Pawn Stars: Difference between revisions

* [[All Animation Is Disney]]: A lady came in to sell a set of frosted glass Disney figurines. After remarking how much he loves Disney, Chumlee asked if she had any of [[Bugs Bunny]].

* [[All There in the Manual]]: A number of interviews Rick has given, both before and after the show began, give some insight into why the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop runs and functions the way it does. For example, the reason it has so many insanely antique and valuable items instead of just the usual collection of TVs and cameras and whatnot? Every other pawn shop in the area was bought by a single company that used a database for its offers... if something wasn't in the database, they referred the seller to a non-company pawn shop, and Rick's was the only one of those around.

* [[Artistic License Economics]]:

** The team has to spell out why exactly they make offers significantly lower than market price way too often: There can be numerous additional costs to buying an item like overhead, storage, restoration, authentication, cataloging, etc. Not to mention that they have to buy items to sell them for profit and the market price is a best-case scenario that they likely will not be getting, or that an item may be difficult to sell and until they do that's money tied up into the item.

** [[Defied Trope|On occasion, customers' asking prices are very reasonable]] and accepted by the Harrisons without even needing to haggle. Corey immediately agreed to pay one woman the $350 she wanted for a collection of 19th century railway bonds, since he'd be able to sell them all for a $750 profit. One time, when Rick agreed with the first price the customer put out, Chumlee was confused, as the policy was usually "Never take the first offer."

** Occasionally, when the seller offers a price much ''lower'' than the item is worth, the guys will offer a higher, fairer price. [[Subverted Trope|They're demonstrating a sound grasp of economics]]: having a reputation for honesty and fair dealing is far more valuable in the long run than making a few extra bucks from a poorly-informed seller. And that's true even when your business practices are ''not'' being shown worldwide to millions of people every week.

* [[Cassandra Truth]]: When customers are told that the items they're selling are fake or otherwise not worth anything, the typical reaction is [[Oh Crap]], as noted below. Some customers, though, simply refuse to believe whatever Rick or the other guys tell them. See [[Jerkass]], below.

** "I don't care what you say!"

** Rick unwittingly invoked this trope with a customer who brought in a bar of gold that his grandfather found in the Caribbean. Rick jokingly asked if the customer's grandfather had found it on a sunken ship...and when they got the gold appraised, they found that it ''was'' from a sunken ship because of the coral that had grown on it.

* [[Catch Phrase]]: The guys have a bunch:

* [[Cool Sword]]: The shop also has its share of weird and exotic swords.

* [[Creator Thumbprint]]: Rick is obviously in the pawn business to make money, but he also has a genuine passion for American history, culture and heritage, which he indulges with his work.

** The July 2011 arc starts with Harrison calling the pickers to find a [[Cool Car|1957 Chevy]] to restore and give to the Old Man on his birthday. The ''Pickers'' episode ends with the sale and goes right into the ''Restoration'' episode which deals with Rick Dale's effort to restore the car. He also buys an old neon sign from Mike and Frank and partially restores it. The ''Restoration'' episode, in turn, leads into the ''Pawn Stars'' episode where Dale and his team finish the project and Harrison gives it to the old man. The kicker: It's estimated that it would take 6 to 8 months to restore the car. [[Impossible Task|Rick needed it in three]].

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Pretty much the entire core staff, except for Chumlee.

** Rick bought a Austin Healey car for $5000. The car didn't start, and he figured it just needed a battery and/or a tune-up. It cost over $6000 to fix. Rick's expert said it would be worth about $8000 when fixed. To add insult to injury, Rick bought the car ''right after it broke down''. The guy who sold it to him had actually used it to drive down to the pawn shop.

** Chumlee once bought a fake Gibson mandolin for $1500 without getting it appraised first, and was told by an expert that it was worth no more than $100.

** Rick bought copy of [[Bob Dylan]]'s ''Self Portrait'' on vinyl with the intention of selling it for $75. But he realized Bob Dylan was in town doing a concert, and if he could get the record signed it would be far more valuable. Only he gave that particular duty to Chumlee. Big Hoss immediately objected, "You've got 40 other employees who ''won't screw this up;'' why are you giving this to [[The Millstone|Chumlee]]?" Incredibly, Chumlee actually finds Bob Dylan out on the Vegas Strip, and gets him to sign it. They allow you to think Chumlee's actually gonna do something right for a second, but then: "How do you want it signed?" "Have it say, 'To Chumlee.'" [[Face Palm]]. Rick was so pissed at him he just told Chumlee to keep it. Chumlee never even realized Rick was angry at him. "Cool, I've got my own signed Bob Dylan album."

*** The cynical viewer may consider the odds of just finding Dylan in town the way Chumlee did and suspect that this episode was, if not fully scripted, at least pointed in a direction to become a particularly hilarious [[Epic Fail]].

** Rick himself may look and sound like any middle-aged nine-to-five blue collar nobody, but he's actually a math genius who used to work on solving ''cold fusion'' in his spare time for fun.

* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: The Old Man when counting the money from the swear jar. "Holy *bleep*, this is a lotta swearin'."

** Rick's given Corey and Chumlee grief for buying things without getting them appraised, but he ended up making the same mistake when he bought a Native American vest for $1,300. He got it appraised ''after'' he'd already bought it, and the expert pointed out that it was a replica made for the tourist trade. You could practically see the steam coming out of the Old Man's ears when he found out.

* [[I Can't Believe I'm Saying This]]: "The Count," who appraises vehicles when Rick might want to buy them, tells him to "pass" on a limo owned by Jackie Gleason. (It turned out that there was some barely noticeable rust damage on the car that would have raised the total cost too high after repairs were factored in.)

{{quote|'''Rick''': So, if I sell this, I'm going to hell...?

'''Specialist''': Pretty much.

* [[Lethal Chef]]: When Rick buys a glass decanter than can be used to store and pour four separate drinks at once, Chumlee uses it to try and brew his own homemade alcoholic beverage. He gets the other guys to try it, and they all (except the Old Man cause he could handle the stuff) think it's disgusting, although Chum himself still enjoys it.

** Chumlee had more luck with a coffeemaker that Corey later bought. The Old Man actually really enjoyed the coffee Chumlee served him.

** Corey and Chumlee purchased a turn-of-the-century waffle iron. When Rick couldn't close a deal on a very rare cannon he wanted, Chumlee cooked up some waffles. The waffles ended up a little softer than usual, which Rick points out (Chumlee added too much water to the mix), but Old Man liked them.

* [[Let's Get Dangerous]]: In one episode, Big Hoss buys a classic Harley-Davidson motorcycle for $7,000. Chumlee falls in love with the bike, and asks to be put on the company payment plan so he can buy it himself. The Old Man refuses to do it unless Chumlee can come up with a $3,000 down payment. We then see a series of clips that shows Chumlee working hard and selling items left and right, including the previously mentioned ''[[Kill Bill]]'' katana, using the money he gets on commission for the down payment. The Old Man even [[Lampshades]] the fact that Chumlee can be a perfectly good salesman when he puts his mind to it, but that he rarely has much focus.

* [[Licensed Game]]: There's a ''Pawn Stars'' Facebook game.

* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]: Rick knows many different people who are experts at appraising or restoring almost anything he can bring them. Some of them have almost become regulars on the show themselves with the number of times Rick and the boys have called them for assistance.

** Restorer Rick Dale, who fixed up a lot of the shop's "americana" purchases, even got his own [[Spin-Off]], ''[[American Restoration (TV)|American Restoration]]''.