auction hunters - storage wars - american pickers - pawn stars - shipping wars - american restoration - hardcore pawn - auction kings - storage hunters

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i can't get enough of this subset of workplace-based reality television

http://i.imgur.com/1BW9D.jpg

how many have you seen and which one is the best?

also let's talk about:

1) why do people like these so much, and is there any correlation to the current economic situation?
2) how and why does copying a successful cable tv show 7 times over actually yield success?
2) is antiques roadshow to blame?
4) have you ever turned a sweet profit on a rare/unique item?

Poll Results

OptionVotes
storage wars 15
pawn stars 6
auction hunters 2
american pickers 1
shipping wars 0
american restoration 0
hardcore pawn 0
auction kings 0
storage hunters 0


⚓ (gr8080), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:37 (twelve years ago) link

storage wars forever.

the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:38 (twelve years ago) link

why do the dudes on auction hunters consistently score sweeter finds than the zany characters on storage wars?

(a quick google search will result in several message boards where people proclaim both are "fake")

⚓ (gr8080), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:39 (twelve years ago) link

btw i have seen the first six on this list but have yet to watch hardcore pawn, auction kings, or storage hunters.

⚓ (gr8080), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:40 (twelve years ago) link

ampick

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:41 (twelve years ago) link

there was some npr segment I heard about this whose thesis was that these shows provide viewers who are dealing with financial issues or are reading constantly about financial issues with a sense that their objects are worth something

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:42 (twelve years ago) link

itd be cool if they found some humans who were being trafficked in one of the lockers and then they all bid on them

lag∞n, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:42 (twelve years ago) link

the yin to the hoarding shows yang

xpost

⚓ (gr8080), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:43 (twelve years ago) link

its just a formula that works and is copied is all that is my thesis

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:43 (twelve years ago) link

the moleman episode of american pickers is completely insane that is probably the only ep of any of these worth seeking out and watching

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:44 (twelve years ago) link

I haven't seen any of these shows. Half-watched an episode of Antiques Roadshow last week.

I did have one coup. Found a copy of "Lucky Fights It Through" for $1, sold it for $750. Unfortunately my car needed about $600 worth of work done right then.

― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Wednesday, September 1, 2004 9:16 PM (7 years ago)

Steamtable Willie (WmC), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:45 (twelve years ago) link

itd be cool if they found some humans who were being trafficked in one of the lockers and then they all bid on them

― lag∞n, Monday, February 13, 2012 11:42 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^ master @ work

the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:45 (twelve years ago) link

the moleman episode of american pickers is completely insane that is probably the only ep of any of these worth seeking out and watching

― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Monday, February 13, 2012 6:44 PM (1 minute ago)

what is the moleman????

⚓ (gr8080), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:46 (twelve years ago) link

do they find one?

the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:47 (twelve years ago) link

he is this tiny guy who has dug a series of tunnels underground supported by random wood/discarded doorframes/whatever and decorated all the rooms with items and memorabilia he has collected, should be on 'flix

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:49 (twelve years ago) link

the tunnels just go deeper and deeper and the whole thing feels all silence of the lambs, but end up in extremely brightly lit rooms filled with color and wonder and things to pick

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:50 (twelve years ago) link

does it turn out it was all a dream

lag∞n, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:51 (twelve years ago) link

wow i will look out for that

i just saw the episode w/ the dude who lives in an old police station/jail that is crammed full of stuff he cant let go of

⚓ (gr8080), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:51 (twelve years ago) link

i met a dude at a garage sale once who sold me 3,000 LPs for $400.

i didnt come anywhere near breaking even on it but it was a lot of fun

⚓ (gr8080), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 04:51 (twelve years ago) link

Storage Hunters is interesting to say the least. Such a low down version of Storage Wars

rubber belly hand necker (CaptainLorax), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 05:46 (twelve years ago) link

oddities maybe

Thu'um gang (jjjusten), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 05:48 (twelve years ago) link

a new show called Comic Book Men premiered after yesterday's The Walking Dead. it also follows the auction formula for a good portion of the show

rubber belly hand necker (CaptainLorax), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 05:49 (twelve years ago) link

have gotten sucked into storage wars. love/hate the characters in the appropriate/expected ways. one beef with it though is when they tally up at the end. how much they "make" off this shit assumes they sell the shit. you know most if not all sits on the shelf of whatever thrift store for the next decade.

