License to Pawn: Deals, Steals, and My Life at the Gold & Silver

Great book. Read it cover to cover on the plane on my way to Vegas. The book has wonderful insights on Rick's beginnings and his struggle to overcome his seizures. The book goes on to discuss their life in San Diego, right down the street from Jack Murphy stadium (Qualcom stadium now) in Mission Valley. The old man comes into the living room one day says "time to move on boys, we just can't make a go of it here anymore." Back then the mother and the old man were into real estate. The family moves to Vegas were Rick talks about how he fought the city about getting a pawn license. Apparently in Clark County the rules are that you have to get a pawn license based on the city's population. So Rick checks in weekly to find out what Las Vegas city's population is. At the time he started calling in, the city's population was 220,000 people(that was back in the late 70's). He called in till the cities population grew to 250,000 people. Apparently Clark County only issues pawn shop licenses for every 50,000 people. So when the cities population grew to 250,000, Rick went to the city's courthouse to get a license and they said they were not issuing licenses. The words that Rick used were "we aren't accepting those", What a crock, so the old man and Rick get a lawyer and fight the city to get a license and succeed. The original location of the pawn shop was downtown on Freemont Street, but then they moved and got zoned to move the Pawn shop to Las Vegas Blvd in 1988. You'll love the story about the local councilman who was against the Harrison's opening the pawnshop and then changed his tune to fully support them. (Guess Brad Pitt has it right in Ocean's 11; in this town your luck can change just that quickly).Pretty interesting story about Corey and Chumlee and how they were on drugs from age 17 to 22 on meth. They used to just sit in a trailer and just do drugs all day. I guess one day Rick and Old Man had them sent to a job program in Reno which did them a lot of good. Corey comes back from the job program to start doing drugs again, but midstream stops doing drugs and swears off of it for life. He starting telling himself every time he wanted to get "high" he would eat a double bacon cheeseburger at Carl's Jr. Back then Corey was about 150lbs. Chumlee also stoped doing drugs and both of them starting to work for Rick. One of Rick's moneymaking ideas was buying a Quizno's by the federal building downtown Las Vegas. Chumlee and Corey worked there for a while. The thought was that having this business would do well since many other restaurants were father away and federal workers would want to order sandwiches from this Quizno's. But Rick failed to check into the food court that was built inside the federal building and because of this the business failed. Oh well, good try.The way the old man is on the show is how his story is told in the book. He is pretty "crusty" and is comes through in his section of the book. However, he is a good man, takes care of family and served the Navy proudly for 20 years. So the guy you see on TV, is the same guy in the book. One story that the old man is very familiar with is their recognizable customers. There is a story about a guy who came into the shop every day and used to do chores for "buck". The story is great about how he carts a load of alcohol up and down Las Vegas Blvd for "buck". The story ends with him getting into a rather unusual act with "peaches"(Corey's cousin") and Corey has to tell the guy he has to leave. The guy dies 6 months after that. Pretty sad. Rick ends the book with a some his thoughts and people he has run into. Like he says in "Pawn Stars", "one thing I learned after 21 years, you never know that is going to walk into that door".For anyone who loves the show will love this book. Highly recommend.

Love this book. Couldn't put it down and read it in a few evenings. Just to set expectations: I don't like/watch ANY reality shows except for my recently discovered vice, Pawn Stars. Love the show, love the cast, love the stories.This book gives you a peek into their lives, and it's amazing/inspiring to hear what they have lived through in order to get where they are today. These guys have backgrounds not to be proud of, yet they share them with us, and they've managed to rise above them to become TV stars who feel more like friends. If you like the show, you'll love the stories in this book. If you've never watched the show, you'll still find it very entertaining.While I'm sure there were some ghostwriters, or at least very hands-on editors involved here, you never feel like these words came from anyone else. You hear Rick's voice in these stories, and in the chapters by Corey and Chumlee as well. A lot of care went into capturing their personalities in print.It's hard for me to award 5 stars to something that's obviously not high literature, but I strongly recommend it. My only wish, and I can understand why they didn't fulfill it, is that there are some situations in the show that absolutely MUST have been staged... characters doing things that are so obviously going to get them in trouble, you know it had to be for the sake of the cameras. I would have liked to have read a little backstage revelations on some of these shenanigans.Keep it up Pawn Stars!

