Storage Wars

Storage Wars “Senior Center Showdown” S1E7 – Recap & Review

Homeland, California is home to a quiet, upscale retirement community…and the latest skirmish in Storage Wars.

Barry figures that retirees have older things, antiques, collectibles, exactly the kind of stuff he likes to deal in.  Jarrod and Brandi are out to fill up their thrift store with merchandise once again, looking for furniture and household items in particular.  Dave says his thrift shop is well-stocked so he’ll be concentrating on collectibles while Darrell will keep his eye out for military items, jewellery, and the like.

But we can tell it’s going to get personal when Darrell has printed up a T-shirt for his son Brandon to wear, with a message slagging the thrift shops of both Dave and Jarrod.  Dave, of course, vows the Sheets will pay for their insolence.

The first unit comes up which contains a lot of old furniture, including some quarter-sawn oak pieces.  Dave figures it’s only worth about a grand so he’s not really interested.  He’ll leave the unit for the “pooper scoopers” as he calls them, but not before he runs up the bidding a bit.

Darrell puts up young Brandon to do the bidding for them.  He battles against Jarrod, with Dave jumping in only to run up the price, but eventually Brandon takes it for $1,450.

The second unit is only a quarter full, with a few pieces of furniture and piles of old newspapers.  Both Barry and Dave feel there might be some historical significance to the papers which they guess might have been printed in the 70s.  But Dave wants it more, taking the unit for $750 and sending Barry home empty-handed.  Meanwhile Brandi shakes her head in disbelief that anyone would pay that much for a pile of old newspapers.  (Live and learn, Brandi!)

Jarrod leaves Brandi behind and continues on his own to another auction in a more rundown, industrial area of town where he hopes the competition will be thin.  But wouldn’t you know it, Darrell and Brandon both show up soon after.

The first unit is open, revealing a couch and chair, and a lot of shoe boxes.  With the other buyers egging him on, Jarrod winds up paying $875 for a unit he really didn’t want to pay more than $600 for.  But even if he overpaid, that win puts him in the mood to buy, and he picks up a couple of other sparsely packed units as well, one for $45 and another for $125.

When Jarrod phones Brandi and tells her how much he’s spent, she goes ballistic.  So Jarrod starts combing through his unit, hoping to find something of value beyond the couch.  Most of the boxes are empty, and a few are full of foodstuffs that have obviously been gnawed at by vermin whose droppings are clearly in evidence.  When he’s convinced that he’s paid $875 for a bunch of “rat sh*t”, he uncovers a heavy old safe in the corner which swings open to reveal…that it too is empty.  Just his luck!

But wait a second.  Jarrod seems resigned to his fate when Darrell drops by, now seemingly in a mood to make nice.  He makes Jarrod’s day when he points out that although the safe is empty, it’s an antique and in good condition, and likely worth a couple grand.  So between it and the furniture, Jarrod ends up making a $2100 profit and keeping the wife happy for another week.

On the other hand, Darrell refuses to let Jarrod check out the first unit of oak furniture that the two battled for at the top of the show.  Perhaps he’s upset that his son overpaid for it?  But anyway he too goes on to sell the contents of their unit for a $2,000 profit.

But it’s Dave Hester who really hits it big in this week’s episode, with that pile of yellowing newspapers.  It turns out it was 3,000 copies of the Memphis Press and 3,000 copies of the Commercial Appeal – all dating back to the day that Elvis died.  And their worth according to a dealer specializing in Elvis collectibles?  Up to $90,000!

The lesson to be learned for Jarrod and Brandi?  Even an empty safe is worth something…and even the crappiest looking storage unit can lead to a huge payday!

Storage Wars “Senior Center Showdown” S1E7 – Sneak Peek

In a retirement community, are the local storage units likely to be packed with antiques and collectibles or “baby powder and Ben Gay”?  That’s what our buyers are keen to find out in this week’s episode where one of them is destined to hit the biggest jackpot of the season.

