"Hardcore Pawn" - Don't bother

[spartacus53]

Well, caught the first airing of this show last night and they are two different types of shows to say the least. I still had to juggle between this show and Pawn Stars on the history station.

I will give the to the original Pawn Stars.. They still show interesting items and the history behind the item. No drama, just entertaining.

As for hardcore Pawn, I think it's a mix between Cops, and America's Most Wanted.. I guess the first show was to show how hard a neighborhood they are working in. Looks like the patriarch is just loaded with drama. Even after they practice shooting and are about to buy holsters, more drama..

I guess we can expect some full contact mixed martial arts segments tossed in here too for good measure.

[jeff of pa]

I Found so many things wrong with Hardcore Pawn
I Don't know where to start.
I accused the Pawn stars of Undercuting
Prices.
Compaired to the Hardcore staff the Pawn stars are very Generous.
Hardcore staff are Thieves & Brag about it.

Then when they Expected special Deals at the Gun shop,
it dosn't surprise me they got thrown out.

Add Horses inside the store ?
Not sure about Detroit,
But they would get shut down here in PA for health Violations.

I did walk into a strip bar here & Saw a Live Mule
& the place smelled like wet dog, But trust me,
It wasn't legal. (No the Mule was not part of the Show,
it's owner was walking it & Wouldn't leave it
outside )

Anyway getting off subject.

The woman Threatening his Life,
The Stripper Pole showing up on the First show
the Hardcore staff arguing over prices with each other,
sending people home then chasing them out
to the parking lot to drag them back in ?

Very Unprofessional
& Very Unbelievable

They stole the Forklift too.

and not a single one of them
was Likeable or even Trustworthy

I hope that was not an Acurate example of
detroits People Either.

[DigginThePast]

I wanted to check out that show but didn't realize it was debuting yet. Don't think I'd miss a new episode of Pawn Stars for it though and highly doubt I'll bother to watch it at all after reading this thread.

[njnydigger]

I wish I would've caught it guys, but, didn't know it was starting this week. I saw the promos and was thinking NEXT week According to the reviews, doesn't look like I missed much

Anyways, enough about that. How about that poor sap who brought the fake pine tree coin into the Pawn Stars? When I saw that I was like, wow, THIS is the ONE guy who owns that coin?!?! Wearing THAT ugly hawaiian shirt?!?! He seemed to take the bad news pretty well. A little too well IMHO.

Also, did you guys catch the geiger counter? Did White's make those? They mentioned on the show that the unit was made in Oregon, where their headquarters is. And White's actually started off making geiger counters, so, just makes sense.

That gamblers kit was pretty cool too

[battlecat]

Glad I didnt watch

[spartacus53]

As bad as Hardcore Pawn is, It's like looking at a train wreck... You have to look I caught most of Pawn Stars, clearly a better show with better items.. I get a kick out of that old guy who keeps calling the boys to look at his strange machines. This week he had a school girl $0.05 peep show show. All the items were great this week... Hardcore Pawn had a horse and a strippers pole

[Monty]

Pawn Stars is a pretty entertaining show and I think Chumly probably is the best actor. I have a friend who owns a pawn shop and I guarantee you most of the stuff brought in is in the 50 to one hundred dollar range and mostly they just pawn it. When they fail to redeem it and he sells it in his shop is where he gets his money. He has a lot of rings that reminds me of some of the finds here on Tnet. I guess jewelery is the most expensive things he deals in. Lots of Stereos, TVs and electronics too. Monty

[njnydigger]

You hit the nail on the head Monty. He is a good ACTOR. The production staff clearly feeds them lines to repeat throughout the show. At least that's my opinion anyways.

Those "Pawn Star" guys are making a mint off that show. There is a tour company that even takes tourists to the shop now. Talk about foot traffic They then can shop like anyone else, or, buy t-shirts, wallets and about 1,000 other things emblazoned with the shows logo.

