Storage Wars (franchise)

Storage Wars is an American reality TV franchise on the A&E Network. The original series, Storage Wars, debuted on December 1, 2010, and has so far run for four seasons, with a fifth currently airing. The success of Storage Wars led to A&E commissioning a spin-off series, Storage Wars: Texas, which has run for two seasons. A&E announced that a second spin-off was in production,^[1] Storage Wars: New York was scheduled to air on December 11, 2012 but was pushed back to January 1, 2013.^[2] A third spin-off, Storage Wars: Canada, is expected to be released on the Canadian OLN network.

Series

Storage Wars

The original Storage Wars (also known as Storage Wars: California) premiered on December 1, 2010. The main setting is in the southern cities of California. There were also two episodes in the first season that had auctions taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada. This show has a total of five seasons, airing 114 regular episodes and two specials.

Storage Wars: Texas

Storage Wars: Texas is the first spin-off show from the original series. This series premiered on December 6, 2011. This series has three seasons, the current season debuting August 27, 2013.

Storage Wars: New York

Storage Wars: New York is the second spin-off series. This show premiered on January 1, 2013. As of the end of November 2013, the series has aired 26 episodes over two seasons.

Storage Wars: Canada

Storage Wars: Canada was the third spin-off series.^[3] The series airs on OLN and premiered on August 29, 2013. The show is also seen locally on CITY-TV in Toronto.

Buyers

Below is a list of auction goers featured on the series, divided by series they appear on.

Storage Wars

• Darrell Sheets – "The Gambler" (Season 1-present): Sheets, a storage auction veteran from San Diego, appears alongside his son, Brandon. His catchphrase is "This is the WOW factor!" and he makes the occasional malapropism. He makes his living by selling items from his purchased lockers at swap meets. He owns his own store in San Diego, California. In the beginning of the series, he lived with his wife, son and young granddaughter, Zoe. He has divorced, and moved (with Brandon) to North Hollywood, where he works out of his new warehouse. In an interview, Sheets indicated that some of his biggest finds in lockers included a sizable comic book collection, four drawings by Pablo Picasso, and a letter written by Abraham Lincoln that sold for over $15,000.^[4] In Unlocked: Sell High, Darrell revealed that he once found a plastic-wrapped human corpse in a storage locker. It was determined that the previous owner of the locker had murdered his wife and left her in the unit. Darell also bought a locker for $3,600 with many pieces of original artwork by Frank Guttierez and had them appraised for approximately $300,000, the biggest in the show's history.^[5]
• Jarrod Schulz and Brandi Passante – "The Young Guns" (Season 1-present): Schulz and Passante own and operate the "Now and Then" thrift store in Orange, California.^[6] In early 2013, they opened another store in Long Beach, California. Their Long Beach store is bigger than their other store in Orange. They opened the shop after Jarrod's business of buying storage units and selling the contents at swap meets overran their home. Jarrod is also is a co-owner of a clothing line, Outlaw Apparel, which he prominently wears on the show. They began the series as relative newcomers in storage unit buying and mostly stayed within low spending caps. As the series has progressed, they have been able to be players on higher end units.

