I wish I could find a Ms. Pacman cocktail table for $50!

Well THIS is interesting.

http://starcasm.net/archives/139323

Researching Barry Weiss of Storage Wars is like peeling an onion! As evidenced on the show, this rock star collector has had an amazing life during which he has made friends with a slew of fascinating famous and not-so-famous folks. One of the fascinating and famous folks counted among Barry’s friends is custom chopper builder (and former Mr. Sandra Bullock) Jesse James, whom Barry isn’t only a friend to, he’s his godfather. No, seriously!
I first got an inkling of their connection while looking into the origins of Barry’s badass custom eyeglasses, which turned out to be a very rare pair made by Jesse James’ West Coast Choppers. (CLICK HERE to read all about those.)
The glasses led me to research whether or not Barry and Jesse had any connections, and that’s when I stumbled onto the “Jewish godfather” discovery. That discovery led to one other interesting bit of trivia that is even more jaw-dropping, at least from a pop culture standpoint.
Do you remember the infamous Nazi salute photo that got Jesse James into so much hot water soon after his affair with Michelle Bombshell McGee was made public? In the picture Jesse is doing a doing “sieg heil” while wearing a German SS officer’s hat. Where in the world would Jesse James get a collectible German SS officer’s hat? You guessed it. Barry Weiss!

Here are the two pieces to the puzzle that make the connection. First, from CNN:
A photo recently surfaced of James wearing the German Nazi hat as he raised his right arm in a salute. The hat may have been in poor taste, but it was given to James as a gag gift by his Jewish godfather, attorney Joe Yanny said.
And then Jesse James did an interview with Men’s Journal in May of this year:
The much-publicized photo of him bedecked in an SS cap was snapped a decade earlier by “a Jewish friend,” Barry Weiss, who jokingly handed him the hat (part of a Hollywood costume). Of course, James is the one who decided to put it on and salute, tipping into ill-considered Holocaust comedy.
I remember when that photo came out I was thinking “what a douchebag!” But I have to confess that now that I have gotten to know a little bit about Barry Weiss’ personality, Jesse’s story seems completely believable. Even though he is Jewish, I can easily see Barry Weiss handing Jesse a German soldier’s hat as a joke.
One thing I’m still not real clear about is how Jesse James and Barry Weiss met and how Barry earned the seemingly oxymoronic title of “Jewish godfather.” But, I’ll keep digging around in the fruitful storage locker that is Barry Weiss’ life until I find the answer – or a hundred other fascinating stories, whichever comes first.
Want more Barry Weiss info? Be sure to check out our post about how he made his money selling wholesale produce, our post about his badass “Cowboy Cadillac” and our post featuring a photo of Barry Weiss as a long-haired strawberry blond stud muffin from the 1980s!

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Barry in the 80s

When they first showed that photo on Storage Wars I nearly choked on the water I was drinking.

Water? Are you sure you should be drinking water? Don't you know what fish do in water?

I miss having new episodes of this show on the air. I hope it comes back on soon, Hester or no Hester.

That picture of Barry never fails to crack me up. Love it!

Wow, he must be really "proud" of his loser Godson!

A&E is showing a new Storage Wars episode on Sunday Night at 9:30pm/8:30C

http://www.aetv.com/storage-wars/

he's worth over 100 million and his businesses makes over 200 million a yr. he may be a cheater but he's def not a loser.

Yeah. Get off Mama Bullock's teet.

Brandy and Jared held a second anniversary party for their thrift store in Orange. They took over a large portion of the parking lot, complete with a DJ. There was a huge line of people waiting for pictures. Dan and his wife were there, as was Darrell and his spawn. No Hester, which half surprised me. I was as willing to believe the bad blood was a WWE-like work as it could have been real. Barry was supposed to be there but he no-showed. Huge disappointment.

The six posed for pictures with visitors and then signed a 8x11 glossy, which was so badly Photoshopped I just put it back down.

Some pics:

Outside the store. Recognize the truck?


Remember those bows?


The gang signing autographs.


