gaucho777 

I probably watch ~150 regular season baseball games a year on tv. That doesn't include the playoffs, spring training, World Baseball Classic, College WS, etc., nor games I listen to during the workday on mlb radio (get your Vin Scully while you can!). I'm probably more obsessed with baseball than bikes, and that's sayin' something. It's the main reason I have no desire to get rid of my tv. Btw, 2 weeks until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training!

ftwelder

We don't argue, we have intellectual exchanges.

Mariner Fan

I'm with you on that. I want to take my vacation in Peoria to watch the Mariners.

sykerocker 

Keep in mind, in those kind of shows, the dealers are not paying for the stuff out of their pockets. The producing television channel is actually picking up the bills. Therefore, any REAL haggling (as in, what they spend directly impacts the company's bottom line) doesn't happen. Were it the dealer's actual money, I'm convinced that stuff would be negotiated to half what they're paying in front of the camera.

I learned a lot about these kind of shows being peripherally involved with American Choppers when they did the Jay Leno bike. Whatever respect I had for those guys went completely out the window at the end of that mess.

sykerocker 

That, the Westminster swap meet, and the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona are what gives me hope this time of year. And World Superbike starts in four weeks.

jon c. 

TV is the opiate of the masses.

A common revision of that old maxim. But it was coined before the advent of the internet.

Velognome 

"Everybody must get stoned"

gaucho777 

They stone you at the breakfast table,
they stone you when you thin the stable..

Dan Burkhart 

I have a bit of a unique perspective on one "reality" tv show.
In the winter of 2007, I went north to the NWT to work on the Tibbit to Contwoyto Winter Road. It was less out of a sense of adventure than the need to rehab my bank account after a year without a pay check.
We were aware of film crews showing up here and there along the road.The official story was that the Discovery Channel was there to do a documentary on the "Ice Road" The drivers involved in the filming worked for a different company, and were very tight lipped about what was going on.
Imagine my surprise when "Ice Road Truckers" season one came out. It portrayed a bunch of yahoos in something called the "Dash for the cash"
What I saw in that show showed little resemblance to the reality of a supremely well run operation.
They continually showed the computer generated image of a truck breaking through the ice and sinking to the bottom. The truth is, that in the history of that road, there has never been a truck and driver lost through the ice.
Their load counts were a joke. It showed them always hooking on to pre loaded trailers in Yellowknife, and never going farther up the road than the BHP Ekati mine.
I had to load all my own, (as did just about everyone) and at least half my loads went all the way to the north end of the road to the Tehera Jerricho mine. (Their company did not go that far up the road.)
It was fun to watch though, as would recognize the places and some of the people. When they would show some of the accidents and misshaps, I could relate where I was when that was going on, so that was kind of neat.

rootboy 

Good point. I suppose it has to be revised yet again.

frantik

LMAO... even $10 for a broken NES was way generous

KonAaron Snake 

They'll stone you when you're trying to make a buck
They'll stone you when you're riding your Mukluk...

sloar 

The worst thing about these shows are, people watch them and think the old rusty schwinn in the shed is worth $1,000. People use to give old stuff away, but since these shows came out everyone thinks they have rare one of a kind items because they are old and rusty.

cobrabyte

I'm not so sure of the effect on market price based on these shows. If anything, this forum has as much to do with inflating prices as anything else.

I will say this, fake or not, I have seen some really cool, rare old bikes (along with other antiques) on that show. Turn of the century safety bikes, high-wheelers, pre-war Schwinns, etc...not so many of you guys seem to be showing those off here if you happen to have them in your collections.

I did see them happen across an old Motobecane once, that was in rough shape, and they took it for something like $75. So how much of this "inflating" of the market price is that causing exactly?

TampaRaleigh

I went to the "Pawn Stars" shop a couple years before they were a tv show... nothing particularly special. Now, half of the shop is t-shirts and other souvenirs.

Chombi

Then there's that guy with the "American Restoration" show.
Everything sounds and looks scripted, but their quotes for restorations sounds like they are in the ballpark, as he now charges thousands to restore some of the smaller, simpler things things that supposedly comes into his shop.
Thing is, they do the "scorched earth" type of restoration where any kind of "patina" is considered garbage to be stripped sanded and painted over....or replaced.....
I'd rather watch "Wheeler Deaelers" (on the Velocity channel) from the UK over all these reality TV shows.....where mechanic/restorer Ed China seems to work for free to fix some great C&V cars! "Chasing Classic Cars" show with Wayne Carini is a close second....but I usually get envious that he gets to own and drive such nice and sometimes, iconic classic cars.....
JMOs

Chombi

KonAaron Snake 

The American Restoration guys are asking for $3,000 to restore a bicycle, which seems utterly insane to me. I think they've actually stopped doing them because other things are more profitable (coke machines, gas pumps).

cobrabyte

That's why I stick to science oriented shows. Anything with Neil deGrasse Tyson in it, I tune in. That, or TCM, Turner Classic Movies. I avoid TV news at all costs. Reality TV is just ridiculous too. I do tend to watch American Pickers if it's on though, for the cool stuf they run across. I do prefer good ol' Antiques Roadshow.

treebound 

I've also seen them value a $500 BMX bike at $50 or so.

leaping_gnome

There you go! I like Ed China, but the poor guy does some pretty intense work for not much profit. Still fun seeing him get his hands greasy on a car I might actually afford. I think it was "American Restoration" where they went to a swap meet to "check things out" and breezed past a Ben Bowden Spacelander. Unbelievable, literally.

Look, I'm old enough to watch TV - the kids are grown and gone. I remember eschewing TV back in the days gone by.
I also more that agree that there is more going on off camera in these shows about making up the "deals." UnrealityTV. Can't wait for the F1 season, though.

Jim

dbakl

Yeah, I can't turn away from the search for Bigfoot. Seems they're ready to catch him any day now...

rumrunn6

fun show

cobrabyte

Science, not fantasy lol

Chombi

Uhmmm.. BTW, their "professional" lingo name for the monster is "Squatch"..... Keep in mind to use it if you run into those guys or they won't take you along on their next hunt.....
Yes,.....I saw the show but only for like two episodes after which I concluded, like the usual, it's all pretty much trash......just like those ghost hunter type shows....Shhhhhh!!.....Did you hear that!!??

PatTheSlat 

Good article on Pawn Stars, also covers American Restoration a bit: https://centraltendencies.com/2011/03...stars-is-fake/