I Like to Watch - Pawn Stars

My youngest daughter turned me on to a new show on the History Channel. Pawn Stars is a reality show about the pawn business. It is shot in a large pawn shop located near the Las Vegas strip. The pawn shop owner, Rick is the main character. His son "Big Hoss", his father "The Old Man", and a doofus named"Chumlee" round out the cast members. As the owner says in the shows opening, "You never know what is going to come through that door next".

I see the show as analogous to Antiques Roadshow for white trash. The items brought in for sale or pawn range from an airplane, a race car, a propeller owned by Charles Lindbergh, a Coke machine, an ejection seat from a 1950's aircraft, a 1750's musketoon, to a mechanical bucking bronco. Once the item is brought in, Rick the owner assesses the item for value. If needed, he brings in experts for an assessment and valuation. Sometimes the item must be tested to ensure it works. Firearms are a good example. Chumlee is used for this as safety of the weapon is uncertain. Once the item is deemed to be legitimate and a value is place on it, the negotiation begins.

The seller always wants the valuation amount, and Rick always counters with a low ball offer. Most of the time, they agree on a price somewhere in the middle, but closer to Rick's low ball offer than the valuation price. Many times the item must then be restored before Rick can sell it. A 1965 Shelby Cobra was restored in a recent episode. It came into he pawn shop as a chassis and body. Rick paid $30k for it after verifying the authenticity, then put another $80k in it for a full restoration. Final value was around $160k.

I have enjoyed each episode I have watched. It is a great combination of seeing old rare "things", like in the Antiques Roadshow program, however I always questioned their valuation of rare items. Their value was always an estimate with no one ready to actually pay that amount. Pawn Stars take the transaction to the next seedy steps with a negotiation and sale. Check it out. Two half hour episodes are on Monday evenings at 8:00 PM.