Lessons From a Pawn Star

Occasionally life will hand you an extremely surreal experience.  If you would have told me that I would be meeting Rick and Corey Harrison from Pawn Stars in Kuala Lumpur, I would have found it a hard scenario to fathom.  But, strangely, yesterday I was offered the opportunity to attend a Meet and Greet with the father and son team, and naturally I jumped at the chance (regrettably, I didn’t have my camera on me, so these iphone pics will just have to do).

My view of the Stars. It doesn’t pay to be short.

As it turns out, Pawn Stars is a hugely popular show in Malaysia.   I enjoyed watching the program when I was back in the States, but would never have imagined that a reality show set in a pawn shop would catch on overseas.   But it has. Big time.

Rick and Corey were treated to a cultural performance.

Corey gets called up to dance (this is basically my nightmare)

Rick and his son Corey looked a bit jet lagged and bleary-eyed, but nonetheless they were extremely gracious as they sat through a Q & A session with local radio personalities Sarimah and The Rod (fun fact:  an average of 5,000 people visit the Harrison’s Las Vegas pawn shop everyday), followed by a cultural dance performance (where Corey was called up to learn some local moves), and then presented money to a local charity.

Capping the event was the opportunity for guests wearing red bracelets (plastic bracelets were handed out with the gift totes, but only a few of them were red) to take a picture with the famous pair.  As luck would have it, I was wearing a red bracelet!  I was extremely nervous to go up on stage and take a pic, but luckily I had my little son by my side and the two of us met the reality TV stars together.

Meeting the Pawn Stars : ) My son looks how I feel.

*Side Note:  Thanks to Pawn Stars I now have a plan to maximize my savings when purchasing an item.  Perhaps you will find it useful too.  It goes something like this:

1.  When looking at a potential item, enlighten the seller to its history (if you don’t know it offhand, go find an expert and come back with him/her).
2. Once the history and rareness  has been established, find a defect in the item and play that up.  Use phrases like, “this would be worth ten times more if it wasn’t for  insert flaw here”, or, “I’m not sure I have space for this,”  etc.
3. Once you see the disappointment in the seller’s eyes, immediately offer an extremely low price for the desired object.
4. Play it cool and be prepared to walk away.  If you really want the item and the seller seems hesitant, have a friend (or even better, a gruff older relative) close by to up your offer by a small amount, and work together to establish that that’s the absolute most you can go. If the seller is extra-tentative, allow your friend/family member to call you an idiot for paying said higher price.
5. Since this plan probably worked, let the good times with your new treasure roll!

Who says reality TV can’t be educational?  Thanks to Pawn Stars I know more about Civil War rifles than I ever thought possible!

P.S. If you are now experiencing feelings envy of my knowledge, head over to the Pawn Stars site and become an amateur expert yourself.