I really don't have a lot to add to the reviews already written, as they have pretty much summed it up. If you like the show (and I've watched it since the very first episode), you'll find the book very interesting. The best thing is that it lets you see Old Man, Rick, Corey and Chumlee as real people instead of just characters on a reality show. It also shows you that this family didn't have their current success handed to them, but came by it only after many years of struggle and hard work.Someone previously mentioned feeling sorry for the Old Man for not being able to work the counter anymore. The reason none of the four Pawn Stars can work the counter any longer is because by law, a pawn is private transaction. Nowadays, with the shop packed all day with tourists with cameras and video recorders trying to get photos of the four guys, the privacy of any transaction they're involved in is compromised.It's been a year since I visited the shop on a jaunt to Las Vegas. Just to give you an idea of the impact the TV show has had on this small business, a good part of the shop is now dedicated to souvenir sales - T-shirts, shot glasses, bobble heads, refrigerator magnets, etc. (they move all that stuff out when filming in that part of the store). Before the show started, they had 12 employees. Now they have 47. I dropped by mid-morning and the parking lot was about full (but I did get a space). I was able to walk right in, though the store was packed full of people and it's not very big. I drove by later in the day and there was a line of people down the sidewalk waiting to get in. In the book, Rick relates that they now have security outside that lets in 60 people at a time and they've also installed misters outside to cool down the people waiting in line. When I was there, the Old Man was sitting at his desk behind the counter and they had that area roped off with a sign that said something to the effect that you weren't supposed to enter that area unless you were doing business with the shop. I kind of felt sorry for him, as he was kind of like an animal in a zoo, with everyone staring at him. A couple of people waved at him to get his attention and asked if they could get photos with him. He eventually came out on the floor to do photos. He didn't look like he was having fun (but even on the TV show, he never looks like he's having fun - even when he is! LOL). Now that they've built new offices in the back, my guess is that you would be lucky to see any of the four stars if you were to drop by these days. I'm sure they stay in the back as much as possible as it would be next to impossible to get any work done out front with the hoards of fans constantly bugging them.Rick's put together a really entertaining companion for the TV show. As previously stated, if you like the TV show, then the book is highly recommended.

This book is excellent. Rick Harrison is a smart, interesting dude and he's led quite a life. People give the show a bad rap saying they screw people over which honestly isn't true. Offering 50% of full retail is a pretty good deal considering the fact they are often buying things that nobody else is. You get a look at to how the shop became what it us. Rick used his knowledge of history to turn his shop into something very different than what the major pawn chains could be. He made a name for himself by being able to accurately appraise rarities, old guitars, and all manner of other things other pawnbroker chains didnt have a clue about. That's a smart business, plain and simple.Related to that, Rick Harrison thinks about money in a way I always have, and I learned a lot about thinking outside the box to make money. He talks about capitalizing on fads, and other unconventional ways to generate cash. I felt from a very young age that just working a job for a paycheck seemed incredibly limited. Why not make money using every avenue available to you? That's what the Harrisons do. Anything can be part of their business as long as it's profitable. And it's helped them excel at making the most of their fame. By the way, the show was Ricks idea and he worked for years to get it made. Knowing their success isn't because of the whim of a tv producer is a testament to the acumen Rick Harrison possesses.Corey, Chumlee and the Old Man each get a chapter as well and they're all more insightful people than you might give them credit for as they are definitely playing up their personalities on tv.It's a very enjoyable book and it's full of cool stories and bits of information you didn't know you wanted to know. A highlight is a story about learning nickels could be scrapped for more than 5 cents, and going on a mad scramble to obtain nickles. Spoiler alert, it turns out you aren't allowed to do that. But hearing about the process of having an unusual idea like this makes you realize there is money to be made everywhere you look if you can think about the situation the right way. I love this book.

