The cast of Pawn Stars has seen it all. But once in a while, something enters the Gold
& Silver Pawn Shop that manages to surprise them. From terrifying taxidermy to genuine
elephant manure, these are the strangest, oddest, and most bizarre moments captured
on Pawn Stars.
It takes two people to carry this giant, gold-painted foam Richard Nixon head into the Gold & Silver
Pawn Shop. When it's plunked down in front of Rick, he just laughs. What in the world
would anyone do with such a thing?
To answer that, the owner puts it on, turning himself into a human bobblehead. Definitely
funny, but Rick still isn't convinced it's worth buying. And he just lets out a hearty
laugh when the guy says he's hoping to get $2,500 for it.
"No one is going to buy a D--- head!"
Indeed, Nixon has been a running joke since resigning from the U.S. presidency in 1974
amid the Watergate scandal. But the item's owner explains that since he's owned it, plenty
of people have taken photos with the foam head while making Nixon's famous V-for-victory
sign with their hands. It could be great for the pawn shop window, he argues. But Rick
isn't sold, and neither is the foam head.
A guy walks into a pawn shop carrying two life-size dummies dressed in Western wear.
No, this isn't the beginning of a bad joke. It's something that really happened on Pawn
Stars.
While Chumlee is obviously bewildered, the Old Man is rather intrigued by the enormous,
borderline-creepy dolls.
"I want these dummies, and I think they'll look good in the shop."
These particular dummies are hand-painted with movable joints and various heads to choose
from. They're just life-like enough that the owner has sat them in his car to keep people
from breaking in.
While the owner paid $1,000 each, the Old Man firmly offers him $500 for the pair, which
is accepted. They're quickly hauled off to the back of the shop and posed. When Rick
gets a look at them, he immediately assumes Chumlee made this "stupid" purchase. When
the Old Man admits that he bought them, Rick is stunned. And he's even more surprised that
his father has named the dummies.
"Did you name them?"
"Yes I did, Ed and George."
After Rick and the Old Man buy an old-school wine-making machine, Chumlee decides he wants
to make his own "Two-buck Chum" brand wine. So he fills a trash bag up with some grapes
and starts stomping.
Things become more complicated, however, when he attempts to transfer the pulverized grapes
into a giant wine jug. Much of the chunky concoction ends up on the floor, so Chumlee
adds some store-bought wine to make it look better. He sets it aside for three months
so that it can ferment.
When the time comes, he lugs the jug into the back room to present the other guys with
his homemade "Pawn Stars pinot." It doesn't look great, but Rick feels obligated to try
it because Chumlee tried so hard. After clinking glasses, the verdict is split. Rick and Big
Hoss think it's "disgusting" while Chum and the Old Man think it's not so bad.
"It's not bad, I kinda like it."
It's weird enough when Public Enemy's Flavor Flav walks through the Pawn Stars door, but
what he's looking to sell is even more bizarre: A bronze statue of O.J. Simpson he thinks
is worth $125,000.
While Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend in a highly publicized
1994 jury trial, he lost a civil lawsuit that awarded the victims' families millions of
dollars. To get the money, Simpson's estate was liquidated and many of his possessions
were auctioned off, including the statue that used to sit poolside at his Los Angeles home.
Flav acquired it from a radio DJ and took it on tour.
Unfortunately, business isn't good for Flav. Chum can only offer him $80,000 for the statue,
while the rapper thinks the statue is actually worth way more than $125,000. Chum politely
disagrees, and Flav ends up leaving with the statue, unsold.
We all scream for ice cream, right? Rick certainly does when a homemade ice cream maker who uses
a John Deere motor comes through the pawn shop, he ends up paying $2,000 for it. Later,
Rick catches Chumlee messing with the machine. When Chum says he wants to make everyone ice
cream, Rick thinks that's a really nice gesture and hands him some money so he can make enough
for everyone. What could possibly go wrong?
Cut to the Old Man enjoying an ice cream cone. Rick is impressed Chum actually made the tasty
treat with the contraption he bought, and the Old Man admits it's good... for $2. Yup,
Chum is charging for his homemade ice cream. He even set up a table outside the pawn shop
to make a little money. Rick is furious, and storms outside to see a line forming. It looks
like he's going to shut the whole thing down until the shop's own security guard begs him
not to:
"Please don't shut it down. I've been in line for 20 minutes! There's kids back there, bro."
So Rick declares that everyone waiting gets free ice cream. Now that's a sweet ending.
This bizarre Pawn Stars moment isn't so much about an item but about its seller: A man
who gets his asking price, then turns his back on it.
The owner comes in asking $50,000 for a Gibson guitar. But not just any Gibson: This one
is the first-ever Master Museum SJ-200. When he carefully takes it out of the case he calls
it a "perfect" art piece that's the best-sounding guitar you'll ever play. When an expert is
called in to check it out, he says it's the "Rolex: Presidential" of guitars that usually
only winds up in a rock star's hands. It's definitely worth the asking price.