american pickers can suck it. they ride around the countryside rippin off rubes.

some of these others i haven't heard of or seen.

andrew m., Tuesday, 14 February 2012 16:00 (twelve years ago) link

moleman was p /nuts, the pickers tho after watching half an ep i despise them

lag∞n, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 16:01 (twelve years ago) link

have gotten sucked into storage wars. love/hate the characters in the appropriate/expected ways. one beef with it though is when they tally up at the end. how much they "make" off this shit assumes they sell the shit. you know most if not all sits on the shelf of whatever thrift store for the next decade.

THIS

the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 16:03 (twelve years ago) link

instead of otm on this thread we should say YEPPPPPPPPPPPP

the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 16:03 (twelve years ago) link

I saw american restoration on hotel room cable this weekend and was sorely disappointed. It seems like they took an hour long show, tossed out all the interesting stuff about how the work was done and retained the financial transactions and the reveal. Incredibly boring stuff, when it might actually be quite good.

8 hours in paint, every damn time.

American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 16:06 (twelve years ago) link

otm-- that drives me crazy

also whenever they repaint something different from what it was originally he has reliably terrible taste

⚓ (gr8080), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 17:20 (twelve years ago) link

and he doesnt even consult the client!!

⚓ (gr8080), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 17:20 (twelve years ago) link

instead of otm on this thread we should say YEPPPPPPPPPPPP

Quite right.

Thanks to my sweets I have been sucked into the Storage Wars vortex. Best damn documentary about OC life ever.

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 17:21 (twelve years ago) link

Feel like American Pickers is of a different sort than the rest of these, definite Antiques Roadshow descendant. Just two goofy guys wandering around the Midwest buying useless stuff. Their approximations of how much they make off each pick are pretty lol, esp. when it's an item you know something about and they're wildly overvaluing it.

The adversarial shows (pawn, storage wars, etc.) are a bummer.

Oddities is too weird and gross, but I love the possibly-autistic hot mortician-goth who's been in several episodes

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 17:35 (twelve years ago) link

No one has ever deserved a beating more than that dude.

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 17:44 (twelve years ago) link

Thanks to my sweets I have been sucked into the Storage Wars vortex. Best damn documentary about OC life ever.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, February 14, 2012 12:21 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is a great show to watch with a gf for some reason

the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 20:46 (twelve years ago) link

My sister got me to watch Hardcore Pawn (set in Detroit), and it was the most fucking depressing thing I've ever seen in my life. I wish there was a way to crosspost this to the hockey thread, but as somebody who used to be a Darren McCarty fan it is sad to see him see him end up working in a pawn shop. It was like a real life version of The Wrestler.

Nicole, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 20:52 (twelve years ago) link

I saw the first season of Storage Wars. Went down easy. They did a brilliant job eliding over the economic realities driving the show.

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 20:53 (twelve years ago) link

also the fact that it takes place during wartime

the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 20:58 (twelve years ago) link

Do you mean that the SoCal fleet is out? Or was that a joke?

I meant that the lockers are a related microcosm of the foreclosure crisis.

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 21:00 (twelve years ago) link

storage wartime

the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 21:01 (twelve years ago) link

Oh, I get it: joke hiding in plain sight!

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 21:02 (twelve years ago) link

i "lived" in one of those storage places in OC for a week or so :/

Aerosol, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 21:10 (twelve years ago) link

did anyone buy you

the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 21:10 (twelve years ago) link

I have a big crush on Barry from Storage Wars

homosexual II, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 21:13 (twelve years ago) link

wkiw Barry

Aerosol, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 21:14 (twelve years ago) link

god i can only imagine how annoying it would be to spend time wiht him irl

the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 21:17 (twelve years ago) link

Voted for the only show that features Danielle, the burlesque dancer.

