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.