At this point, I figure we’ll watch pretty much anything on television. What about a twenty-four hour network that amounts to a surveillance camera trained on two pots of newly planted seeds, you say? I’m pretty sure you and I would be checking in occasionally to see how those seedlings were growing. Admit it.
We watch people using coupons in stores, hocking items in pawnshops, and soon we’ll be able to check out a new series called Shipping Wars, where moving companies will battle over contracts to transport unconventional items. Like I said, pretty much anything.
So I’m not really surprised that a show like Storage Wars is going strong in its second season. But I did wonder what millions of viewers were tuning in to see week after week, so I checked it out for myself.
The series takes place in a world where abandoned storage units are auctioned off by the facility that’s stuck with the dead account. There are people who do this for a living, so the show enjoys ongoing characters, with friendships and rivalries making appearances on a regular basis.
The auctions themselves are something to see, with professional auctioneers doing their thing at lightening speed, the bidders using all manner of devices to draw attention to their bids — rubber chickens, whistles, and weird calls abounded in last week’s episode, “Smoke ‘Em If You Find ‘Em.”
The phrase “high stakes” is thrown about quite a bit … if you ask me, they’re playing pretty fast and loose with that term. I mean, the three units that went under the hammer in the episode didn’t go for all that much, relatively speaking. One went for $450 … even if you don’t break even, you’re not losing much. On the other hand, there are actually items in there; at a minimum you can sell wood or metal objects for scrap.
The other end of the spectrum was the $3,300 unit. Okay, so obviously if you’re regularly losing that kind of money, and this is your livelihood, you’re not going to make out too well in life. But then you never know when you’ll find a collection of collectible cigarette cases in a random drawer.
See, that part of the show actually held some suspense, when the buyers were rummaging through their newly purchased units, getting surprised by what they found and trying to ascertain whether or not they’d made a good purchase. But it sounded like they had no idea what they were talking about when they were guessing at item values. They may have been right, but they sure didn’t sound like they were experts. And I felt like each story was missing an end. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see the buyers trying to sell their newly purchases items? That ivory doll may be worth a thousand dollars, but I challenge you to find someone who’ll pay that much for it as is. Even if they’d just given us a funny coda with one buyer trying to sell a hard-to-move item … but by merely delivering the aftermath to us in a voice-over all the way at the end, it felt like we’d missed something.
As for the show itself, I can understand the argument about wanting to see something that’s completely foreign to you. I get that. But once you’ve seen one episode, what need is there to tune in again? Are they really that different week after week? You tell me … there are five million people who watched the episode that I saw; what’s your draw to come back again tonight?
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Dec 20, 2011 @ 14:00 EST5EDT
At a family gathering, my aunt and uncle were raving about this show and a few others they just love. Shortly after I found A&E was running marathons of the show. I think I watched the first season within a few days.
The draw is just seeing what they find and especially the hidden gems. The regular bidders actually annoy me at this point almost enough to turn me off from the show. Almost.
*POST AUTHOR*
So that’s the draw. Do you always see them getting it appraised? I think it’d be interesting to see them trying to sell the gems.
Yes, usually each buyer has at least 1 item appraised. Sometimes, they will sell the item right away other times they sell them later.
Most of the buyers sell their stuff at their own store, at the swap meet, or in an auction. Barry tends to keep a lot of his stuff. He is buying these to find collectibles.