StanM, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 21:21 (twelve years ago) link

he reminds me a lot of old school socal dudes my dad used to hang with xp

Aerosol, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 21:45 (twelve years ago) link

did anyone else see the episode where at the very end barry goes "time to drive back to my house after a long hard day at work" and then there's a crane shot of his jaguar rolling up to this mcmansion, and then you see him walking up the front steps only to be greeted by a woman all play-acting "who are you and what are you doing on my property!?!" followed by him running back to his car and speeding away all "lol u guys thats not really my house hahahaha" then the credits roll???

so weird

⚓ (gr8080), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 21:47 (twelve years ago) link

yeah s1ocki dont get yr take, i would def kiw barry for at least an afternoon

⚓ (gr8080), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 21:47 (twelve years ago) link

i can just tell he's high-maintenance irl

the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Tuesday, 14 February 2012 21:48 (twelve years ago) link

ha since my last post i watched maybe the single fakest episode of this show i have yet seen - three units full of total junk except for i. a professional magic trick ii. an antique telescope iii. a miniature track car worth several thousand dollars

i'm still not sure i buy your version tho - who's the actual pro, hester?

desperado, rough rider (thomp), Wednesday, 15 February 2012 10:02 (twelve years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjBfRWRe9Ag

James Mitchell, Wednesday, 15 February 2012 10:08 (twelve years ago) link

re: ppl who abandon storage units, had an interesting talk with a co-worker about this. Some years back, his mom got out of a bad marriage in California. Put her part of the household in an inexpensive storage unit there and headed to Arkansas. Paid like $30 a month for it or something. One month, the check bounces. It was a tiny hiccup in her account and she never noticed. Things rolled on. The storage people never told her. A year later she inquires about getting her stuff. They had auctioned it off a year earlier without telling her. She had zero recourse. What a racket! Worse than the impound lot!

andrew m., Wednesday, 15 February 2012 15:49 (twelve years ago) link

What about a show like "Hey, That's My Shit!" and they show up at one of the stores in Hester's empire of stores full of worthless shit and make a scene

andrew m., Wednesday, 15 February 2012 15:51 (twelve years ago) link

every episode starts with a guy watching Storage Wars, btw

andrew m., Wednesday, 15 February 2012 15:51 (twelve years ago) link

xposts

My wife lost a lot of her possessions in similar fashion when her previous relationship ended, he'd put a lot of (both of their) stuff in storage while they were sorting out moving out of their house, didn't keep up the payments, gone. She still watches the show so I guess she's over it now, well it was 9 years ago. Occasionally she'll think she still has an LP she used to have and I have to tell her no we don't have that :(

The Eyeball Of Hull (Colonel Poo), Wednesday, 15 February 2012 15:55 (twelve years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAomVYXQGb0

Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 15 February 2012 16:08 (twelve years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Sunday, 19 February 2012 00:01 (twelve years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Monday, 20 February 2012 00:01 (twelve years ago) link

i watched a few episodes of oddities and holy shit that dude is annoying

⚓ (gr8080), Monday, 20 February 2012 00:10 (twelve years ago) link

Watched a couple eps of Storage Wars today. I hate the Yuuuuuuuuup! guy already.

wolf kabob (ENBB), Monday, 20 February 2012 00:15 (twelve years ago) link

And I like the guy who buys the shit storage rooms nobody wants. I can't remember his name.

wolf kabob (ENBB), Monday, 20 February 2012 00:16 (twelve years ago) link

barry, and yeah, he's the best thing about the show

Little GTFO (contenderizer), Monday, 20 February 2012 00:57 (twelve years ago) link

Yep, Barry. Watching another in which he just rolled up in some ridic truck with a crazy person he's calling his "good luck charm". He's great.

wolf kabob (ENBB), Monday, 20 February 2012 01:12 (twelve years ago) link

s1ocki's right: he'd be a pain in the ass to kick it with

⚓ (gr8080), Monday, 20 February 2012 01:24 (twelve years ago) link

also i need more occasions wirl where its appropriate to say "YUUUUUUUP!"

⚓ (gr8080), Monday, 20 February 2012 01:25 (twelve years ago) link

like when they call out my coffee order to let me know its ready:

"YUUUUUUP!"

