Pawn Stars: Difference between revisions

** A customer who brought in an unopened box of pre-embargo Cuban cigars that he inherited from his father could have gotten a good price for them...if his father had actually stored them properly in a humidor, rather than just putting the box in a larger trunk. The Old Man didn't even need to open the box to know that the cigars would have dried out and crumbled by now.

** One was one interesting case where a sale was doomed because the seller put ''too much'' effort into his customized trike. Rick and Corey were floored when they found out the seller poured '''$100,000''' into the trike. They pointed out that with that sort of money, the seller could have just gone and bought a top of the line Mazzerati. What was even worse was that when Count inspected the trike, he appraised its worth at only $15,000. Rick and Corey theorized that the seller [[Did Not Do the Research]] when buying the parts and got badly fleeced.

* [[Downer Ending]]: Sometimes there are items that the crew would '''love''' to have, but the customer simply decides to keep the item. One notable example was a complete gaming kit used by a wandering [[Wild West]] gambler that was worth somewhere between $7,000-$10,000. The customer didn't accept Rick's initial $4,000 offer, and refused to change his mind even after Rick raised his offer to $6,000. The customer walked out of the store with the kit, and Rick was almost despairing when he talked to the camera crew about it afterward.

** Things like this happen often enough that you begin to wonder if some people are simply using Rick's experts to get a free value appraisal for insurance purposes, rather than having to pay someone to do it.

** Rick bought an antique ball and chain and made the mistake of having Chumlee put in a case. Chumlee accidentally drops it on the glass counter top, smashing the counter AND possibly damaging the jewelry inside. This was in addition to an already bad day. Later Corey is set to deliver an antique chair. He forgets to put the tailgate off after the Old Man gives him the directions. The chair falls off and breaks beyond repair.

** Rick bought a collection of 175 custom wine decanters for $600. He soon gets buyer's remorse when he realizes just how much time he's going to need to pack up, catalogue and sell each item. The Old Man, predictably, is not amused.

** A happier subversion came when Corey bought a top of the line 1984 Chris Craft boat for $16,500. Rick was pissed, because boats tend to be expensive money pits that are more trouble than they're worth. Rick and Corey have a shouting argument over it, and Corey takes the boat to get repaired and refinished. It costs an addition $4,000 to fix. In the show's first Christmas episode, Corey mentions that he sold the boat for $22,000 at a $1,500 profit, but the Old Man points out that he got really lucky on that one.

*** Rick himself dodged a major bullet when he bought a junked-up helicopter for $10,000. The Old Man has a coronary when he finds out, and then has another one right afterward when he learns it'll cost $100,000 to fully restore. Fortunately, the helicopter looks absolutely gorgeous when it's finally repaired, and they'll be able to sell it for about $160,000. The Old Man goes up in the helicopter's maiden flight, and finally admits that this was a good idea.

** At one point, Chumlee goes to attend a ''poetry reading'', and even recites some lines to a disbelieving Hoss. Though arguably, he was doing this to pick up girls.

*** When someone comes in selling a 1st Edition of ''[[Walden]]'', Chumlee correctly summarizes the plot, flooring Hoss with what he knows ("In between ditching class, you read a book?"). Chum even admits its one of his favorite books.

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

** Rick mocking Chumlee for his weight gain as recounted under [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]] above, even though Rick himself could easily pass for a real-life version of [[The Simpsons|Homer Simpson]].

** 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...?<br />

'''Specialist''': Pretty much.<br />

** Basically, the breakdown goes something like this: the Old Man knows coins, militaria, Native American art, and old toys, Rick knows sports memorabilia, art, weaponry, and historical items, Hoss knows motorcycles, cars, and electronics, and Chumlee knows eighties and nineties pop culture iconic items. The specialists are then called in for the more rare or heavily-faked versions of these items.

** The Gold and Silver Pawn Shop itself is a Jack Of All Trades. Several of the experts the Harrisons call in own their own shops and businesses that sell the type of merchandise that they specialize in, such as classic toys, historical documents, Native American artifacts or what have you. The Gold and Silver Pawn Shop deals in all these things and more.

** Some of the customers can come across this way too, like the guy who insisted on trying to sell a trainer's Super Bowl ring for $20,000 even after Rick pointed out to him that trainers' rings aren't worth nearly as much as the ones given to players.

** Another example of a Jerkass customer is the guy who brought in a Perseus and Pegasus statue, and when Rick told him it was a reproduction and he didn't want to buy, the guy basically told him he was full of shit. The customer was such an ass, he almost got thrown out by the shops resident [[Scary Black Man|Bouncer]].

** One of the shop's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3_M6StbLx4 YouTube videos] has Rick showing off a katana, as well as explaining some of the finer details of valuing such an item.

** In a advertisement for the show, Rick is showing off one of his antique katanas and notes that if he took it to Japan, it would be confiscated as a national treasure.

* [[Laser-Guided Karma]]: Though we don't see it happen, more than a few of the above-mentioned jerks who groused and snarled and finally accepted a fairly generous price for their items then announced something along the lines of "Now it's off to the blackjack tables!" Considering the odds of actually winning or even breaking even, a lot of that money isn't going home with them.

* [[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.

* [[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]]''.

* [[The Scrooge]]: The Old Man has been compared to the [[Trope Namer]] more than once.

* [[Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!]]: Old Man is a perfect example. At best, he's blunt and no-nonsense. At worst, he's bitter, sarcastic and insults pretty much everyone.

* [[Senior Sleep Cycle]]: "Old Man" would sleep at his desk during work. And still works harder than everyone else there. [[Unreliable Narrator|Or so he says.]]

** This was part of a storyline in one episode. Rick expanded the shop to make an office for the Old Man, so he wouldn't be sleeping at his desk within sight of the customers. At first he liked the office, but by the end of the episode he was back at his desk, once again sleeping.

* [[Skewed Priorities]]: [[Played for Laughs]] when demonstrating the homemade mortar cannon. Chumlee is tasked with lighting the fuse. Rick is worried about the cannon misfiring and/or blowing up, citing he doesn't want another workman's compensation claim on his business.

* [[Snark to Snark Combat]]: The Harrisons get into this from time to time, such as when the Old Man took a leisurely test drive in their recently purchased and restored [[Cool Car|Shelby Cobra]].

[[Category:The History Channel]]

[[Category:Pawn Stars]]