Pawn Stars (San Antonio, Anton, Vega: for sale, crime, home)

[pr57001]

Having become a fan of Pawn Stars on the History Channel, does San Antonio have any interesting pawn shops? I can't say I have set foot in a pawn shop in San Antonio...or anywhere else.

[TexasRedneck]

Wish there was - most of 'em are part of chains now, and priced like everything is new. Hopefully, somone will know of some interesting ones!

[majormadmax]

I've been to a couple looking for firearms. I have yet to find one that was "interesting," more like overpriced used electronics and lawn equipment.

I find antique stores to be more interesting, at least there is some history of the items for sale; or you can speculate about it.

Cheers! M2

[ShaneSA]

I used to frequent pawn shops for bargain shopping and just plain fun. They have become overpriced chains. The only independent I know of is on the corner of Grayson and North New Braufels Ave., across from Ft. Sam. It's kinda out of the way and not really interesting anymore. No good stuff.

[Sambo78253]

There used to be a pawn shop across from the Mayan movies that had a parrot in there. It was for sale and I always thought, who would pawn a parrot? It was more of a macaw actually.

[Paka]

I LOVE that show...and can't for the life of me understand why. We actually plan to go and visit on our annual trip to Vegas this May (along with our haul it home shopping trip to Trader Joe's).

[badhornet]

I went there about a month and a half ago. Only star I saw there was Chumley. Nice guy. Store is very small, but was neat to see.

[SnappyBob]

I'm a fan of Pawn Stars to TV show but not a big fan of pawn shops. Did you ever see a neighborhood get better after the pawn shops moved in?

[wCat]

Pawn Stars is a really interesting show, mainly because of the items they feature and the stories that go along with them. Keep in mind, that is one of those Non reality "reality shows". Just the inside of the stores is the biggest clue that it is nothing like a typical pawn shop. It's more like an antique/collectible high-end resale shop. They do "pawn" things, but most of the transactions are sales there. You can probably safely put money down that they "cherry pick" the items they feature on that show. Not too many pawn shops will have 17th century Muskatoons walk in the front door. They also happen to have a plethora of "experts" that seem willing to just drop by their store to give them expert opinions on the authenticity of what walked in the store. The real pawn world is not like this.....I wish it was! There are deals to be made at pawn shops, but you have to get past the "seedy" feeling of walking into some thieves den in some cases. The national chains don't give any wiggle room on bargains....so there's a trade off on dealing with a "reputable" type business and what you pay or the bottom line price in which you can sell.

One last word about Pawn Stars....Vegas, with all it's glitz and glam has a very dark and ugly side to it. Lots of crime and desperate people who need to sell heirloom quality things to pay off gambling debts etc. It's an unusual mix, but a brilliant location for this kind of show.

And just fyi....I don't frequent pawn shops very often....generally I haven't had a good experience at the few we've we've visited.