The Skate Posters That Sold For A Small Fortune On American Pickers

Across its time on History — over 20 seasons — "American Pickers" and its multiple hosts have uncovered countless hidden gems from years gone by in the most unlikely of places. However, for those who watch the show consistently, their discoveries can get a bit repetitive. How many times can one get excited over dilapidated hot rods or rusty signs advertising products that haven't sat on store shelves in decades? Thankfully, whenever they can, the "Pickers" crew diversify the findings they show off on television, keeping viewers intrigued with trinkets they don't come across nearly as often.

To say that some "American Pickers" items skew into oddball territory would be quite the understatement. From a replica Yoda prop from "Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back" to unexpectedly pricey lamps, sometimes the buys need to be seen to be believed. That goes for the price tags, too. After all, the team wouldn't have much interest in these objects if it wasn't for the monetary value behind them. More often than not, age and rarity are determining factors in this regard, but that's not to say that because something is newer or relatively abundant that it can't catch a pretty penny.

For instance, "American Pickers" hosts Mike and Robbie Wolfe once grabbed skateboarding posters from the 1990s, which are unusual buys on the show, to begin with, for a surprising sum of cash.

Season 23 of "American Pickers" featured the episode "Skateboards and Gutter Balls," where Mike and Robbie Wolfe ventured to California to check out a client's collection. In the midst of their digging, the seller directed them to a pile of old posters that belonged to his mother during her time as a surf shop owner. The stack read like a scrapbook of the peak of skateboarding culture in the 1990s, which immediately indicated to the Wolfe brothers that there was money in it. After consulting with some experts and briefly negotiating with the owner, they snagged all of the posters for a whopping $2,800.

As evidenced by the near-$3,000 hole in their wallet that these skate posters created, it's clear that even though skateboarding isn't as popular as it once was, there's still value in items associated with it. While these posters earned the seller a few bucks, it shouldn't come as a shock that actual boards would've scored him a bit more. In fact, some boards have gone for upwards of $10,000, with some of the most expensive of all time being Tony Hawk's $27,000 Beatles board with the lyrics to "Blackbird" inscribed on it and a $38,000 board that Jamie Thomas and Bob Dylan collaborated on (via Boards on the Wall).

Considering how much skating memorabilia can go for, don't be surprised if more of it starts to pop up on "American Pickers" down the road.