Pawn Stars - History Channel

[Ron61]

I think my favorite so far was when they took the Old Man's Lincoln that he had parked out back for years and was going to restore it to have it restored as a present for him. He walked out, saw it gone and almost crapped when they told him it was just sitting there rotting down and they had sold it to make some room. Then when it was delivered back all restored and really nice, he was almost at a loss for words. And I do like seeing some of the really old things that some people bring in. Especially the ones that after they have their experts examine them and find out they are worth a lot then change their mind and won't sell.

Ron

[Commodore]

I know that the world is not overflowing with overly educated people but if someone walks into a pawn shop with an item that is supposed to have great value why would you be in a pawn shop in the first place? Why not take your 'treasure' to Sotheby's or Christie's, put a well researched reserve on it, pay your fees and commissions and then let the chips land where they will. Whoops! Forgot it's a reality TV show. Staged reality isn't reality but for some reason these scripted shows remain popular with the viewing audiences. Has anyone ever wondered why a film crew just happens to be at the shop when someone walks in with Babe Ruth's underwear and wants to sell it? I can't help but wonder why "reality TV" is taking so long to go away??

[Paul F]

Originally Posted by Commodore

.. Staged reality isn't reality but for some reason these scripted shows remain popular with the viewing audiences. Has anyone ever wondered why a film crew just happens to be at the shop when someone walks in with Babe Ruth's underwear and wants to sell it? I can't help but wonder why "reality TV" is taking so long to go away??

So its scripted. So are sit coms and dramas. No one is fooled and even if they are, they still are entertained. I find it entertaining and educational. I learn a lot on this show about stuff.

The shows seems to have provided a lot of entertainment to this forum.

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by Ron61

I think my favorite so far was when they took the Old Man's Lincoln that he had parked out back for years and was going to restore it to have it restored as a present for him. He walked out, saw it gone and almost crapped when they told him it was just sitting there rotting down and they had sold it to make some room. Then when it was delivered back all restored and really nice, he was almost at a loss for words. And I do like seeing some of the really old things that some people bring in. Especially the ones that after they have their experts examine them and find out they are worth a lot then change their mind and won't sell.

Ron

We were channel surfing last weekend and a lady with a bell from a shipwreck came in. The pawn guy was pretty sure it wasn't real so had his expert come in (how many of them will actually do that). He said it certainly was real, and that it was worth quite a bit (I think it was about 6K). She said she'd brought it to get rid of it because she was tired of kicking it around and ended up selling it to him for about 4K. That was better than the 300 that she was offered originally. It does pay to push back...

I expect that if the cameras weren't there they would have bought it for 300 and sold it for 6000...

Someone also brought in a little Indian kids toy scooter. Again, they weren't going to give the guy anything for it. Then he said that he knew there were only a few hundred of them in existence. Again, the "expert" said "Yep, probably worth about 12K". He sold it and they restored it. Took a little more work to restore than they thought (engine couldn't be rebuilt), frame needed rewelding, but boy did it look sweet when it was done. Again, if the cameras weren't running...

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by Ron61

I think my favorite so far was when they took the Old Man's Lincoln that he had parked out back for years and was going to restore it to have it restored as a present for him. He walked out, saw it gone and almost crapped when they told him it was just sitting there rotting down and they had sold it to make some room. Then when it was delivered back all restored and really nice, he was almost at a loss for words. And I do like seeing some of the really old things that some people bring in. Especially the ones that after they have their experts examine them and find out they are worth a lot then change their mind and won't sell.

Ron

Oh yeah, about the Lincoln. There is another show on Speed I think that does this as part of the show. The family is part of the setup, the car is reported stolen, and they restore it in a fairly quick time. Then the show guys play good-cop-bad-cop. The premise is the cops know where the car is and they want the owner to come along on a sting to nab the bad guys.

Chip Foose does alot of the design on the cars.

Some of them have looked very nice.

Some weren't worth the original scrap metal.

Just like "This Old House" I guess...