin, $15,000 to $20,000.

GUEST: Oh.

GARY: So your sapphire fish, same.

You're lookin' at $10,000, $20,000.

The bird in the hand, diamonds, emeralds, you're looking at $10,000 to $15,000 for these.

GUEST: Wow I, I never imagined it was that much I mean I-I didn't even really think that those were emeralds I or, or, or rubies wow.

GARY: Yes.

GUEST: Wow.

GARY: This is incredible.

Thank you for bringing that in today.

GUEST: Thank you so much.

GARY: This is what makes us doing this fun.

GUEST: Oh my goodness, thank you.

MARK: If it were definitely an Alexander Caulder.

They got the nod from the foundation.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

MARK: Then we're well into six figures.

GUEST: Oh is that right?

MARK: Probably mid-six figures.

If it is not, then it's a nice field trip with your dad, and if it is then your education is assured.

ROBERT: We hope you've enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at how the program is made.

Here's to another successful season of "Chesapeake Collectibles!"

For all of us here at MPT, I'm Robert Harrison.

Thank you for watching.

We leave you tonight with some final words from our Executive Producer, Patrick Keegan.

PATRICK: Thanks, Bob.

The success of the first ten seasons of "Chesapeake Collectibles" was built upon our appraisers, the producers, our guests, the items the guests bring in, and of course, you, the viewers at home.

You are responsible for "Chesapeake Collectibles" being the success that it is.

We could not do it without your assistance.

It has been my privilege to produce season 11 and I look forward to producing many more seasons for you.

So, on behalf of myself and Maryland Public Television, thank you to our members, our supporters, our donors, and the entire MPT community.

ROBERT: Coming up next on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

CREW: Up at the end.

ROBERT: Oh it's supposed to be collectibles.

CREW: Next on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

RAAB: Oh uh give me uh, give me a hint.

MICHAEL: What mic am I on?

CREW: Smile Frank!

GENICE: Okay.

[laughs].

AMORY: Coming up next on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

You like it?

Want another one?

ALLAN: Coming up next on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

Coming up next on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

Coming up next on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

FRANK: What was the line again?

ED: Coming up on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

CREW: Don't look away.

Look right at the camera.

[laughs].

ED: Okay alright sorry about that.

MICHAEL: Ahhh.

PATRICK: Ain't much hair up there, buddy.

ROSS: Coming up on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

Coming up on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

LISA: Next, next on "Chesapeake Collectibles?"

MICHAEL: Next time on "Chesapeake Collectibles" GENICE: Are we changing phrases or are we still with the, with the first one?

PATRICK: Oh really?

You want hand gestures?

Alright, want me to stand like a statue?

Alright.

ALLAN: Next time on Chesapeake...

I'm okay.

AMY: Next time on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

FRANK: Coming up next on... [laughs].

AMORY: Better hair.

LISA: That was dumb.

FRANK: Coming up next on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

RAAB: Do I have to think of another one?

DENNIS: The cameraman liked it, so I tried to do it in the same position.

ROSS: Coming up on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

GENICE: Coming up on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

LISA: OK good, ok good.

MICHAEL: We done?

ED: Was that all right?

You like that?

Okay, good.

ALLAN: Next time on "Chesapeake Collectibles."