Auction Hunters

Chris here,

Next on the docket in the Pawn/Storage Locker/Auction show category is the show "Auction Hunters" on Spike. I can honestly say I've never watched anything on the channel prior to Hunters so the network is new to me.

"Auction Hunters" is all about the happenings of Allen Haff and Clinton "Ton" Jones, two professional storage locker buyers. Both Haff and Jones roam the country looking for the next "find" in an abandoned storage locker.

Haff is an antiques dealer and Jones has experience in guns and safes. Hunters shows the chemistry between the two when buying the storage lockers. Both whisper quietly to each other to keep a low profile when hammering out how much to bid on a locker. 


Hunters is a hybrid of the previously mentioned A&E show "Storage Wars" and History Channel's "Pawn Stars." It is a hybrid in that both Haff and Jones try to get the winning bid on a locker like on "Storage Wars" and attempt to sell and hammer out a deal with the local person who specializes in the item(s) the two are attempting to sell, like on "Pawn Stars."

Some of the finds on Hunters are on a bigger scale compared to Wars. On a recent episode in Dallas the guys found a jet engine made for a cruise missile, something you would never have thought to be stored and left to be unclaimed in a storage locker.

"Auction Hunters" and "Storage Wars" are very similar. They both premiered within a month of each other in late 2010. They differ in the sense that Wars primarily takes place in the Southwestern United States whereas Hunters takes place all around the country with episodes filmed in Chicago, Boston and Dallas. 


The show airs on Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. on Spike. Visit the show's website here.

Clinton "Ton" Jones and Allen Haff, the "Auction Hunters"

"Yeeeeeep!" - Storage Wars

Chris here...


A bit surprised I've been keeping up with this as much as I have. The next show I have up for discussion is A&E's "Storage Wars", another big player in the holy trinity of the Pawn/Auction reality category ("Pawn Stars" and "American Pickers" being the others.) "Storage Wars" involves a growing trend, one that I was never familiar with before, the art of bidding on abandoned storage lockers. Apparently when one does not pay the rent on a storage locker it's contents are put up for auction to recover some of the lost revenue. Participants of the auctions get a five minute preview of what is in the locker. Sometimes many items in the locker are obstructed by larger items so it is sometimes a gamble, there could be more valuable items that are not in eyesight. 


The show involves the wheelings and dealings of  a circle of professional bidders. Dave Hester is the owner of a thrift shop who both bids on many units and antagonizes his fellow bidders but purposely drives the bids up and backs down. He is know for his "Yep!" call when he bids on a unit. Darrel Sheets is known as "The Gambler" of the group because he will bid on a unit sight unseen. Jarrod Schultz and his girlfriend Brandi Passante are a hybrid of Dave and Darrell- Jarrod owns his own resale shop and will also bid on a locker without much inspection. The veteran, and my personal favorite of the group, is Barry Weiss. Weiss is more of a collector rather than a reseller like his fellow bidders. Weiss is the atypical Southern California middle age man- tan, slick hair, wheeler and dealer. I always think of Weiss as a hybrid of film producer Robert Evans, Michael Douglass and Jack Nicholson. 


Wars takes place in Southern California but has ventured to Arizona and Northern California. When each episode begins the bidders give their own analysis of the region where the locker auction is located- ex) a storage auction in San Diego might yield units filled with surfboards. 


The show airs Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. (usually two back-to-back half-hour episodes) on A&E. Find out more info on the show here

"Storage Wars"

Barry Weiss

Legendary Producer Robert Evans

Michael Douglass

American Pickers

Chris here. 


The next show I will discuss in the Pawn/Auction/Junk category is a show called "American Pickers." Pickers is about the cross country adventures of Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz as they scour old houses, farms and junk shops for the "perfect find". The term "picker" was a new term introduced to me, essentially it's a fancy word for "junk finder and seller", "junk" in the sense that it's items that people no longer have a use for. Think of this show as a mix of Antiques Roadshow and Pawn Stars but that it actually takes place literally on the road.


Mike is the owner of Antique Archeology, a shop headquartered in Le Claire, Iowa. Frank is Mike's childhood friend who also has a passion for antiques. Mike and Frank are assisted by Danielle Colby-Cushman, whose main job is to find people willing to part with their junk while the guys are on the road. Mike's main passion is old bicycles while Frank's is oil cans, Frank always catches hell from Mike for his obsession with buying every 


As the guys look through old properties they primarily are on the hunt for old signs, oil cans, motorcycles, cars, bikes, old toys, advertising gasoline pumps. On a recent episode Mike shelled out a good amount just to obtain an old Colonel Sanders metal cutout sign. The sign was completely rusted out but they knew even in the condition it was in it would fetch some money.


What is great is that it's a general mix of people willing to part with their items and people who just can't let go. It's very cool seeing the guys work their magic trying to obtain items. As a pseudo spin-off of "Pawn Stars" it is very evident in the dealing portion. 


Already in it's third season it's another one of The History Channel's highest rated shows. The show airs at 9 p.m. Monday nights. Visit the shop's website here. 


I will update on the show as well as other Pawn and Auction shows as they air. Pickers usually airs in the Spring and Summer months. 


— Chris

Frank Fritz and Mike Wolfe- the pickers

Another man's trash is another man's treasure....or possibly my next career choice!

Chris here, large and in charge. A bit about me. I am a multimedia journalist at The Oakland Press, I focus mostly on editing, building pages (assembling the actual paper), social media (Facebook and Twitter) and shooting video. I live in Allen Park, a city in the Downriver area (we are referenced in the classic Journey song "Don't Stop Believin' as "South Detroit").


I thought I would throw my hat into the ring with my second guilty pleasure outside of Yacht Rock (Hall & Oates, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Toto, Billy Ocean, you get it) and that is this new wave of pawn, auction and junk collecting reality shows.

The rough list (and it seems to be growing lately) includes "Pawn Stars," "Oddities," "American Pickers," "Auction Kings," "Storage Wars," "Auction Hunters" and "Storage Hunters." An honorable mention would be "American Restoration" but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Rick Harrison, Chumlee, Corey Harrison and Richard Harrison- the Pawn Stars

So I begin my foray into this topic with the one show that started it all for me- "Pawn Stars." I got into these shows beginning with Stars sometime around December 2009/January 2010. I remember hearing about it for a while and one bored weekend I watched the entire first season On Demand. Something about it stuck with me. Maybe it seemed like a mix of "Antiques Roadshow" and "American Chopper." The fact that people bring such unique items into the shop is what always keep me watching.

A rundown about the show. It airs Monday nights at 10 and 10:30 p.m. on The History Channel. It takes place in Las Vegas (my all-time favorite vaca spot) but it's not located anywhere near the glitz and glamor of the strip. This is the Vegas most people don't venture to when on vacation. The cast of characters include Rick Harrison, the de-facto "boss" of the shop; his son Corey Harrison does the day-to-day; their father and grandfather Richard Harrison is the patriarch of the business and rounding out the motley crew is Austin "Chumlee" Russell, Corey's childhood friend.

The cast each has their own quirks. Rick is well versed in the trade and also a history buff. He seems to always know the background of the items people bring into his shop. Corey, also known as "Big Hoss" is a bit of a bully when it comes to dealing. He seems to always start with a lowball offer before coming to an agreement with the customer. Richard, also known as "the old man", acts very much like his son Rick in that he knows his history well but is always seen sleeping most of the day. Chumlee is the comic relief of the shop. If you're familiar with "American Chopper" consider him the Mikey Teutel of the shop. Chumlee means well but is geared more for laughs.