When it came to “Money for the rare”, Horst Lichter and the dealers had a different opinion: some considered the multifunctional walking stick “monstrous”, others “extremely interesting”.
Tobias from Konstanz brought his attic find to Wednesday's edition of ZDF's junk show “Bares für Rares”, and Horst Lichter was enthusiastic: “It's extremely interesting!” After all, the object was convertible and patented. Opinions diverged only in the dealers' room. Walter Lehnertz's devastating verdict was: “Hugly as hell.”
“What are you doing?” wondered Horst Lichter when his expert Detlev Kümmel disassembled salesman Tobias' walking stick. But the stick could actually be disassembled. “We don't have a simple stick in front of us,” said Kümmel, “but it is a system stick.”
“What is a system stick?” Lichter asked, still puzzled. Kümmel explained that this special type of walking stick was made already in the 19th century “with many different designs”. Hidden inside were other features such as knives, corkscrews and syringes for doctors. Lichter was surprised.
Horst Lichter: “It is extremely interesting!”
“There were over 1,500 patents for different walking sticks,” the expert continued, revealing the function behind the cane from the show. After some tinkering, Kümmel made a tripod for the cameras out of a walking stick. According to the stamp, the item came from the German company JAKI.
The stick had been lying in the attic for decades and had to end up at the flea market after it was cleaned. But the seller's mother recognized an “interesting 'Cash for Rares' item” and sent her son along for the ride. Just as Lichter thought, “It's extremely interesting!”
“It's a great idea,” Lichter said with delight as Kümmel detailed the feature, especially for amateur photographers who want to use their camera while hiking. An expert dated the stick, made of wood, rattan and metal, to the late 1930s to early 1940s. “Great,” Lichter grinned.
Guess what's hidden in a hiking pole?
The seller wanted 50 euros for his multifunctional walking stick. But Kümmel valued it even higher, at 120-150 euros – even though it was in pretty used condition. The seller rejoiced: “I must have brought something special with me.” Did the dealer see it the same way?
Walter Lehnertz immediately found the right words and exclaimed: “I can really use a crutch.” Then began the game of guessing what is hidden in the walking stick: an umbrella, a hip lopper, a fishing line or a seat? Only when Wolfgang Pauritsch had set everything up did Fabian Kahl recognize the camera mount. “That's cool,” Pauritsch immediately expressed interest.
And so Pauritsch started with 50 euros. But his colleagues Jos van Katwijk and Lehnertz also made an offer and quickly pushed the price over 100 euros. When Lehnertz took a closer look at the stick, he also noticed that it was in used condition and needed “a little bit of filing and glazing.” Van Katwijk, however, thought that “it was so nice”.
The seller receives five times the asking price
“It's so ugly, but it can do something,” Lehnertz went a step further in evaluating the MuFu stick and offered 180 euros. Then Pauritsch jumped on the breach, offered 200 euros and said: “Creatives are intrinsic values.” Elke Velten agreed: “It really is.”
“I've got to have it,” Pauritsch muttered, handing over Lehnertz. But van Katwijk was also still in the race and so the three dealers managed to get it up to €260. That was more than five times the asking price. The seller was delighted with the interest in his transformation stick and signed Pauritsch: “Wonderful.”
This article “Money for rare people: Horst Lichter finds an ugly object extremely interesting” was originally from Teleschau.