Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Auction Hunters Prowling For Goods in San Diego

Allen Haff rummages through the back of a black Nissan SUV outside a Jamba Juice in Hillcrest. Haff, one-half of the antique hunting duo on reality-television show, "Auction Hunters," pulls out a box of goods that he and his fellow-hunter, Ton Jones, purchased while foraging in abandoned storage-units in San Diego.

Jones, a large man with tattoos covering his head and thick arms, holds a vintage leather gun-holster, which he says is worth around $60 dollars.

The back of the SUV and a cargo van held all of the new goods that Jones and Haff found while storage-hunting in San Diego. Among the goods the reality-television show stars found at the ten San Diego auctions; a Star Wars board game, an antique brass fire-extinguisher, a vintage Argus .35 millimeter camera, police riot-shield, and a cuckoo clock, just to name a few.

Today's auction, at the Midtown Mini-San Diego Storage facility, didn't turn out so good. Just minutes before the auction was set to start, the auctioneer notified the two that they would not be allowed in. It happens on occasion but they say it won't deter them coming back to San Diego for future auctions.

"I love coming here," says Jones who has relatives from San Diego. "But [auction hunting] can be pretty territorial in San Diego. People like their treasures and they don't want to let any outsiders have them."

There's a reason for the territorial nature, says Haff. "Here in San Diego you have an excellent resale community. Thanks to the military much of this stuff comes from all over the globe. We bought a unit that we thought was a soldier's unit, well it turned out it was a soldier from World War II."

As for how they sense the right unit to bid on, Haff says he knows by the scent. "You know that smell when you go to grandma's house? You never forget that smell. He and I buy that smell all day long."

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount

Allen Haff rummages through the back of a black Nissan SUV outside a Jamba Juice in Hillcrest. Haff, one-half of the antique hunting duo on reality-television show, "Auction Hunters," pulls out a box of goods that he and his fellow-hunter, Ton Jones, purchased while foraging in abandoned storage-units in San Diego.

Jones, a large man with tattoos covering his head and thick arms, holds a vintage leather gun-holster, which he says is worth around $60 dollars.

The back of the SUV and a cargo van held all of the new goods that Jones and Haff found while storage-hunting in San Diego. Among the goods the reality-television show stars found at the ten San Diego auctions; a Star Wars board game, an antique brass fire-extinguisher, a vintage Argus .35 millimeter camera, police riot-shield, and a cuckoo clock, just to name a few.

Today's auction, at the Midtown Mini-San Diego Storage facility, didn't turn out so good. Just minutes before the auction was set to start, the auctioneer notified the two that they would not be allowed in. It happens on occasion but they say it won't deter them coming back to San Diego for future auctions.

"I love coming here," says Jones who has relatives from San Diego. "But [auction hunting] can be pretty territorial in San Diego. People like their treasures and they don't want to let any outsiders have them."

There's a reason for the territorial nature, says Haff. "Here in San Diego you have an excellent resale community. Thanks to the military much of this stuff comes from all over the globe. We bought a unit that we thought was a soldier's unit, well it turned out it was a soldier from World War II."

As for how they sense the right unit to bid on, Haff says he knows by the scent. "You know that smell when you go to grandma's house? You never forget that smell. He and I buy that smell all day long."

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Hunted

Next Article

Kid Rock & Reverend Run

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader