The father of the painting's owner was working in Sunderland in the 1950s and one rainy day missed the tram home. To keep dry he went into a second-hand shop. On impulse he bought a painting of kittens for less than £1. David Collins thinks it is a charming picture by the Northumbrian Victorian painter Wilson Hepple, who is best known for paintings of kittens but also painted horses and hunting scenes. Today the painting is worth £5,000 ($7,500), which is surprising news to its owner.

Hilary Kay comes across a tin toy robot made in Japan. She is particularly impressed by the fact that such a modern-looking robot was actually made in the late 30s—well before space travel even started. This is the first-ever commercially produced robot and it can still strut his stuff for her. It's a great rarity and Hilary says it could fetch as much as £2,000 ($3,000).

In a local auction the bids from the eventual owner of this chair rose from £5 to £14 ($7.50 to $21) until the auctioneer pointed out he was bidding against himself! In the end he secured the orange plastic sphere for £12 ($18). He thinks it's funky and has a certain charm. Paul Atterbury says "it shrieks 60s" and explains it was part of the production idea of that time to make furniture out of new materials such as fiberglass. This pod chair was first produced in 1968 by German designer Peter Ghyczy, who called it the "garden egg chair." The value is dependent on color and condition and Paul thinks this could be worth upwards of £500 ($750), saying, "If ever there's an antique for the future, here it is."