American Pickers' Mike Wolfe Paid $3,600 For A Classic Flying A Gas Sign

A longtime collector of gas station memorabilia finally earned his wings as a seller thanks to Mike Wolfe of the hit History series "American Pickers." In Season 20, Episode 2 of the series in 2019, Wolfe, along with fellow picker Danielle Colby, met the collector, who remarkably had never sold one of his artifacts.

"My wife might call it hoarding, but I never thought that," said the collector, who was only identified as Sam. "I thought I was just saving it from oblivion because a lot of this stuff disappeared, got scrapped. [Now] I could save it by collecting it. That's another benefit, too."

But when Wolfe pulled out a vintage metal sign from Flying A Service and declared it a "next level" find, Sam took the leap and decided to sell one of the favorite pieces of his collection, which, as it turns out, was quite valuable. According to Collector's Weekly, Flying A Service was a gas station chain that rose to prominence decades before it was purchased by Phillips Petroleum Company in 1966, making memorabilia associated with the brand valuable and tough to come by.

Even though the sign showed some wear, the company's unique logo — which featured a capital A with wings — was still attractive enough for Wolfe to make Sam a lucrative offer. He initially offered $3,500, and after a bit of negotiating, the collector and the picker settled on a $3,600 purchase price. And while Sam didn't divulge how much he initially paid for the sign, he admitted that Wolfe's offer was "way more than I paid for it." Wolfe estimated the piece's retail value was in the $4,000 to $4,200 range.

Wolfe, however, wasn't done with his shopping spree.

While Sam's sale to Mike Wolfe marked the first time he parted with a piece of his gas company memorabilia, he didn't take long to make more sales to the popular "American Pickers" personality.

Further rummaging through Sam's collection, which was housed in a shed on his property, Wolfe negotiated a $950 sale for a large, rectangular Mobile Gas sign featuring a smaller version of the company's iconic Pegasus logo. Another large Mobile sign, which was more square in shape and featured the Pegasus logo more prominently, was sold to Wolfe for $500, even though the piece showed considerable wear.

Wolfe completed his day with Sam by purchasing a circular Texaco gas sign for $850. In the end, Wolfe's fellow picker, Danielle Colby, felt like Sam was even more enriched by the chance to share his passion with "American Pickers."

"That's why we collect, so we can talk to people about it — so that we can feel other people's excitement as well," Colby said to conclude the segment.