Past main buyers

• Dave Hester – "The Mogul" (Season 1-3): At the start of the series, Hester owned Newport Consignment Gallery in Costa Mesa, California^[7] and the Rags to Riches thrift store, but closed them in June 2011. He now operates his own auction house, Dave Hester Auctions. Hester has had confrontations with the other main buyers, especially Darrell and Brandon Sheets, and is known to raise bids whenever somebody wants to buy the unit. Hester's son Dave Jr. occasionally appeared on the show with him. Hester's signature catchword is a loud "YUUUP!" when making a bid. He has this word imprinted on his trucks, t-shirts, and hats. In December 2012, Hester was fired from the show, and sued the show's producers for wrongful termination; part of his lawsuit was tossed out in March 2013 (see "Lawsuit" section below). In^[8] July 2013, Hester's lawsuit was ruled in favor of A&E. On September 3, 2013, Hester had one of his claims approved by LA Superior Court judge Michael Johnson. The court ruled that Hester "can move forward with the wrongful termination portion of his wide-ranging lawsuit against A&E and the producers of Storage Wars."^[9]
• Barry Weiss – "The Collector" (Season 1-4): Weiss and his brother owned a successful produce company, until he retired. While Weiss is a lifelong antiques collector, he had never bought a storage unit until his friend and Storage Wars executive producer and narrator Thom Beers suggested he join the show.^[10] Barry is the best financed of the group and by his own admission is the only one not in it for financial profit. He is interested in finding collectibles. He is known for the unusual tactics he brings to the auctions, such as bringing in psychics to help him figure out a locker's contents, odd disguises and outfits he sometimes wears, attaching a camera to a remote control helicopter to look inside a locker, and most recently bringing in a pair of fake German attorneys to distract the other buyers. On June 25, 2013 it was reported^[11] Barry will not be returning to the show for the 5th season. In February 2014, A&E announced Barry would appear in his own series, Barry'd Treasure, to premiere March 18, 2014.

Other featured buyers

These buyers aren't main cast members of the show, they show up frequently.

• Bill Archer (Season 1): Archer had recently left his previous job to become a storage-unit buyer at the time of his first appearance. Archer only appeared full-time in one episode in the first season, which was the episode "Young with the Gun". He has been seen in the background since his initial appearance.
• Mark Balelo (Seasons 2-4): Balelo owned a liquidation, wholesale, and distribution company, and an auction house, and also used to own a gaming store called "The Game Exchange" from 2009-2012. He was known for bringing large sums of money to auctions, as much as $50,000 at a time, and overpricing Barry to $1,500 and Dave to almost $10,000. He also earned the name “Rico Suave” for his tendency to dress in fancy clothes at storage auctions. He appeared three times during the second season, five times in the third season and three times in the fourth season, filmed shortly before his death.^[12]
• Nabila Haniss (Season 2-present): Haniss received attention for purchasing a storage unit that contained items belonging to socialite Paris Hilton.^[13] She appeared five times in the second season, once in the third season, and twice in the fourth season.
• Jeff Jarred (Season 3): Jarred is the owner of the "It's New To You" antique and thrift store, that he runs with his daughter in Burbank, California. In the past, he has often fought with Dan Dotson, after accusing him of using sneaky tactics at auctions in order to allow regular bidders to win units. However, he and Dotson decided to make peace in the third season. He appeared six times during the third season.^[14]
• Mark Compers (Season 3): Compers is a self-employed antiques and collectibles dealer who appeared in one episode in the third season. Although he failed to secure a unit, he showed willing and turned up to the auction with a substantial amount of cash.
• Herb Brown and Mike Karlinger (Season 3-present) Herb and Mike are brothers-in-law. They have also appeared in the episodes of season 3 "Portrait of the Gambler", "Nobody's Vault but Mine", "Still Nobody's Vault but Mine" in Season 4, "Old Tricks, New Treats", "Orange You Glad Dan Sold It Again?", "That's My Jerry!" Brown and Karlinger pranked Dave Hester through tank top twins in episode "Jurassic Bark", which is where they made their first appearance on the show.
• Ivy Calvin (Season 3-present): Calvin owns the 5,000 square feet "Grandma's Attic" secondhand thrift store in Palmdale, California. He made his first appearance in the episode "The Big Boy vs. The Heavyweights". He also turned up to the vault auctions in the finale episodes of series three and was introduced as a new attendee. Although he has been in operation less than 18 months, Calvin was able to spend a substantial amount of money. He has also been seen in the episodes "The Big Boy vs. The Heavyweights", Nobody's Vault But Mine", "Still Nobody's Vault But Mine", "All's Well That Urns Well", "The Monster Hash", "Old Tricks, New Treats", "The French Job", "That's My Jerry", "The Storage Buyer In You", "Barry Doubtfire", and "Super Bros. Shuffle".
• The Harris Brothers (Mark and Matt) (Season 3-present): The Harris Brothers, who are identical twins, first appeared in "May the Vaults be with You" as an appraiser for Barry when he went to get something appraised. Since then, they have bid with the rest of the cast. The Harris Brothers first bid with the rest of the cast in the episode "The Kook, The Chief, His Son, and The Brothers". The self-proclaimed "Kings of Swag," the Harris brothers specialize in Hollywood memorabilia. They have appeared one episode in Season 3, "The Kook, The Chief, His Son, and The Brothers", and five times in Season 4 in the episodes "Oysters on the Half Plate", "The Shrining", "The French Job", "There's No Place Like Homeland", and "Total Wine Domination".
• Rene Nezhoda and Casey Lloyd (Season 4-present): Rene and Casey have a 7,000 square feet store called "Bargain Hunters" located in San Diego, California. These individuals made their first appearance in the episode "Orange You Glad Dan Sold It Again?". They have also been seen in other Season 4 episodes in the episodes "Barry's Angels", "There's No Place Like Homeland", "Total Wine Domination", "Fear and Loathing in Placentia", and "Battle of the Brows".

