Storage Wars - A&E reality show on finding treasure in abandoned storage units

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Turnaround, Dec 9, 2010.

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  1. Turnaround

    Turnaround Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
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    Anyone watching "Storage Wars" on A&E?

    It's a reality show about professionals who buy abandoned storage units in hopes of finding valuable collectibles and stuff.

    Seems geared for the audience that watches the History Channel's "Pawn Stars" or "American Pickers".
     
  2. cooper16

    cooper16 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Got hooked on this last night. I did find it kind of sad in some ways that these people are profiting off the misfortune of others. I imagine some of these folks who owned these lockers either passed away or lost their homes in the recession and had no other place to store their stuff. A lifetime's worth of possessions that will probably end up on eBay. :shake:
     
  3. Khojem

    Khojem Forum Resident

    Location:
    Irvine, CA, USA
    I read about this show recently. It seems interesting and someone could make a good amount of money going to these sales. Unfortunately, it appears to be highly competitive.
     
  4. I like it. You get hooked because you want to know what's in the containers, too. Yes, it's a bummer wondering what caused people to abandon their stuff. Didn't get the least bit bummed about Suge Knight's stuff being sold though.
     
  5. stuwee

    stuwee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson AZ
    I love it! And I had one of my units broken into my heathen scum, stole some prized antiques from my family (may they rot in....) Still enjoy the show :righton:.

    I guess most state's laws prohibit these places from owning the contents to sell in anything otherthan an auction??
     
  6. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    The people who sign the contracts to rent out the storage units know what they're agreeing to when they sign them (or they do if they bother to read it, anyway). I don't feel bad for them at all.
     
  7. Mike from NYC

    Mike from NYC Senior Member

    Location:
    Surprise, AZ
    This has been an ongoing 'sport' for years and years but I guess it was just a matter of time when someone would make a TV show about it.

    According to a few articles I read in the not too distant past most storage units are abandoned by the renters after spending far too much money to keep on renting them for their junk.
     
  8. cooper16

    cooper16 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Yeah, I imagine that the majority of these lockers are duds filled with christmas decorations and baby furniture but those don't make for good TV.
     
  9. Robert Campion

    Robert Campion New Member

    Location:
    Thailand
    That Brandi is mighty purty.
     
  10. runofthemill

    runofthemill Forum Resident

    Location:
    Harrodsburg, KY
    I've been to a few auctions at storage units before. It was all or nothing, in that you bid a certain amount for the entire contents of each unit. They'd take a bolt cutter and remove the lock, open the door, give you about 30 seconds to survey what was in it, and then the bidding started. I never even bid, it was mostly old furniture or a deer head. Who knows what might be found in them once you started removing things.
     
  11. Silence of the Lambs come to mind.
     
  12. stuwee

    stuwee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson AZ
    :righton::righton::D:agree::evil::evil::yikes:
     
  13. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Years ago, Melanie (the singer) lost the contents of some storage units because of non-payment. There was an article on this in Goldmine, I think.

    Some time later, I bought a few tapes from someone who apparently got them through that storage unit sale. He also threw in some personal photos of Melanie that had been in the unit. Nothing salacious, but I always felt a bit creepy about those photos.
     
  14. daglesj

    daglesj Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK
    The reason its in a storage locker is because its junk that someone didnt really need.

    Probably a lot just lock it away and then think "well I didnt need it for all this while..."
     
  15. JohnG

    JohnG PROG now in Dolby ATMOS!

    Location:
    Long Island NY
    Eventually they will have an episode where the unit is full of albums and CDs.
     
    ben_wood likes this.
  16. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    And the forum will be collectivly drooling. :)
     
  17. I can't find it via google right now but I recall a story about someone who bid on a locker and in amongst lots of junk was a suitcase with at least a couple thousand in cash in it. Maybe it was urban myth?

    -s1m0n-
     
  18. cooper16

    cooper16 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Seems feasible to me. It could have belonged to a drug dealer who got pinched and couldn't pay his bill.
     
  19. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Madonna reportedly forgot to pay the monthly rent on one of her storage units in Chatsworth, California, and it wound up being sold in an auction according to this tabloid story.

    And in 2004, Michael Jackson's family lost the contents of a large storage locker in Oxnard, California, including a lot of Michael Jackson's own memorabilia, according to this story. So this stuff does happen.
     
  20. SoundAdvice

    SoundAdvice Senior Member

    Location:
    Vancouver
    **Place Geraldo Rivera/Capone Vault joke here**
     
  21. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    Happened to me, kinda. I don't buy storage lockers, but through connections I hooked up with somebody who bought one with a lot of records, and he said I could have anything I wanted for $2 each. Lots of avant-garde, 70s imports, and general oddball stuff that hardly anyone who looked at would have a clue about. I bought about 200, most with eBay selling in mind, and made a mint.
     
  22. JohnG

    JohnG PROG now in Dolby ATMOS!

    Location:
    Long Island NY
    She certainly is blessed. :angel:

    [​IMG]
     
  23. I watched a documentary about that very subject. Tons of Michael's prized possessions were in that storage unit, including some mastertapes of Jackson 5 albums.
     
  24. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    A close friend of mine lost about half of his record collection in a storage unit, simply because he had forgotten to pay the bill, and had changed his phone number and not checked in for more than two or three months. A friend of his saw some of my friend's albums for sale at a swap meet and called, fearing that the guy had died.

    Once he realized what happened, he raced down to the storage unit, but the owner was apologetic and said: "hey, I'm really sorry, but we sent you six notices by mail and tried to call many times. After 60 days, we're legally obligated to sell the contents at auction and rent the space to a new tenant."

    He figures about $50,000' worth of albums went for a fraction of that amount -- maybe $500 or less. Sad story.
     
  25. Turnaround

    Turnaround Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    -
    There are a few other reality shows out there that appeal to the Pawn Stars/American Pickers/Storage Wars crowd:

    Auction Hunters (Spike TV) - this follows a couple guys who buy abandoned storage bins in hopes of digging up treasure.

    Auction Kings (Discovery channel) - this follows an auction house.

    Oddities (Spike TV) - Brooklyn antiques store that specializes in oddities and bizarre items.
     
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