The Taxidermy Head That Cost American Pickers $9,500

Prior to purchasing the item, Mike was quick to reassure viewers that the elephant head hadn't been acquired through nefarious or illegal means. "Buying endangered species is very tricky," he noted, calling the species "majestic and beautiful" and adding that "you have to have the right paperwork to know that this elephant wasn't poached or smuggled illegally." The animal's export papers were acquired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, thus verifying that it hadn't been a victim of poaching. All that was left for the famed hidden gem hunters to do now was strike a bargain with collector and taxidermist Al, who told Danielle Colby he was ready to "thin out the herd." 

Al had originally priced the item — a real elephant head with artificial tusks and ears — at $12,000, but as usual, Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz had other ideas. After glancing at and purchasing some other taxidermied items in the shop (including a massive muskie, a 10-foot-long alligator, and an objectively terrifying piglet that they bundled for $850) the duo returned to the elephant head and was able to talk the collector down to $9,500 in cash. It was then up to Danielle to do her own hunting and find a buyer. "Who buys an elephant head?" she asked rhetorically, "anybody?" As it turned out, there was somebody — and not just any somebody, but a somebody who just happened to be, well, an actual somebody.