Storage Wars: Texas

• Ricky Smith and his partner Clinton "Bubba" Smith – "The Rangers" (Season 1-present): The team operates a warehouse in Lampasas, Texas, where they stock their purchases for resale. Most of their business is wholesale but they also sell directly to the public. Ricky and Bubba often play up their "country bumpkin" personas in order to lull their competitors into a false sense of security at auction time.
• Victor Rjesnjansky – "The Outsider" (Season 1-present): He is from New York and Tyler, Texas, which the other buyers often mock him for, for not being a Texan. He is known for his distinct Long Island accent. (right there! and he bids).
• Money "Moe" Prigoff – "The Doc" (Season 1-present): He is the Texas version of Barry Weiss, he is used for comic relief and is known for his over the top wardrobe, just like Barry. He keeps items from his lockers not deemed to be valuable piled up in his back yard, upsetting his wife.
• Lesa Lewis – "The Boss" and her assistant Jerry Simpson (Season 1; Season 2-Guest; Season 3): The two often squabbled over Lesa's intent to keep jewellery found in the lockers for herself instead of selling them, which annoyed Jerry. Lesa and Jerry running Again and Again Resale in Crockett, TX.
• Jenny Grumbles – "The Dazzler" (Season 2-present): A furniture restorer/designer, She runs the Dallas, TX-based Uptown Country Homes furniture boutique and is a furniture restorer/designer. She became interested in storage auctions after a friend brought in some furniture for $1,000 and sold it for $5,000. Grumbles joined the cast at the beginning of season 2.
• Mary Padian – "The Junkster" (Season 2-present): A furniture restorer/designer, she runs Mary's Finds in Dallas, Texas, a small custom furniture store. She was originally invited to the auctions by Moe in the first season, and now sees the auctions as a source of "raw materials" to assist in bringing her store to "the next level". She joined the main cast at the 'start' of the second season. After trying to bid on lockers on her own in the first few episodes (and by her own admission being in over her head), she decided to form a partnership with Jenny.^[15]
• Roy Williams – "The Player" (Season 1): Roy is the NFL and he doesn't have any cast members.^[16]

Other featured Storage Wars: Texas buyers

• Rudy Castro From what Walt Cade says, Rudy has one episode in second season "The Cock Fighter From Mexico".
• John "J.D." Thorne: J.D. has one episode in second season "The Ninja and The Pitmaster". JD is from L.A. and Orange County. J.D. is Jenny's rival.
• Kenny Stowe: Owner and primary buyer of Extreme Auction in Athens, TX, Stowe has bought over 30 storage units a month and his two auction houses have each grossed over $100,000 a month. He made his first appearance on Season 3 in the episode "Ka-Chingdalas!".