⚓ (gr8080), Monday, 20 February 2012 01:26 (twelve years ago) link

NOOOOOOOOOPE!

wolf kabob (ENBB), Monday, 20 February 2012 01:28 (twelve years ago) link

Watched a couple episodes of Storage Wars this morning (these shows are perfect for drinking coffee and lazing around on weekend mornings, IMO). I want to strangle the YUUUUUUUUUP guy. He's such a tool.

Jeff's idea on how to succeed at storage wars: find out where the auctions are and rob the buyers on the way to the storage facility.

carl agatha, Sunday, 4 March 2012 19:22 (twelve years ago) link

Also, Brandi needs to divorce her idiot husband who doesn't listen to her and then gets angry and defensive when it turns out she was right.

carl agatha, Sunday, 4 March 2012 19:23 (twelve years ago) link

Yeah she is way outta his league, maybe he's a nice guy when not on television.

Nicholas Pokémon (silby), Sunday, 4 March 2012 20:27 (twelve years ago) link

everyone is a moron on that show, its the only reason worth watching it

⚓ (gr8080), Sunday, 4 March 2012 22:03 (twelve years ago) link

as opposed to all the other shows which are only worth watching for cool/rare stuff

⚓ (gr8080), Sunday, 4 March 2012 22:04 (twelve years ago) link

I think the Storage Wars people are going to break into Dave's house at night and beat him to death with socks full of soap.

carl agatha, Sunday, 11 March 2012 16:34 (twelve years ago) link

i was thinking the other day that the storage wars guys and the auction hunters guys are covering so much of the same ground in so. cal that they have to run in to each other at some point. they should get it over with and do a crossover episode.

⚓ (gr8080), Sunday, 11 March 2012 20:19 (twelve years ago) link

I thought about that too. Would be cool to have a crossover of any two storage shows iirc. Also would be cool to visit storage auctions when in Cali just to witness an episode in progress.

---

I've been taping reruns of Storage Wars Texas and I guess there is new ones coming too (definitely not as good as the original). There's a guy named Doc that is a poor man's Barry.

monkeys on the ceiling fan, ceiling fan (CaptainLorax), Sunday, 11 March 2012 22:50 (twelve years ago) link

three weeks pass...

I kind of like how former Dallas Cowboys player Roy Williams' life takes an unexpected turn when two fat storage locker cowboys come to his house to have his autograph verified. Roy's been added to the theme sequence this week. Also, we can now watch how well a rookie does in the storage locker business should we ever decide to visit some auctions ourselves.

we gotta move these refrigerators (CaptainLorax), Wednesday, 4 April 2012 18:05 (twelve years ago) link

did anyone see the LIVE episode of auction hunters? such a terrible idea.

♆ (gr8080), Wednesday, 4 April 2012 18:48 (twelve years ago) link

eight months pass...

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/12/storage-wars-sued-dave-hester-show-faked

In a suit that is sure to cause ripples through the show and the network, Hester charges:

Producers staged entire units and enlisted the cooperation of owners of storage facilities to do so.
The show pays for storage lockers for “weaker” cast members as part of the manipulation
The show plants items in lockers after having them appraised weeks in advance
The show obtains items to be placed in the units from a business regularly featured on air

In addition, Hester charges that interviews with cast members are scripted and scenes of biding are faked to the extent that there are no auctions taking place while cast members and members of the public are shown bidding.

dmr, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 18:41 (eleven years ago) link

I must now look to the Tour de France for honesty in competition.

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 18:45 (eleven years ago) link

shocked

LIKE If you are against racism (omar little), Tuesday, 11 December 2012 18:48 (eleven years ago) link

I watched a Storage Wars martathon the other weekend for the first time - I find these 'revelations' reassuring.

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 11 December 2012 18:49 (eleven years ago) link

yeah not exactly a surprise

in another part of the article he says that around season 2 the network said they had to use locks provided by the network to secure the lockers they just bought (which the network would then open and stick stuff in there before they shot the "going through the locker" scenes)

dmr, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 18:50 (eleven years ago) link

lol

when Hester would examine a locker he bought, “production staff would prod him to ‘check out’ certain boxes or direct him to unload his unit in such a way that he would be certain to ‘discover’ particular items that Defendants clearly knew had been planted in the unit.”

dmr, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 18:53 (eleven years ago) link

Wonder if they said things like "NOOOOOOOOOOOOPE" to him if he went the wrong way.

