When the pandemic brought Jim Weigl’s business to a screeching halt, he returned to school and started another business.

For the past 25 years, Weigl had provided toys, novelty and gift items to family entertainment venues worldwide through his business, Virginia Toy and Novelty Co., in Virginia Beach.

“Every single one of our customers closed,” he said.

An auction enthusiast who has bought and sold at some of the world’s largest auction houses, Weigl decided to pivot and go full throttle into his hobby.

“Rather than be the guy that’s going to find the gold nuggets, I will be the guy that sells the shovels,” he said.

Weigl enrolled in a 10-day class, totaling 100 hours, at the Reppert School of Auctioneering in Indiana in July 2020. In spite of COVID-19, the school was held in person, and Weigl said all of the necessary precautions were in place.

The intense course teaches the ins and outs of running an auction house, including marketing, contracts, business management, legal issues and technology.

The New Jersey native, who has lived in Virginia Beach for 30 years, said he was born talking fast — one of the skills often associated with an auctioneer. Armed with his new knowledge, Weigl started Blue Box Auction Gallery in Virginia Beach in August 2020. He held his first auction on Oct. 10, 2020, and has more than 40 under his belt to date.

Pivoting was easy. He already had the 12,000-square-foot building, and all of his employees were eager to stay on board and learn a new industry, he said.

“We are a service provided for individuals, families, an estate or law firm that is looking for help to solve a problem,” Weigl said.

He said they are ready to represent items, target the right audience and sell for top dollar.

“I enjoy getting to see, interact with and experience unique items, beautiful art, fun antiques, cool collectibles and then offer them to someone who’s going to love and cherish them for however long they choose to,” he said.

Staff at Blue Box research each item — a house full or individual pieces shipped to the auction house — take photos and write descriptions placed online to a worldwide audience to determine true market value before they are auctioned off.

“That holds true for a couch, a comic book or even a house,” he said. “We can sell anything through the auction method.”

Bidders can always competitively bid online through the company’s website or app and other times in house.

From art to sculptures, artifacts to relics and cars to houses, Weigl said they have auctioned off all types of unique items.

John McPartland of Virginia Beach was the only bidder on site, along with several hundred online, at an auction on Oct. 14. A guitar player, McPartland didn’t want to miss the opportunity to bid on several of the 56 guitars belonging to the late Scott King, a member of the Atlanta-based group Foxes & Fossils. He walked away with four guitars, including a lap steel guitar.

“It was a cool experience,” McPartland said.

Stephanie Van Buren of Richmond turned to Blue Box when she needed to sell her late father’s Hampton home and its contents.

Van Buren said the auction house found the specialty buyers for his Rolex watches, ornamental walking canes, Waterford crystal, pipes, antiques, Ferrari, Mercedes and two Bentleys.

“They were very thorough, speedy and able to reach a larger audience,” she said.

Weigl said he wishes more people were familiar with auctions and less intimidated by them.

“It’s fun on both the selling and buying side,” he said.

Although still faced with supply chain challenges, Weigl said the toy business has come back online. He shifted the business model from traditional buy-and-sell inventory to more of a bespoke, custom-made toy, gift and novelty approach, he said.

“The toy business is really fun, the family entertainment/theme park industry is super fun and the auction business is fun and interesting,” Weigl said. “Life’s too short to not do something fun.”

For more information, visit blueboxauction.com.

Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@insidebiz.com