American Pickers' Frank Fritz Spent $130 On A Buddy L Truck Toy In The Original Box
It was Season 17 of "American Pickers," and Frank Fritz and Mike Wolfe were pickin' the 'burbs. They were pickin' the 'burbs so hard that they named the episode they were shooting in Tennessee "Pickin' the 'Burbs." Imagine pickin' the 'burbs so hard that you name something "Pickin' the 'Burbs." That's some dedicated 'burb pickin'.
And it's a good thing, too, because if they hadn't picked the 'burbs as hard as they did, Fritz would never have spotted a Buddy 'L' truck, still more or less in its box, give or take some structural stability from the cardboard after half a century of existing.
Fritz was fired up at the sight of the thing. "See, this isn't too far from where I live," he said, pointing to the manufacturer's address on the box. "This is East Moline, Illinois. This isn't five miles from where I live." It was clear that one of America's two most venerable pickers had an interest in the artifact, and the more he looked, the more he liked.
Frank Fritz American Picked a Buddy 'L' truck in the 'burbs
The tempo of Frank Fritz's voice picked up as he continued to elaborate on the aspects of the toy truck that excited him. "It's got all the little pieces," he remarked. "And this was a grocery delivery [...] It's got spearmint gum in it, the corn flakes," he went on, pointing out all of the individual toy grocery deliveries that the Buddy 'L' truck came packaged with.
"What would you have to have for this?" Fritz asked the toy truck's owner, prompting a hasty response of "$145." In classic "American Pickers" form, he and Fritz went back and forth, eventually settling on $130. With their handshake deal captured on camera for posterity, the toy truck was on its way back to the "American Pickers" store — or possibly to Frank Fritz's home, not far from where it started out some 50 years prior.
By his estimation, Fritz figured he might be able to turn the thing around for around $185, but some things, like the potential to develop treasured memories as a middle-aged man playing with an antique diecast truck on the living room floor, are worth more than a $55 profit.