Pawn Stars is the best reality show on television. Second in ratings (after Jersey Shore), its success is due to several factors. It takes a tried formula and adds a fresh twist ("Antiques Roadshow with attitude"), offers fascinating information and features a likeable cast with cameo roles by local experts. The Harrison family itself is the stuff of soap opera legend--a retired Navy man with a lifelong impulse for hustling, his ne'er-do-well son with an active curiosity and entrepreneurial drive and his ne'er-do-well grandson, once lost and now found. All three of their life stories are a balance of tragedy and triumph and each of them replicates the American dream in a fresh way. Throw in Austin Russell, Corey's childhood friend known as Chumlee (Tennessee Tuxedo's walrus sidekick) and you have poignant comic relief with an edge of sweetness.Rick's book, License to Pawn, tells their personal as well as their professional stories. Written `with Tim Keown' it is very difficult to imagine the book as being anything other than Rick's. It is written in an honest, unvarnished voice, as are the individual chapters by the Old Man, Corey and Chumlee.It will not be as meaningful to people who are not fans of the show, but the six million plus regular viewers will feast on it. Most will not be able to stop once they've started it. There are some family photographs included, along with photographs of the shop's most special items.Its most striking feature is its candor. We learn far more than usual in what must now be considered a celebrity autobiography and the shadows which fall across the family lives make them even more endearing. Bottom line: these are fascinating, likeable, real people.Rick also tells the story of the television series and how it came to be and he offers honest observations on human life, human nature and the role of pawn shops in human history and culture. Often insightful, he is never dull.Fans of the show: don't miss this.

----------------------------------------Public service announcement before I begin review. Toonami is back!!! Airs on Saturday Midnight, well technically Sunday, from 12:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., with an encore beginning at 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. Tune in and support it. Now on to my review.----------------------------------------I just finished reading this last night at work, (slow night). This did not take me long at all. I see that as of right now the Bargain Price Edition that I bought is not available anymore. I paid roughly 9.60 for this title. It is going right now for apx 15.00 bucks. In my opinion that is a little too much for this. Shop around or wait, or rent it from your local library.Content wise this is NOT a guide to running a pawn shop or making money. I doubt there are many who would think this, but to just clarify, this is an autobiography.This book encompases the tellings of Rick Harrison, "Old Man" Harrison, Corey Harrison, and Austin "Chumlee" Russell. All had seperate chapters that they wrote and revealed much about themselves. Rick has the most chapters in this title.**Some Minor Spoilers Ahead**In this book Rick discusses his childhood, and how he was racked with epilopsy. He had VIOLENT seizures that bed-fasted him for weeks. During these frequent down times he read, read, read. This is how he got so smart. Rick has had a hard life, but as the book brings out, has managed to rise above it all.There is a chapter written by the "Old Man", in it he discusses his thoughts on some things, but in all honestly it is very short and not very memorable.Corey's and Chumlee's chapters are the most moving ones. Both were at one time meth addicts and both have had hard lives. Granted Corey's hard times were of his own making. He makes no excuses and just tells everything without any dillusions. He does break free of drugs eventually and is now the manager of Gold & Silver. Chumlee's chapter is similer to Corey's. Chumlee discusses his childhood, how his dad fought alcholism and was the leader of his local AA chapter for years. You can't help but like Chumlee, and reading his chapter makes you like him even more, even though he is the "Village Idiot". He's a rich "Village Idiot" though, selling more Chumlee t-shirts than he can keep track of.Rick goes further into his business, discussing how crazes and fads can make some serious scratch for a man who knows how to capitalize on them. I.e., furbies, beanie babies, zippo lighters and bomber jackets, etc. He shares some stories of the shop and how they are visited by pimps, drug addicts and other shady AND unshady people of all walks of life, at all hours of the day.In all honestly this book feels at times like a large promotional pamplet for the tv show. Rick says about 5 times through-out the book "...you never know what is going to come through that door". We know Rick, we know...In the end this is a book that is a little light on content. I would have liked it more if he had included a lot of business tips for aspiring entrepaneurs. How to make money off gold and silver, ways he makes money that are unconventional, how to identify fake rolexs, etc. In the end this is just an autobiography, one that all of the main cast members contribute to. Oh...there is some pictures in the middle of the book, not to many though, most are things you have seen in the show.--In Conclusion--Good read for fans of the hit tv show (like me). A good read, once. Don't pay a lot for this, wait for a sale.Well that's my thoughts, check out my review for Alan Moore's 'Swamp Thing' vol. 2 coming up next...