Stay tuned for the full recap of “Senior Center Showdown”!

Storage Wars “The Old Spanish Standoff” S1E6 – Recap & Review

A city rich in Hispanic culture, Riverside, California beckons the buyers this week with the promise of storage units full of valuable antiques and heirlooms passed down from one generation to another.  But as we’re coming to learn from the show, that doesn’t always necessarily pan out.

Jarrod and Brandi had a good week for sales at their shop, so they’re feeling good and have cash to spend.  Barry is still feeling a little like the outsider in the group, trying to figure out how to break into what is a “mighty exclusive club”.  And Darrell and Dave are ready to rip into each other again, even though Darrell continues to feel under the weather.

The first 10 x 10 room comes up or grabs.  Dave says it has too many boxes filled with trash for his liking. Barry sees signs that the owner might have been a collector, with one box marked “Elvis stuff” and another marked “fragile”.  Brandi isn’t impressed but Jarrod says “It’s not what you can see, it’s what you can’t see.  All it takes is to find one good item.”

Anyway Barry and Jarrod both go after the unit, with Dave running them up a bit with a bid of his own.  Barry winds up taking the unit while Brandi mutters that Jarrod would spend the rent money if she let him.

The second unit is opened, to not much enthusiasm at all.  Outside of a few blankets, the only thing in it is an odd headless mannequin with a phone inserted in its chest.  Most of the buyers don’t know if it’s an art piece or what.  But Darrell knows exactly what it is – a Bell commercial display, having sold a similar one in the past for $1,500.  He feigns disinterest to throw Dave off the scent and ends up taking the unit for $250.

A third unit comes up which is obviously a contractor’s room filled with a lot of cheap tools and paint.  Brandi and Jarrod agree that they could move the goods quickly at their thrift shop and set themselves a $700 ceiling.  But when Jarrod gets into the bidding with Dave, he forgets and thinks their limit is $600, letting Dave take it for $650 in the end.

By the time the fourth unit is put up, Darrell is sitting it out in his truck, feeling so crappy that he sends his son Brandon out to appraise the unit solo.  It’s got a copier, office chairs, and a lot of janitorial and cleaning equipment that Dave seems quite interested. So Brandon puts a quick call into his Dad who emerges from the truck, takes a dismissive look at the unit, and says that he and Brandon will be taking a pass.  Dave ends up taking the unit for $1,300.

The digging starts with Barry going through his unit while Darrell looks on and says it’s nothing but trash.  He’s not too far wrong but eventually Barry comes up with an old copper still with all its parts.  After a visit to his buddy Keith, “the real McCoy of moonshiners”, the still is valued at $900.  After having paid $600 for the unit, Barry ultimately ekes out a profit of about $400 for the day.

As it turns out, Dave’s day is even worse.  The unit he paid $1,300 is a lemon. The copier was old and worth only $300-500.  The office chairs didn’t get as much as he hoped for, and a large storage cabinet ended up being badly damaged.  After “nickel and diming” all the small stuff, he earned a few hundred more but in the end still ended up LOSING $400.  That may be enough to discourage Dave from mouthing off so much in the future, but I doubt it.

Despite being sick, Darrell still bought himself that weird phone mannequin for $250.  And he was right, it was definitely worth it since the telephone collector he took it to started by offering him $1,000 but eventually doubled it, allowing Darrell to turn a decent $1750 profit on a single item.  I guess one man’s weird mannequin is another man’s treasure of “telephone commercial art history.”

And Jarrod and Brandi?  Well, they talked a big game at the start of the show but when the auctioneer’s hammer came down once, twice, three and four times, they still ended up walking away with absolutely nothing.  Oh well, hopefully they can live on love for another week and have better luck next time.

Storage Wars “The Old Spanish Standoff” S1E6 – Sneak Peek

The buyers are sussing out the storage units in Riverside this week…but the big scores aren’t exactly flowing.