Big Hoss tries to haggle with the guy, but he won't budge from his $50,000 demand. However,
the Pawn Stars pro eventually wears him down to $48,000. After a hesitant handshake the
guy goes to pick up his money but says he's having second thoughts. Trying to keep him
in the game, Hoss lays out $48,000 in hundred dollar bills in front of him. When the guy
still drags his feet, Hoss offers him another two grand, taking him up to his original asking
price. But the seller just can't do it, and in the end, he walks out with the guitar,
leaving a disappointed Hoss and a giant pile of cash behind.
Everyone of a certain age remembers where they were when football legend-turned-accused
murderer O.J. Simpson led police on a low-speed car chase down a Los Angeles freeway in 1994.
So when the white Ford Bronco that he was a passenger in during that chase pulls into
the pawn shop parking lot, Rick is intrigued and jumps at the chance to give it a test
ride.
Although Simpson never owned the Bronco, it's definitely the one that everyone watched him
try to evade police in. The seller, who was Simpson's agent at the time, acquired it from
the previous owner, saving it from being sold to a tour company that wanted to drive it
up and down the freeway and past the murder site.
When the seller asks for $1.3 million, Rick says he can't assess whether that's a fair
price because it's such an unusual one-of-a-kind item. While Rick thinks someone may pay that
price at auction, he passes because it's too much of a gamble.
When Chumlee gets what he thinks is a prank call from someone claiming to work on Who
Wants to Be a Millionaire, he's about to hang up when Rick steps in. Turns out it's actually
the game show and they want the Pawn Stars guys on it for a charity event. Big Hoss is
immediately worried about Chum answering any questions, and the Old Man quickly offers
a helpful warning:
"If you let him answer questions, you won't make it past the first round."
To prove them wrong, Chumlee starts studying. After having his nose in a book for a few
days soaking up information, Chum gets bombarded with test questions from the guys, and he
somehow answers them all correctly.
Later in the episode, Chumlee appears on the game show, where he's asked a million-dollar
question about naming the ghosts in the Ms. Pac-Man video game, and he gets it right!
He just won $1 million! But then we find out it was all just a dream; he had fallen asleep
at work. In reality, the Pawn Stars gang really did appear on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,
walking away with $10,000 after incorrectly answering their sixth question. Their winnings
went to the Boys and Girls Club of Las Vegas.
Here's a deal that really stinks. A seller comes into the pawn shop trying to sell a
can of Zoo Doo. What is Zoo Doo?
"Guaranteed genuine rotted elephant manure."
Yes, he's literally trying to sell a load of crap.
This product was sold by the Washington Park Zoo in Portland, Oregon, to raise money to
protect endangered species. The owner thinks this novelty item is "priceless" because it's
so rare, but he's willing to part with it for $10,000.
The Old Man thinks it's a ridiculous thing to buy, but Chumlee thinks the old-school
packaging and jokey novelty factor is cool. So leave it to Chum to shell out $20 of his
own money for crap in a can.
These days, having your tonsils removed is pretty routine and safe. But in the 1800s
it was still a rather crude procedure. Hence the very scary-looking tonsil remover that
ended up on Pawn Stars, brought in by a doctor who was way too excited to explain how it
worked.
Called a tonsillotome, the tool is basically a small guillotine that
goes down the throat and snips off the tonsils. But the owner doesn't just stop there, and
the more she explains, the more squeamish Big Hoss gets.
Still, his discomfort won't stop him from buying something so valuable. She asks for
$1,100, and after some back and forth, they agree on $800. Now, off with their tonsils!
One year, Chumlee comes into work dressed as Santa, eager to organize a Secret Santa
swap, where you have to give a gift to the person you pulled out of the hat. Chum insists
on a strict rule of secrecy when it comes to who each person got in the gift swap.
"Don't tell em who you got! It's a secret!"
But, of course, Big Hoss asks Rick and the Old Man who they got, and it turns out they
all got Chumlee. They immediately know what Chum has done and come up with their own plan
to buy each other gifts.
When the holiday party rolls around and the Secret Santa gets underway, Chumlee is surprised
when the first gift he picks up is for Rick. Chum's even more surprised when the second
gift he picks up is for Corey. That's when the Old Man explains that they figured out
Chum's little game of trying to get the most gifts. His punishment is that he's left without
a present, but he does get a pat on the back and a Christmas bonus from Rick for throwing
a good party.
Technically, this didn't happen on an actual Pawn Stars episode, but the moment when the
late underground rapper Sean Price confidently walks into the pawn shop looking to sell a
potato is too good not to include.
Asking an outrageous $100,000 for the starchy food staple, the rapper tells Chumlee an incredible
story. Supposedly, the decades-old potato was thrown at Martin Luther King Jr. during
the March on Washington in 1963. It was passed down to Price when his uncle died, so it has
"sentimental value." The tater also has some "battle wounds" from the violent toss: two
large puncture holes and a giant gash that resembles a smiley face. Chum clearly doesn't
know what to make of the whole story, but he can't take it seriously without any authentication
paperwork to back it up.
Still, Chum makes an offer. He says he's willing to pay the value of the potato's worth in
french fries: $2. Price can't believe his ears, and says Chum doesn't understand the
historic value of the item. But after a few sighs and a little introspection, the offer
is accepted.
"I wanted more than what I got, but what I got, I'm cool with."
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