I first got hooked onto Pawn Stars maybe two years ago. I was fascinated by the sheer variety of items, namely the historical ones, people would bring in just to get some quick cash. I knew I had to read this book when I heard about it.Most of the book is credited to Rick Harrison himself, although Old Man, Big Hoss, and Chumlee each contribute a chapter of their own.Harrison starts out with his own childhood as he battled with epileptic seizures and a variety of drug addictions. He makes no bones about what a handful he was to his parents.Obviously, it culminates with him and Old Man moving to Las Vegas and becoming pawnbrokers.The bulk of the book however focuses on the pawn shop itself. Many wild and crazy stories are told by the guys who have seen nearly everything from their shop. From billionaires to probably the seediest human beings to stumble around.All of the personalities you see on the television show are true to life.The only complaint I have about the book is probably the first couple of chapters where Rick tells his life story before the pawn shop. It is interesting, yes, but he comes off as very arrogant. Once you are past that, though, the book was very enjoyable.A must read for any Pawn Stars fan.

I stumbled across "Pawn Stars" awhile back while channel surfing and immediately became fascinated by its "Antique Roadshow with attitude" vibe. Of course, the show wouldn't be as compelling without the humorous interactions within the quartet of the three Harrisons and their faithful peon Chumlee, along with the various customers and colorful experts that help seal the deals. I bought Rick Harrison's "License to Pawn" to get more in-depth behind-the-scenes information on him and his gang of regulars, and I wasn't disappointed with the transaction."License to Pawn" is a pretty quick read, mainly because it's written in a straightforward conversational manner not unlike we hear on the TV series. You'll find out about how Rick's childhood struggles with epilepsy profoundly shaped his approach to life, the genesis of the Harrison's now-famous Las Vegas Gold and Silver Pawn Shop, and the hard knocks (some self-imposed) all the principals endured before making it big on the History Channel.Rick also answers some questions such as what prevents the show's regulars from working the counter anymore and why all the TV customers always seem to sell vs. pawn their treasures. He reveals his perspectives on business, the underground economy, and negotiation, and highlights some of his favorite items on the shelves. Other sections of the book are told from the viewpoints of his father "Old Man" Harrison, his son "Big Hoss" Corey, and ubiquitous employee Austin Russell, better known as "Chumlee."Some may struggle with the whole concept of pawning, and even feel that the Harrisons are taking advantage of down-and-out, desperate, or plain ignorant customers. However, Rick addresses these issues, and as a result I gained a new respect for the pawn business in general and the Harrisons in particular. If you're a fan of "Pawn Stars" then you should pick up "License to Pawn" - you won't feel cheated.

EXCELLENT!!!

Bought this book for my husband who is NOT a reader but loves Pawn Stars and it's people. He loved the book, cover to cover and the fact that it was written from all of their different perspectives. He can't wait for another to release. Great book!

Great book.

This was a very enjoyable read, I have followed the T.V. Show religiously and enjoyed it enormously and the book did not disappoint in any way,I was quite taken aback to learn about Rick's early life, and Corey too it was a real eye opener with quite a few shocks, the old man (who I have a soft spot for)Comes across as a very hard working devoted family man , so a very informative , hugely enjoyable book, well done Rick!!! Would love another book possible about the clients over the years?

Super bouquin. Dommage qu'il ne soit pas traduit en français pour les aficionados non-bilingues des Rois des enchères que nous voyons sur la TNT, chaînes D8 et 17. C'est un complément utile pour une compréhension plus pointue de la série.