The Sniper Arcade Game That Sold For Hundreds On Pawn Stars
For years, video games were thought to be old junk that deserved to go in the trash after the kid was done playing with it. Of course, these days people know better, and vintage games and consoles from just a few decades ago can be worth big money to the right collector, and the guys on "Pawn Stars" know this better than most.
The Gold & Silver crew have seen plenty of vintage games come through the shop from an old-school "Donkey Kong" arcade cabinet to a "Twister"-themed pinball machine. Even if the guys don't end up making a deal, they at least get to play the game for a little bit, offering lighthearted fare to their workdays. It can't all be whimsy though, and when it comes down to brass tacks, every member of the "Pawn Stars" team means business, especially Chumlee.
He may seem like the most easygoing out of everyone on the cast, but when video games are in the mix, he knows his stuff. With one game in particular, he really put the seller through the wringer to get what he wanted.
Chumlee bought an old arcade sniper game for $700
On the Season 7 episode, "Silent but Chumlee," the video game aficionado (or so he thinks) heads over to the house of a seller, who wants to get rid of "Silent Scope 2," a vintage arcade game from Konami. Everything looks to be in pretty good working condition, and Chumlee even plays it to ensure everything functions the way it should. After a little back and forth, the two finally settle on a deal, with Chumlee purchasing the game for $700.
He walks away looking like he just made the deal of the century, but later in the episode, we see how Rick Harrison and the rest of the shop tear him a new one. While Chumlee's of the opinion he can get up to $1,200 for it, Corey insists the most they would be able to get is $700 on a good day. That means they would ultimately break even and probably lose a little money. There aren't very many of these machines for sale online, so there likely isn't too big of a market for it. That's not to mention that whoever does buy it would need to have enough square footage to fit everything.
Chumlee got properly chewed out for his lack of research, but it's still not the worst deal someone on the show made on a game. Corey had to collect quarters as punishment after the team discovered they wouldn't be able to turn a profit on an Evel Knievel pinball machine. No word on if Chumlee faced similar consequences.