Gold & Silver Pawn Shop

Information

At a Glance

Full Review

There are almost too many pawn stores in Las Vegas to list, but this one is different: it’s a star. GS Pawn is the home of Rick Harrison and his family, headliners of the History Channel’s “Pawn Stars,” a show where people try to get the biggest bucks for the often useless crap they are trying to get someone to buy from them.

The store itself is a pawn emporium, with display cases full of jewelry, coins, knick knacks, and other stuff that people have traded in for cash, presumably that they can use in the casinos down the street. There’s also a big souvenir section with t-shirts and other “Pawn Stars” memorabilia. Taken on its own, it’s a fine place to search for treasures or trash and perhaps get some money for your grandmother’s wedding ring so you can go hit it big on the craps table.

The problem here is that the success of the show has turned this into a tourist attraction. At almost all times of day there is a line to get inside. You heard me: a line! To get into a pawn store! Granted, the line usually moves pretty fast; there were about 40 people waiting on the day I showed up and the average wait time was about 10 minutes so don’t be discouraged if you get there and see a bunch of people ahead of you.

But a lot of those people who get in are sorely disappointed because the stars of the show are rarely ever on site anymore. There are simply too many fans for GS Pawn to run as an actual business if the Harrison’s are in the house, so they conduct most of their work at another location and let less famous faces run the day to day operations.

If you are a fan of the show and have a few extra minutes, it’s probably worth a stop just to say you did. Just don’t be expecting to get any autographs.