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 18:53 (eleven years ago) link

the only thing I'm surprised about is that the salting was allegedly done without the cast members' knowledge.

LIKE If you are against racism (omar little), Tuesday, 11 December 2012 18:54 (eleven years ago) link

part of me wonders if he just got his knickers in a knot because other people's lockers were getting salted with better stuff than his

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 11 December 2012 18:55 (eleven years ago) link

i love this so much.

❏❐❑❒ (gr8080), Tuesday, 11 December 2012 21:12 (eleven years ago) link

I can't stop watching Duck Dynasty.

Sorry - I don't know where else to admit that.

go to party leather (ENBB), Tuesday, 11 December 2012 21:20 (eleven years ago) link

otm

i assumed all these things were a given but now i doubt them because the source is butthurt hester

Roberto Spiralli, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 21:24 (eleven years ago) link

my thread on Dave Hester and Trey Songz suing each other over the use of the catchphrase YUUUUUUUUP is lost to the sandbox so you'll just have to trust me that that happened.

dmr, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 21:48 (eleven years ago) link

I remember that thread.

smdh

carl agatha, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 22:21 (eleven years ago) link

I want to eat a pancake breakfast with Barry Weiss and figure out how to become him

toy_sleigher (Sufjan Grafton), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 01:23 (eleven years ago) link

Hester's character stopped even having an apparent interest in making a profit, so I'm not surprised. I just want to watch Barry all day anyway.

wongo hulkington's jade palace late night buffet (silby), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 01:24 (eleven years ago) link

this is devastating news

turds (Hungry4Ass), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 01:28 (eleven years ago) link

yeah s1ocki dont get yr take, i would def kiw barry for at least an afternoon

― ⚓ (gr8080), Tuesday, February 14, 2012 11:47 AM (9 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i can just tell he's high-maintenance irl

― the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Tuesday, February 14, 2012 11:48 AM (9 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

like he would take forever to get out of the coffee shop or wtv

― the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Tuesday, February 14, 2012 11:48 AM (9 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

❏❐❑❒ (gr8080), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 02:35 (eleven years ago) link

^^^have come around to this take on barry

❏❐❑❒ (gr8080), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 02:35 (eleven years ago) link

Wandering around a Toys R Us in Waco today and spotted this:

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/25056_10151151406976596_1278996371_n.jpg

It was on the same shelf as the Jersey Shore trivia game. These are actual consumer products.

"It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Drunk!" (kingfish), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 02:41 (eleven years ago) link

three years pass...

I saw my first episode of Storage Hunters the other night. Then today I walked through the park. Then I realised:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouPPVBBOODI

He's a wren

And the cry rang out all o'er the town / Good Heavens! Tay is down (imago), Thursday, 14 April 2016 23:07 (eight years ago) link

five years pass...

Nine years later, I raise a glass to WmC's shoutout to Junkin' With Val and Dave. An old buddy showed me an episode of that recently (the titular Dave has posted them all on YouTube) and it is SUCH a time capsule of circa 2004 chill southern hipsters and their relationship to thrift stores and flea markets. Also amazing in that they basically know nothing about any of the stuff they're looking at, and are really just goofing around, clearly amazed at their luck to get paid for this.

American Pickers used to drive me crazy with the idea that these dopes were driving seemingly hundreds of miles to root through a treasure trove barn and leave with like, two things.

Pawn Stars meanwhile has ascended to Shark Tank level of hotel-TV ubiquity; there are a million episodes and it's broadcast in like six-hour blocks, so it just plays and plays, one segment rolling into the next, "I'll just hang on until they come back and put a pricetag on this complete set of Jurassic Park POGs for which this dummy is expecting $750,000," etc. It seems that later episodes kinda phased out all the interpersonal drama and antics among the cast, which probably helps make it more bite-sized and binge-able. Apparently in its heyday it was the #2 rated reality show, behind Jersey Shore. Hopefully future history textbooks get comfortable using it as a shorthand for American culture circa 2010, like talking about the 50s via Leave it to Beaver.

I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 19 September 2021 13:14 (two years ago) link


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