Pawn Stars (SA)

South Africa’s weird, wonderful and historically fascinating artefacts come flooding through the doors of Cash Inn pawn shop, as owner Roy Peretz and his partners Liel and Eytan, along with his intrepid assistants Solly and Irene, ride the daily rollercoaster of haggling for the best deal. In the premiere episode, Roy takes to the skies in a Soviet trainer airplane, a state-of-the-art archery set sparks an ill-considered bet which backfires, and proof of the existence of aliens is dramatically captured on film.

Weapons and war expert James Boale sheds some interesting light on a Boer War medal issued to unarmed Indian soldiers fighting on the side of the British during the Anglo Boer War, while Roy is astounded when a Faberge cigarette box purchased at a flea market turns out to be extremely valuable according to antiquities expert Jan Stekhoven. Liel and Solly have to duck and dive when an enthusiastic seller with his Bauchop custom made Zulu spear goes through all the motions of a Zulu warrior in full battle flight, while the arrival in the shop of a larping sword gets Roy’s interest up.

World War II ace fighter pilot Douglas Bader is in the spotlight as an intriguing package of military history comes into the shop; an intricately-carved African chair from the Congo/Angola region has Solly and the seller trying to outdo each other with cultural jokes, while Roy takes a once-in-a-lifetime spin in a British racing-green Enfield motorbike and sidecar.

A heated debate between Roy and pop culture expert Deon Maas is sparked by the arrival of graffiti art on an old skateboard, especially when this ‘art’ is compared to a Pierneef or Monet painting! The Lee Enfield British rifle and desert war kit gets Eytan’s military juices flowing, while the trip out of town to a small Paul Kruger Museum gives Roy shivers of emotion as the plight of the unarmed Indian medics and stretcher-bearers in the second Anglo-Boer War is told in stark detail.

While the pawn shop staff try bravely to humour Eytan’s vegetarian fascism, Roy at least gets his money-making juices flowing with the antique sounds of the NCR cash register. A beautiful Karl Buchner watercolour and pencil artwork causes some negotiating friction with a regular seller, whilst sushi king Kenny Kunene turns the bargaining tables on Roy as they go head to head in a diamond sale of the century.

Johannesburg’s mining history takes centre stage when Roy’s fascination with intricate watch-making engineering is piqued with the appearance of a mint-condition Ernest Borel Swiss watch presented in 1962 to a miner for excellence in safety. An ancient and complete northern Namibian San hunting kit is brought in, and an intriguing interrogation of the kit has military expert Alan Coleman extremely excited as the difficult task of putting a price on ancient heritage is thrashed out. Meanwhile, Roy, overhearing Irene talking about birthdays on the phone, wrongly assumes it’s her birthday, and plans an impromptu party despite Solly’s desperate attempts to correct the others.

In this spellbinding episode, Roy struggles to get his head around a start-up witches kit complete with broom cleansing salts and a book of spells. While Eytan drives everyone mad with his crusade for the consumer as he tries to count the squares on a toilet roll, Solly and Eytan are charmed by cartoonist Len Sak and a range of his cartoon plates of his most famous character, Jojo. The Penny Black stamp from 1840 piques Eytan’s philatelist’s instincts as the history of stamps and the post office comes to the fore, while a pair of Anglo-Boer War binoculars brought in by a Boer fighter’s descendant has military expert Alan Coleman unpicking a fraught time in South Africa’s history.

Feathers fly between partners Roy, Liel and Eytan as a sympathy purchase by Roy and Liel drives Eytan to distraction. Eytan’s fiery belief that he’s the one bringing in the real money to the business becomes a volcano for Roy and Liel to deal with – until they turn the tables on Eytan. A painting by iconic South African township artist Ephraim Ngatane is brought into the shop, and the work of classic subtlety and beauty is appraised by art expert Ruarc Peffers. Military expert Alan Coleman is called in to authenticate a 19th century Samuel Colt designed black powder revolver, which Roy decides to test at the shooting range, with surprising results.