Storage Wars: New York

• Joe "P" Pauletich – "The Legend" (Season 1-present): Joe has been buying lockers for over 20 years. In the past he used to buy 20 to 50 units a week.
• Candy Olsen & Courtney Wagner – "The Flame" and "The Firecracker" (Season 1-present): They own the retro shop C&C Pop-Up Shop. They do not have as much money as the other buyers but still get competitive and raise bids when necessary.^[17]
• Mike Braiotta – "The Hustler" (Season 1-present): His catchphrase is flip! which means get money quickly or sell quickly. It is unknown if he owns any kind of store or warehouse..
• Chris Morelli & Tad Eaton – "The Loudmouth" and "The Conscience" (Season 1-present): Own the vintage shop, The Frayed Knot in Hoboken, New Jersey.
• Big Steve Valenti (Season 2-present) is an imposing presence at storage auctions who is part owner of the Aquaduck Flea Market.
• D. Todd McCormick - "The Fog" (Season 2-present) is a middle school dropout who is a specialist in American silver. He was first seen in the second season partnering with Joe "P", but has since struck out on his own.

Storage Wars: Canada

• Roy Dirnbeck – "The Instigator": Owns an established courier business, and looks to buy storage lockers as a hobby. He's known to spend big, and win a locker at any cost.
• Cindy Hayden and Rick Coffill - "The Veterans": 15 year veterans to the auction business, Cindy and Rick are looking for antiques to fill their store in Newmarket, Ontario called Storage Treasures.
• Ursula Stolf – "The Knockout": New to the auction system, Ursula sells luxury items out of her online store. Initially dismissed by the other buyers, Ursula intends to prove them wrong and show the she's a serious contender.
• Paul and Boggart Kenny – "The High Roller and The Kid": Paul's been a poker player for over 30 years, and has decided to turn his side business of flipping the contents of storage lockers into a steady business with his son Bogart by opening a new store.

Auctioneers

• Dan and Laura Dotson: The husband and wife auctioneer team run American Auctioneers and administer the storage auctions in Storage Wars. Dan is the primary auctioneer, occasionally giving the reins to Laura. At the end of every auction Laura always says "...Don't forget to pay the Lady!" A trademark of Dan's is that he is known for his fast talking voice which makes it difficult to understand what he says.^[18]
• Earl and Johan Graham: The father and daughter auctioneer team running Fray Auctioneers. Earl and Johan appearing "The Monster Hash" and "The Shrining", "Barry's Angels", "That's My Jerry", "Total Wine Domination", "Fear and Loathing In Placentia".^[19]
• Walt Cade – "The Colonel": The auctioneer in Storage Wars: Texas.^[20] Walt and his Wife Keeaira.
• John Luke – "The Moslier": The auctioneer in Storage Wars: New York. He has been running auctions for more than 20 years.^[21]
• Don Reinhart: The auctioneer in Storage Wars: Canada. He has been auctioneering for 48 years.

Thom Beers

Thom Beers is the executive producer and narrator for all the shows, and so is the only person to be heard in every series.

Opening titles

On all three series every episode opens with narrator Thom Beer setting the scene for the shows, "When storage units are abandoned, the treasures within are put up for auction." In Texas a line is added after the word abandoned to say in the great state of Texas and then continues to say the rest of the line, the same happens in New York except the line added after abandoned is in the Big Apple.

A song was created especially for Storage Wars called Money Owns this Town. The same theme is used for Texas but is slightly remixed with a western style form. For New York a [rock] version of the theme is played over the opening titles.

Spin Off

When Barry Weiss left Storage Wars he retired from storage hunting and was given his own show, Barry'd Treasure in which he goes around America collecting antiques and selling them at auctions. He is joined along the way by friends of his, some who appeared in episodes of Storage Wars with him. Thom Beers executively produces the series.

See also

• Television in the United States portal

References

External links

• Media related to Storage Wars (franchise) at Wikimedia Commons

Storage Wars franchise Storage Wars Episodes season 1 season 2 season 3 season 4 season 5 season 6 Spin-offs Storage Wars: Texas episodes Storage Wars: New York episodes Storage Wars: Canada episodes Barry'd Treasure Brandi & Jarrod: Married to the Job Related Thom Beers FremantleMedia