some of it's missing. some of it's kind of patchy. you can see the difference between -- you can see how smooth, you know what i mean, almost solid black that is. single needle would be like this, where it's kind of gray and, you know, broke up. i'm trying to get to it where the work that we're doing in here can compare with the work they're doing on the street. that's my goal. >> raising the level of prison ink work prompted sampson to create a number of unique tattoo guns. but their lives are always cut short because they're eventually confiscated. but the prison temporarily gave him back one of his prized creations so that he could show us its finer points. >> you recognize that? >> yep. this is mine. this is mine. this is a headphone cord i had altered and it plugs right into there. look at sampson playing with his toys. boy, like a kid in a toy store, huh? this is all stainless steel.