Smallscreen News

Auction expert Billy Leroy and 'Baggage Battles' back Nov. 14

By April MacIntyre Oct 23, 2012, 14:42 GMT

Tune in alert for the coolest guy in all of picker-dom, Mr. Billy Leroy, whose interesting facial hair and tatts set him apart form just about every American picker on TV. Leroy is the star of Travel Channel\'s "Baggage Battles," back for season 2.

Tune in alert for the coolest guy in all of picker-dom, Mr. Billy Leroy, whose interesting facial hair and tatts set him apart form just about every American picker on TV.  Leroy is the star of Travel Channel's "Baggage Battles," back for season 2.

Travel Channel’s popular series returns with a brand-new season on Wednesday, November 14 with two back-to-back half hour episodes at 8 PM ET/PT and 8:30PM ET/PT.

Auction experts Billy Leroy, Mark Meyer and Laurence and Sally Martin are all back, and this time, they go even bigger as they seek hidden treasures of all shapes and sizes at airport auctions, police and seizure auctions, vehicular auctions and estate auctions. 

From Travel Channel

Premiering on Wednesday, November 14 at 8:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ET/PT, the 14 half-hour episodes will feature more than unclaimed property from luggage, freight containers and cargo palates as automobiles and estate items also make it to the auction block. 

The new season will continue to follow these shrewd experts as they trust their keen eye for detail to find hidden treasures at the top auctions around the world including airport auctions, unclaimed freight and shipping auctions, police and seizure auctions, vehicular auctions and estate auctions.

“Baggage Battles” provides a glimpse into the very profitable business of bidding, buying and reselling unclaimed property by following three teams of auction experts who travel to some of the most important auctions, where their bids are based on sight-unseen instincts. 

Season two of “Baggage Battles” brings back the savvy auction experts viewers met in the first season:  Laurence and Sally Martin, a married couple who co-own Studio Antiques in El Segundo, California; Mark Meyer, a young entrepreneur in the auctioning business from Long Island, New York; and New York City’s Billy Leroy, owner of the iconic Billy’s Antiques and Props, one of the last eclectic props and antique stores.

“We’ve peeled back the curtain on this virtually unknown phenomenon of airport auctions.  Now, this new season, we’ll be showing audiences where the ‘big’ stuff gets auctioned off and how our team of experts navigate through unclaimed property auctions that feature items that don’t necessarily fit in a suitcase,” said Andy Singer, General Manager, Travel Channel.

In the premiere episode (airing at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT), the auction experts are in Brooklyn, New York.  Every year, the U.S. imports nearly $2 trillion worth of goods, which is more than any other nation in the world.  Ninety-five percent of those goods come by ship.  With 65 miles of coastline, Brooklyn is one of the busiest shipping ports in the country.  When incoming freight goes unclaimed, it is sold at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Auction.

The Martins travel to Leroy and Meyer’s backyard of New York to compete for this valuable international freight.  Items up for auction include a solar panel from a water heating system, a mystery sculpture and a solidly-built wooden crate with undisclosed contents.  With bids ranging from $200 to $1700, the auction experts are out to out-bid each other and win the highly-desirable goods.

In the second premiere episode (airing at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT), the auction experts travel to Boston, Massachusetts.  The city of Boston is rich in American history with notable events including Paul Revere’s legendary midnight ride and the Boston Tea Party.  In this episode, White’s Auctions is putting a variety of items from Boston’s colorful and patriotic past up on the auction block.  However, not everything sold at this auction is authentic, and bidders may be taking home some nice, yet cheap replicas.

The Martins, Leroy and Meyer are out to test their experience and luck by gambling on these genuine – and not so genuine – historical items at the Boston Estates Auction.  The bidding gets underway, and the first big item on the auction block is a document announcing George Washington’s death.  Other items up for bids include a musket, a uniquely-crafted saw and documents from the 1700’s.  After the auction experts win their respective bids, they take their historical items for examination and appraisal.  And one of the auction specialists goes home with over $4500 in profit!