Is it true that Barry’s find is worth “10 years in prison”?  Can Darrell shake off the flu long enough to make a bid…or trust his son Brandon in his stead?  Are Brandi and Jarrod tired of being portrayed as the show’s lovable losers?  And can high roller Dave keep the streak going or is he due to take a fall?

Stay tuned for the full recap of “The Old Spanish Standoff”!

Storage Wars “All Guns to Port” S1E5 – Recap & Review

This week’s Wars are being waged in Long Beach, California – a “port” town where one might suspect that local storage units would contain treasures from around the world. Or maybe not.

Things are looking pretty barren at Jarrod & Brandi’s thrift store, that’s for sure.  The shelves are bare and they desperately need product to sell.  Jarrod says he has $3,000 to spend on storage units but has no real plan on how to successfully compete with the other buyers, which sets his wife’s eyes to rolling.

The rest of the gang show up and all seem familiar with the area, and its mix of “high end stuff and low end housing”.  Jarrod says he’s not scared about the neighbourhood but he’d definitely want to be home before dark.  Barry rides up on his Harley, claiming he’s finally “getting the hang” of these storage auctions while Darrell is feeling kind of sick but maintains that no matter what, “you gotta be out there buying.”

The first unit is opened up to reveal…not much at all.  Darrell says he’s “seeing trash and feeling like trash”, and has no interest in this one.  Dave says he’s not interested either but he might hang around to run up the price on any other bidders.  Barry observes that “it’s not packed with much care”.  Only Jarrod and Brandi show any real interest at all, and go on to make a $200 bid.  But Dave eggs them on to a $300 bid, forcing Jarrod to admit he “overpaid” and setting Brandi’s tongue to wagging again.

The second unit is also packed with lots of stuff but again nothing terribly exciting.  B&J make a play for the unit but they are outbid by newbie Barry (who actually bids against himself at one point!) and who takes the unit for $250, intrigued by its boxes marked “fragile”.

The third unit is a 10 x 15 room with everything from a surfboard to a set of Texan longhorns.  Everybody wants this unit but it’s soon down to Dave and Darrell battling it out.  Dave is playing head games with Darrell again, and makes a move to put his own lock on the unit before the bidding is even over.  Anyway it seems to work, either that or Darrell is just too sick to care, and and he throws in the towel, leaving Dave with the winning bid at $1,600.

Barry starts digging through his unit.  There are some old country & western cassette tapes and not much else until he unloads a collection of a half dozen flare guns.  These he promptly takes to a gun specialist at a nearby shooting range who identifies and appraises the various models, from a German double-barrelled flare gun used by the Luftwaffe in WW2 to a rope-throwing gun for rescues at sea.  The most valuable item is an 1860s era signal gun which is valued at $1,500, with the other guns being worth another $1,000 in total.  Of course, the episode wouldn’t be complete without Barry firing a couple of the flare guns out on the practice range…although he’s obviously not the same kind of gun nut that Auction Hunters’ Ton Jones is!

Dave does his digging back at his own “Rags to Riches” thrift shop where his son and partner help him process the loot.  It’s a mixed bag with toy trains that cause Dave to flashback to his childhood, along with tools, cowboy boots and the highlight of the buy — a diamond and gold bracelet that he gets appraised at between $3,000 and $4,000.  Ultimately his $1,600 investment yields him a profit of almost $5,000 and bragging rights for the week.

In a personal aside, we also learn a little more about what motivates Dave, and how his father had to scramble at auctions and swap meets to make a living for his family.  And that now, even though they are living quite comfortably, Dave is driven to build his business even more, and to leave something more substantial to his son.

Meanwhile things aren’t so happy back at Brandi & Jarrod’s thrift store which is where we started.  Oh, the shelves are now full but it’s mainly cheap $2-3 items.  In fact, 70% of their $300 unit’s contents went straight to the dump.  In the end, they had a freezer that was worth about $150 and only about another $100 worth of stuff so they barely broke even.

Then again, there’s poor Darrell.  All he went home with was the flu!