A quick search on the web will show you how scripted the show is, a lot of it based around that Coke machine episode. Mainly because the restored machine that Rick Dale returns is clearly not the same machine (not even the same manufacturer) that Rick Harrison gave to him to restore.

My biggest pet peeve is the fake drama that they create in the commercial bumpers. The worst one I just saw was an episode near the end of season 3 where they are questioning the authenticity of some Presidential signed document, and the clip the use in the commercial bumper has the historical expert saying the line "Unfortunately, it could be autopen" and it's blatantly obvious from the cadence of his speech that they assembled that sentence word-by word to create a negative-sounding phrase. It turned out the document was genuine, and the sentence was never uttered in the show itself. I understand editing shots to create drama, but creating whole sentences? That just seems so cheap.

The show is still entertaining, though.

-jason

American Restoration is even worse about the misleading bumpers.

It's like the teasers for late-night news. I don't mind the teasers though. It's a part of the atmosphere of the show.

I agree, it is quite annoying, especially when what they tease is nowhere close to what we get in the final product. I remember one time they were test driving a car on a street and they teased someone crashing the car, complete with stock crash sounds. Still, it is a very entertaining show and I watch it just for the history lessons, not questioning what is real/fake.

You have to remember, they are not buying the items to keep, they are buying to re-sell. If they bought everything at it's true value, they would break even or lose money on every transaction.

What I hate is the people who have something worth a ton of money, and they settle for 30/40% of what it's worth simply because they don't want to through the hassle of selling it themselves.

People do it all the time when they sell/trade-in a car. For some, it's not worth the hassle. But at least with cars, it's an easy sell. How in the world would a normal person find a place to sell Abraham Lincolns comb?

40% for a lot of the items that people buy is really not that bad. To get more often requires an auction which will take 33% as the listing fee, takes a lot of time and often will not auction for the top value they give anyway so they are probably giving up 10-15% of what they can reasonably expect to get for the item for money right now. EBAY is also notoriously low for many of the items so not a good choice there either.

I'm sure any auction house would be interested in Presidential memorabilia like that. Sure it may require a little extra leg work but I'm sure it will be more than what they would have gotten in the pawn shop.

But as Rick likes to point out, there is the auction house fee, which is sizable.

Depends on the house you deal with. You also have to remember that as a seller you are paying to sell, as a buyer (sometimes) you are paying to buy. In most case the house will walk away with 20% to 30% of the item. There is a show on TV (I do not remember its name) that makes 50% off of each item sold.

Also depending on the house you deal with. They do make sure you are buying what you are buying. They do not just have some grey hair man come in and say it could or could not be just by looking at it.

The worst is Storage Wars with the bumpers. That setup of that show is hella annoying. The thing that gets me is I think a lot of these shows are inherently interesting, so the drama feels incredibly unnecessary. I think early American Pickers were pretty good about keeping the "drama" and canned spots out of the show (or at least disguising them pretty well), and instead showcased the cool shit they found. They've gotten worse with that in later seasons, from the scattered eps I've seen, but Storage Wars and Pawn Stars came out the gate swinging with the corny canned drama and stageyness.

One thing I don't like about Pawn Stars is when Rick or Corey gives the seller a history lesson on the item they're buying. It always feels so forced. I don't doubt they aren't knowledgeable about what they sell and buy, but the factoids they drop make me think they brush up on every item before they speak about it. Compare that to the American Pickers guys who may do the same thing, but they just come of more natural.

And I cannot stand Rick's laughter at his own corny jokes.

Heh, why am I venting about shows I don't ever really watched? I should probably go to sleep now.

Of all the storage auction, pawn, or pickers shows, I prefer Pawn Stars. Obviously it is cleaned up and semi scripted for TV, but in general I find they do a good job of showing the items and passing along some information about them. People that bring things in to sell without having any clue about what they are selling get what they deserve (I like the "I should get $500 for this item" at the start and "I am happy I got $50" at the end of the segment). It's not like anyone is forced to sell an item.

I much prefer them low balling people with an actual transaction of cash than Storage Wars' stupid "value" meter that always assumes whatever number they throw out there is accurate.

^Every time I watch Storage Wars with my girlfriend I complain about that.

True, but some items would be very easy to move. Last night the 'murican pickers were trying to steal a Beatles Butcher Cover from some guy. How hard would it be to get market value out of that?

"That's a hundred dollar bill right there."

No. No, your stationary bike from 1985 isn't worth $100, storage unit buying guy.

I'm a sucker for all of these shows, but I still never understand the prices that some people let their items go. Or heck, some of the stuff that walks into the pawn shop just blows my mind. Why don't those people at least eBay it? If they have that item, and they know enough to go to that pawn shop, surely they can get a grip on eBay as well, or just something like that.

Did you guys watch that new one last night where they have dealers offer cash, then the seller agrees to sell or decides to send it to auction to see if they get more or less than what the dealer offered? One of the dealers owns a pawn shop in Canton, NC that I go to every now and then, so that was at least pretty cool.

That value meter is annoying since we have no idea how much any of the crap they're getting is actually worth. They're assuming that's what they'll sell the items for but I bet most of the crap they get stays on their shelves.

The buys are staged. If you'll notice there are 2 scenes, one where the shop is really really crowded and they're just doing background info. But, when they are actually dealing with someone the shop is mostly empty. The people in the shop with the seller are picked from the crowd outside to make it seem like there are people actually shopping. Since they know what is coming in they are coached on the history of the item to make them seem more intelligent than they probably are.

The part I don't like is where they bring in an item that is a setup in that they know ahead of time they aren't buying that item and the show just serves as an advertisement for the person who is selling. Sure we get to see some neat and/or rare items like the A39 Albatros last night but it wasn't a real negotiation to buy.

They have to stage it. When I visited the shop, it was a madhouse. The place is a tourist destination now, and the back portion is nothing but schwag and merchandise, with a separate cashier doing business on just that stuff. I talked to the staff. They said the Harrisons and Chum can't come out any more because it becomes a mob scene, everyone wants pictures, etc. They can't work the counter any more, so they do deals in the back or film them.

Plus, Chum was on TMZ and he talked about how they will clear the store to do shooting. So it's no secret.

What is the name of that girl who he calls up when he has rare books?

Rebecca Romney from Bauman Rare Books

I'm looking for footage of it on youtube, but I did see an episode where a guy brought in a Native American Flax Bow and he wanted to pawn it. The piece had a string of turquoise beads on it.

At the end of the episode, the guy comes in to pick up the item. Cory gets it and the guy looks at it, pays what he owes and leaves. The problem? The one Cory brings out has a string of red beads.

I really don't understand the need for them to fake that footage.

Edit: Found it:

Thanks. Does she have a website or blog or online presence? Do you have pics? I am a fan of her book knowledge and would like to learn more.

fan of her knowledge.