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.