GUEST: One of our dear friends, they were having an estate sale, and she had a lot of things from her grandparents.
And my husband, he loves antiques, collectibles, so I called him over, and he immediately gravitated to this Michelin Man and, um, wanted it right away.
I don't remember what my husband paid.
APPRAISER: I love this character-- he's one of the great advertising characters of the 20th century.
His name is Bibendum.
In 1894, the Michelin brothers had a show.
They saw a stack of tires, and they said it looked like a man without arms.
They got, went to a cartoonist, and they created this character, Bibendum.
He shows up in plaster and in papier-mâché.
He shows up in cast irons.
Now, this is the painted plaster, which I think is a little later.
'20s and '30s?
It's really hard to know exactly when what was made.
One about two years ago was, I think, repainted.
It was all yellow.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: Beautifully painted.
GUEST: Yes, sir.
APPRAISER: It brought, um, $4,500.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: Then a year or two before that, one brought, which was gray paint, like this, which is the best of the best of the best, and I wouldn't worry about the-- was, like, $6,500.
I think this is about $7,500.
GUEST: Hear that, Susan?
Write that down.
APPRAISER: And I just think it's absolutely phenomenal.