Anyone got any speculation on where they're going with that. I seem to recall in one of the previous seasons one of the older ladies he helped whilst practicing elder law had some. That whole segment in the copy shop had me puzzled. Then Googling them and seeing the values. I can't imagine he's just going to ask Mike to help him rob them. Very intrigued as to what's going to happen with that. Unless I'm missing something very obvious.
shareYeah the figurine in the copy shop reminded me of the one from season 1 that one of the old ladies had, the alpine shephard boy. I'm not sure if it was the exact same type of figurine though. If they were then perhaps he plans on stealing the old ladies one now that he knows it's worth a lot. (stealing the copy shop one would probably not be wise as he'd be the prime suspect due to his bizarre job interview)
shareIt's very odd. There must be more to it than robbery. I really can't see even Saul stealing from some old woman like that. Mike too. No way would he agree to that. Especially now he's pretty much loaded.
The whole thing is weird. Why Google them in the first place? The value must mean something. I've definitely got no idea what's going on here heh.
Very odd indeed. And although it's worth like 9 grand, it wouldn't even be worth the risk for such a small amount. Especially with Mike being loaded and Jimmy waiting on the sandpiper money. Unless they'd do it purely for the thrill. Knowing this show, it'll likely be something totally different.
shareThe lady (Alma) who owned those ones at the copy makers had passed away, you never know with Jimmy though he may be doing it for altruistic reasons yet. It may go back to how he liked Mrs Strauss and was triggered by Neff saying about the hummels and trophies:
"Touring the wall of crap, I see.
I need to drag that stuff to the dumpster.
Haven't had a chance to motivate myself."
Of course there may to be more to it than the figurines:
Henry: That's a 6500 color copier.
Jimmy: That's a warhorse.
Henry: You ever see the guts of this beast? It takes 15 seconds to get a printout.
Jimmy: I worked with one back in Chicago.
Henry: That machine was almost too good. Counterfeiters used it to make phoney $5 bills.
Jimmy: What? That's - Yeah.
Right at the end there I think there were some bells sounding in Jimmy's head.
Yeah they are the same figurines as Jimmy asked if they were Hummel's:
"Jimmy: Hummel's.
Henry: Yes. Those were Alma's.
She loved collecting the little things.
God rest her soul.
Jimmy: Yeah, I knew a lady. Same way."
So the copy shop guy is the old lady's nephew or whatever?
shareNot sure if they are the exact same Hummel's as far as I know Mrs Strauss is still alive (she came to Jimmy's bar hearing), however Jimmy did do her estate planning, part of which was allocating various Hummel's to different friends and relatives.
Given season 4 picks up straight after season 3 and the bar hearing episode was Ep 06 Off Brand, with 4 more episodes to seasons end I doubt Mrs Strauss passed away in that time-frame. However you never know hey, she may just turn out to be Mrs Alma Strauss and bam there's Jimmy's motivation, though the first person Jimmy spoke to on the Sandpiper Bus was a Mrs Alma May Urbano (so?).
Also episode 5 of season 1 was called Alpine Shepherd Boy after Mrs Strauss' Hummel and the Hummel Jimmy was looking at online was called Bavarian Boy (so different one). Then of course with Kim at the end Jimmy decides that they will watch White Heat, which has a famous scene where James Cagney’s character freaks out when he learns his mother has died (so maybe Mrs Strauss did pass and is Alma).
On a sidenote and not sure how this relates, in Breaking Bad Season 3 ep 04 Marie steals a Hummel from an Open House of Chimney Sweep Boy riding on a pig holding a ladder and a clock ... so could be just that Vince Gilligan has a thing for Hummel's.
Of course people on here have been saying nothing happens in this show and I've only touched on one tiny aspect of what ifs ;)
Could be a way to launder money. Just buy up expensive collectibles and somehow slip them into the collection of an elderly person about to die (or dead already), then "inherit" them in a way so that their true value is unknown. Later on he can "discover" their value and probably sell for more than he originally paid, and the tax would come out of the difference.
shareSPOILER ALERT!!!!!!
In the preview to episode 3, it becomes clear that whatever Jimmy plans on doing with it, it will result in both him and Mike making about $4,000. My guess, based on the dialogue the other poster posted about the printer salesman saying he needed to drag that stuff to the dumpster, is that Jimmy is going to try to find a way to 'take the figurines off his hands'. If so, probably something like this - Mike shows up as some 'waste disposal service' offering a free or discounted service, and offers to dispose of their old printers, and of course, ANYTHING else they want to get rid of. Jimmy probably rationalizes it by thinking "He's going to throw the stuff away anyway, better that we get it instead of nobody, AM I RIGHT!?"
Manowar2010
That's a great guess! However, while talking to Mike Jimmy says something like: 'I have a job for you. You're gonna like it!'
This sounded like... I don't know... something personal? It seemed like Mike will enjoy doing the job not only for the money but for some personal reasons. I wonder what those might be?
If those Hummel's turn out to be some of the collection Mrs Strauss had then perhaps Jimmy explaining to Mike that this sweet old lady left the figurines to a nephew who wants to just throw them in the trash is enough motivation for Mike. I have a vague memory of Mike helping with the Sandpiper Crossing Nursing Home case (or maybe it was just the Kettleman embezzlement one), so if that memory is correct there is more motivation as he may have met Mrs Strauss.
Also if you cast your mind back to Breaking Bad, Sandpiper Crossing Nursing Home is the same one the cartel twins collect Hector Salamanca from in Breaking Bad season 03, ep 02: Caballo Sin Nombre (so it's the one Hector is in).
Is it possible he already knew the Hummels were there before he went in for the interview? Maybe the interview was just to see where they were?
shareDid he really use google to search for the values? I didn't think google was the popular search engine at the time.
shareProbably not. Just used it instead of 'Internet search' or whatever as it's easy. Around that time Google was around but Yahoo was probably the market leader.
shareyeah it was all ask jeeves and yahoo and netscape and stuff like that. so you didn't actually see google in the episode?
shareI remember one called dogpile too heh.
You don't actually see the search, just that he's scrolling on some buy/sell website.
Yeah he was telling Mike about a Hummel Swap Meet that they could sell the one they took and replaced to. So I would guess that ever since being with Mrs Strauss and setting up her will (with divvying up her Hummel's to family) he has known where to look for there value as he would have looked for it to do the will.
shareThat makes sense.
It's also a step to becoming Saul. He had a job in his hands but saw an easier option of making a few months worth of pay cheques with a nice and easy switcheroo.