Courtesy of MeTV
(LR): Expert Aaron Fike, presenter Lisa Whelchel and LEGO collector Chris Lee in an upcoming episode of the 5th season of Call from the collector
With a few episodes left in the current fifth season, MeTV has prematurely renewed its fan-favorite original series. Call from the collector for season 6. The broadcast of the sixth season of Call from the collector will consist of 26 episodes.
Call from the collector follows presenter Lisa Whelchel (The facts of life) as she explores the rarely seen private collections of the country’s greatest collectors of pop culture and nostalgia memorabilia.
It also enlists the help of professional appraisers and experts to determine the value of the valuable collectibles. These experts then try to entice the collectors with a trade by offering them a coveted item that could be the perfect addition to their collection. The collectors are then faced with the agonizing decision of whether or not to make the trade and part with a beloved object.
Courtesy of MeTV
Just some of the props and costumes in Wally Wingert’s collection, as seen in the September 8 episode of Call from the collector
Currently, all new episodes of the series’ fifth season air on Sundays at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT on MeTV.
The remaining September episodes feature more extraordinary collections of fascinating personalities, including a Pearl Jam fan and a LEGO master.
Call from the collector Season 5 episodes airing in September 2024 (all times ET/PT):
Sunday, September 8, 2024, 6:30 p.m.: “Meet Wally Wingert – Props/Costumes” (Los Angeles)
Voice actor and puppeteer Wally Wingert is obsessed with 1960s-80s pop culture. He has transformed his Los Angeles home into what he calls Wallywood: a virtual museum filled with treasures, including Jack Lord’s Hawaii Five-O Ensemble (complete with height-enhancing boots), the actual passport of Ed McMahon (Wally’s predecessor as The Tonight Show announcer), the very first licensed Kermit puppet (from before he was even a frog), and the iconic stage costume of comedy legend Andy Kaufman.
Lisa invited Call from the collector My favorite was Rob Klein, who tried to determine the value of Wally’s entire collection (parts of which are pictured below) and then entice him into a trade – an offer that boils down to a very small piece of colored resin with a very large connection to a ’60s television set.
Take a look at Wally’s episode where he introduces and talks about the first commercially available puppets based on Jim Henson’s Kermit and Rowlf the Dog with this exclusive preview clip:
Sunday, September 15, 2024, 6:30 p.m.: “Meet Shon Abrahamson – Pearl Jam” (Arlington, Washington)
If you like Pearl Jam memorabilia, you won’t find a better man than Shon Abrahamson. Shon fell in love with the grunge band in the 90s and has been collecting ever since. He even built a museum-like building on his property to house all of his unique memorabilia.
On this Call from the collector In the episode, he will show off his guitar signed by Eddie Vedder (pictured below) as well as a surfboard signed by the entire band, proving that there is almost nothing related to Pearl Jam that Shon doesn’t have or wouldn’t do to get.
This episode features Eric Magnusson, an expert on the Northwest music scene who more than matches Shon’s knowledge of grunge bands. He will appraise the collection and offer a trade that only the most passionate Pearl Jam fans might consider.
Courtesy of MeTV
Sunday, September 22, 2024, 6:30 p.m.: “Meet Chris Lee – LEGO” (Seattle)
The name Christopher Lee has become synonymous with LEGO. As a collector, builder and LEGO Masters champion, he knows pretty much everything, has built everything or collected everything.
He invited Call from the collector to his home to check out his phenomenal collection, which includes the iconic Galaxy Explorer, his beloved Airport Shuttle, and his truly unique Prototype Factory Bricks.
The job of expert Aaron Fike, who owns several LEGO stores himself, is to evaluate Christopher’s collection and then make him a LEGO offer that will convince the collector to “LEGO” one of his favorite collectibles.
Sunday, September 29, 2024, 6:30 p.m.: “Meet Berry Bell – Jukeboxes” (Elgin, Illinois)
When Berry Bell began his career as a disc jockey, he never imagined that his love of music would lead him to collect dozens of jukeboxes. Today, he owns 32 of the original, highest-quality units ever built. He’ll show Lisa everything from a 1956 Wurlitzer 2000, considered the holy grail of jukeboxes and the first jukebox with 200 playback options, to a massive collection of 45-record records that are decades old.
Lisa is accompanied by jukebox appraiser and auctioneer Mike Boerschinger, who determines the value of the entire collection and then offers to trade one of his largest and most beautiful jukeboxes for one of Berry’s most valuable music machines.
Season 5 of Call from the collector will then continue for two weeks into October and conclude with a Halloween episode:
Call from the collector Season 5 Final — Sunday, October 13, 2024, 6:30 p.m.: “Meet Rudy Munis – Masks” (Lowell, Indiana)
Rudy Munis’ fascination with Halloween masks began as a child. As he grew older, his interest in the masks grew. Today, he is the proud curator of a unique collection of vintage Halloween masks.
Rudy shows Lisa a zombie doll mask, masks from the Halloween Movies and a Frankenstein mask. He will be accompanied by Mark Short, an expert in movie props and costumes, who will shock Rudy with the estimated value of his entire collection. Mark will also offer to trade Rudy his prototype of one of the most notorious horror movie characters for Rudy’s prototype of a science fiction icon.