Remember Brandi rowing this kayak?


Get your cholo-wear.

^So, how does Brandi look in person?

Like she does on TV. She's not that small, either. 5'8-5'9 in heels, I'd guess. Darrell's a big boy. 6'2 and quite a gut. Dan's a big fella, too.

Here's the only one I got of Brandy. Not a flattering angle.

Thanks for the pics. Love me some Brandi.

That was cool they had most of them there. The show must be doing them some good business.

Thanks for sharing those. It looks like a lot of fun, even if Barry did not show

Happy there is a new episode on Sunday. I thought we were done for awhile, so this is a welcome surprise.

There is no possible way that is true.

hes been on multiple tv shows, his bikes start at 100k, he has clothing and merch, has rims, frames and other bike parts massed produced, he has a magazine, a custom car shop in texas, and sponsors nascar and drag cars. so even if those numbers i posted are off...he is still worth a shit load of money and far from a loser. those are the numbers i read though.

You know what's real funny? Right next to their store is a fancy furniture store that's going out of business. All kinds of fancy, expensive stuff in there. I figure a some of it will end up in J&B's store.

That plaza is actually a nice one-stop shop. Next to their store is one of the best used bookstores I've found in the OC, called Bookman. Next to that is a used record store with tons of vinyl and a boatload of guitars for sale. Not a bad location at all.

Thanks for the pics!

Next time I'm down there I'll have to check that plaza out. We have no good record stores or used bookstores around here. The only one by me just went out of business last week.

I noticed in the pic that Jarrod had Brandon's son wearing his Outlaw brand t-shirt. Wonder how much he paid him for that.

Goodness gracious. For having had two kids she looks pretty damn good.

After watching last night's episode, I definitely think Dave needs to come up with a new story as to why he's not spending much besides "I just love making these guys spend their money." He's gone to that well one time too many, seems obvious his cash is low.

me encanta!

Another story on Barry, with some news

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/citylink...,6608787.story

How do you find out about the storage locker auctions?

“These are public auctions published in various publications. We’ve been to some in Vegas and many in California. Every state has its own technical procedures. I’d love to go to Florida for an auction. They’re going to do a ‘Storage Wars’ in New York and most likely Miami.”

Whoa, another one.

http://starcasm.net/archives/149519

Storage Wars is taking over reality television! We posted earlier today that the popular A&E series was expanding into New York City and Miami, but those may not be the only new Storage Wars inspired shows coming to the small screen soon. The same casting company that posted the casting call for Storage Wars New York and Storage Wars Miami last April later asked for potential families in need of $5,000 – $15,000 for a show titled “What Are You Worth?” featuring Barry Weiss!

Here’s a Facebook post made by Metal Flowers Media in August of 2011:

FAMILIES: Need 15K???? We want to hear why. We are looking for families who have a compelling need for some extra money: daughters wedding? Son training for the Olympics? Wife wants to open that bakery since Dad is retired? Tell us!

That was followed by this wall post about two-and-a-half weeks later:

Still looking for families to appear in “What Are You Worth”, featuring Barry Weiss from Storage Wars. Why do you need 5k – 15k??!! Apply now…

It appears that they were hoping to keep Barry Weiss’ name a secret, but were having difficulty getting applicants so decided to use his name to attract more folks.

The show is listed as “What are You Worth featuring Barry Weiss” on the Metal Flowers Media website and A&E is listed as the network. There is no more information on the show.

This sounds sort of like a feel-good show along the lines of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in which Barry Weiss (and perhaps others) will decide how much money to give families for special projects they want to do. I’m as big of a Barry Weiss fan as anyone, but this seems like a bit of a stretch. Of course, as with all reality shows, it all boils down to cast and editing – so if A&E is able to find interesting folks with entertaining projects, then I think Barry’s charisma and ability to ad lib could be enough to pull this off.

What do you think? Are you a big enough Barry Weiss fan to watch What Are You Worth?

Maybe if Barry walked through their house and pointed out 'rare' stuff...sure. But this sounds dumb.