In actuality though, a REAL pawn shop would NEVER even attempt to buy half the items that the pawn stars do. I mean, come one...mickey mouse pins, old playboys, pez dispensers, etc.?!?! They probably only make a few bucks off of those items even if they DO sell. However, they are making soooooo much money off the show itself that they could care less. Also, some of the weirder, value-less items that make it on the air just spice things up a bit. Wouldn't be much of a hit if they just showed people coming in with Rolex's and guitars all day

[jeff of pa]

I Think Pawn Stars is getting a bit like
antique roadshow. Collectors
and Museums loaning items to friends who
want to be on the show. & People that just
want a Professional apprasial
showing up from other states

[Monty]

The Pawn Stars shop owners must be millionaires because of all the money they shell out for things. My friend in the pawn business is on a very strict budget. Monty

[njnydigger]

More like MULTI millionaires Monty. For starters, the show itself coupled with all of the merchandising, appearance fees, etc. is probably bringing in AT LEAST a mil or two per year. Then, when you consider the sheer size and popularity of the shop, that's another aspect. I think they have roughly 50 employees or so. If they weren't making money, surely they wouldn't have that much help. Also, as you mentioned, the amount of dough they spend on some of the items is clearly mind blowing. I remember seeing somewhere that they have over 1,000 visitors to the shop daily. If half of them buy something and spend only $20, that's a cool $10,000 per day. Though I'm sure it's a LOT more than that.

They have multiple channels to make money. Aside from the show itself, most pawn shops also cash checks and do payday loans as well. Kaching! Then, even if a customer pawns something and comes back to retrieve the item, the shop makes a small interest fee - but this adds up to big money with the right traffic. From there, if a customer DOES NOT pick up the item, the shop would then sell it at an extreme mark-up. It's a no-lose business. Especially in this economy.

BTW, they were extremely savvy in choosing their location. Las Vegas. They knew very well that a large portion of the business would be degenerate gamblers and drug addicts looking to sell anything and everything for pennies on the dollar. When you think about it, they are treasure hunters too. They gotta look at a lotta crap to find the few items they can make a buck on

[Monty]

I realize everything you say is true "digger" and it makes me wonder who buys that stuff? Much of it is aimed at a particularly small collector market. Surely they auction a lot of that stuff. Monty

[birdman]

I went by the Pawn Stars place in Vegas and it was a let down. A big tourest trap and none of the people were there. The place was packed though with people buying key chains ,teeshirts ect.

[savant365]

I Found so many things wrong with Hardcore Pawn
I Don't know where to start.
I accused the Pawn stars of Undercuting
Prices.
Compaired to the Hardcore staff the Porn stars are very Generous.Hardcore staff are Thieves & Brag about it.

I don't know what you were watchin' Jeff but I'll stick with "Pawn" stars over hardcore "Pawn"

(a little freudian slip there perhaps?)

[jeff of pa]

I Found so many things wrong with Hardcore Pawn
I Don't know where to start.
I accused the Pawn stars of Undercuting
Prices.
Compaired to the Hardcore staff the Porn stars are very Generous.Hardcore staff are Thieves & Brag about it.

I don't know what you were watchin' Jeff but I'll stick with "Pawn" stars over hardcore "Pawn"

(a little freudian slip there perhaps?)

lol took me 3 reads to see that misspelling

[Monty]

I have noticed that there is a big security person by the door in ever episode of Pawn Stars. I imagine he lets the people in that will appear on the show and keeps the others out. It is entertaining and I enjoy seeing some interesting things they come up with. Monty

[spartacus53]

Monty, I highly doubt that Pawn Stars would go the auction route as they would have to pay a percentage of their earnings. I think they are more like American Pickers and already have a great network in place for their historical goodies. Keep in mind that every week you already see several experts come by to confirm the articles in question. The guys who are not experts in qualifying items are experts in refurbishing the products. Each of these experts will probably have a list a mile long of people interested in those items. These guys are networking kings to say the least.

P.S. Birdman, the day you dropped in the whole groups was out in the desert filming the Civil War hot ballon, that had a working canon on board

[allen]

I like this one as much as the other pawn show, get
rid of hoss, chumlee and the old man and it might
be as good as hardcore pawn.

[savant365]

I like this one as much as the other pawn show, get
rid of hoss, chumlee and the old man and it might
be as good as hardcore pawn.

If they did that there would be no "show"!

[W6PEA]

This show about the pawn Shop in Detroit and the other show about the pawn shop in Las Vegas are about as credible as watching the Simpsons. JMHO