A high-end Bitcoin computer designed to make the web-savvy speculator millions has Eytan and Irene wondering whether they’re in the wrong job, while Roy and Liel burn up the tarmac in a 1972 Formula 400 Pontiac Firebird. A fascinating Robben Island hand-crafted chess set throws South Africa’s fraught political past in to sharp relief as uncannily accurate chess pieces in the shape of prominent South African political figures face off across the chess board. Hold onto your rabbits and hats folks, as a table self-levitates and a model car picks out the right card, all under the slippery hand of a magician hoping to coin it with his magic trick.

It seemed like a normal, fascinating day for the Pawn Stars. A rare first edition signed book co-authored by boxing legend Rocky Marciano and his coach has fight fans Roy and Liel in a spin, while Eytan spins a vinyl record set of General Jan Smuts’ 1942 seminal address to both Houses of Parliament in London calling for a United Nations body. Then it all takes a dive when world history gets shoved aside as a shrunken human head makes a grizzly appearance…

While hangover cures dominate behind the scenes, in the pawn shop sports expert Paul Myson dispenses some riveting facts around the world’s greatest boxer, while Boer leader Paul Kruger’s fraught final days takes centre stage as his daring escape to Europe via Mozambique on a ship reluctantly provided by Dutch Queen Wilhelmina highlights the drama around the turn of the 19th Century. Despite Liel going toe-to-toe with his hangover, it’s a great day for the bargaining boys as their negotiating skills lock down signature items.

South Africa’s recent history hits the spotlight as the nose-cone art on a decommissioned Cheetah fighter aircraft is brought in for sale; while sporting nostalgia takes a front seat as a cricket bat signed by the 1992 Indian and South African cricket teams recalls South Africa’s readmission to international cricket. In the back office Irene’s attempts to stage a formal and orderly fire-drill end up in flames as her carefully planned exist strategy falls apart; and Roy’s dream comes true when he gets to take a race-track spin in a super-fast Formula M racing car.

African tradition meets Hollywood Sci-fi while the Anglo-Boer War makes a bid for the spotlight in this episode and a tantalising collection of figures from The Matrix film trilogy sparks a heated debate between Eytan and Roy. Back in the office, Eytan drives everyone to distraction with his theories on what constitutes ‘the perfect sandwich’, and is suitably horrified when he discovers one of the staff members has taken a big bite from his genius creation.

Emotions run high for Roy in the pawn shop when a seller brings in a U.S Congressional Medal of Honour with a sad story of Vietnam War bravery attached. An early 20th Century Victorian music box makes a fascinating and colourful appearance, as does a gigantic and heavy antique pencil sharpener which catches Eytan’s retro-imagination. The cherry on top arrives in the form of a world famous South African musician who comes in to sell his very first musical instrument – a classic African Mbira. While Irene has the back office in tailspin over the validity of star signs and astrology, Eytan’s inner child is re-awoken by the arrival of a classic piece of early 20th century engineering: a pencil sharpener large and heavy enough to sink a battleship.

Teetotaller Roy and merry imbiber Liel set about negotiating to purchase a secret moonshine recipe – called ‘Mampoer’ in South Africa, the high alcohol content knocks Roy for six, but Liel remains a keen buyer. An eerie African ritual mask is brought in for sale and sparks a fascinating story of central African ritual and custom, while a magician ties a trick to sell a five-rand coin he claims is a high-value item, but Roy has his doubts.

When a client walks in trying to sell a homemade rocket, Roy nervously points out that he’s not in the arms trade, while Eytan and Irene get taken on a Sci-fi trip with potential South Africa’s biggest Trekkie [Star Trek fan] trying to sell his Klingon dictionary. After going back to the future it’s back to the past with a fascinating engraved Victorian sliver snuff box which unlocks the history of the Cape Colony. Back in the office it’s a comic case of lost in translation as Hebrew, English, Shangaan and a dash of Klingon plays havoc with a simple lunch order, with Solly emerging as a language hero – well, almost.