HEY, TV Production Companies! How about a change?

Reality TV has touched on the antiques and collectibles business, but TV production companies are missing a huge market that they should have long since realized exists.

There is obviously a large market for vintage themed reality TV shows such as American Pickers, Storage Wars, and a long list of vintage related shows that are running on assorted networks, not to mention another long list of shows which have come and gone (though some have reached temporary immortality by way of re-runs).

But, we are growing tired of all this "reality"...

Now, it has been established that a substantial market for a vintage themed shows exists, that is obvious.

 But we vintage themed folks also enjoy more than "reality" themed shows. 

We all watch fictional productions, from legal dramas, assorted romantic comedies, other dramas of all sorts, action shows, and on and on...

We are part of the general viewing public, after all.

So, I pose a question to TV production companies out there....

How about a FICTIONAL show about the antiques business? 

Or are we stuck with trying to find and watch reruns of Lovejoy ?

And while we are on the topic of Lovejoy...

Being the writer and general creative sort I am, I have several ideas, including a fairly fleshed out one that is essentially a modernized cross between (now imagine this).....

 Lovejoy and Dexter.  

It would be good my friends, very good...just like the antiques business itself, it would have unique characters galore, twists, turns, shocks, and surprises, not to mention inside information, jokes, etc geared to those in the world of vintage. 


It will be one of those shows where there are times you want to turn away, but just can't.  

So how about it, all you TV execs out there? When do we get our own truly fictional shows?

Future of Collecting - Vintage Tech Hunters

One of the questions on people's minds in the antiques & collectibles biz is what the future holds for the business. 

It is a business that relies on new blood to come to it, and if the same people are the only market, the market gets thin, values plummet. 

Well, change is the way of the world, and changing is what you have to do.

It is adapt or die, really.

One of the areas of collecting that has come in to its own is technology. 

Interest in vintage technology has increased and risen from what could have been considered a niche market for electronics nerds to a mainstream audience.  This rise has been made even more evident by the appearance of a new reality TV show in the marketplace called Vintage Tech Hunters. (Promo reel here)

This Canadian produced show is in the Canadian market (soon to the US market?), and at the time of this blog has had a half dozen episodes aired already. 

The show does keep its premise pretty simple, with hosts Shaun Hatton & Bohus Blahut travelling many miles across the US and Canada searching for vintage tech at flea markets, at garage sales, in old warehouses, etc. 

It is a familiar formula, that seems at first was borrowed from American Pickers. It is far from the first show to utilize a version of the formula, and I doubt is going to be the last, as a successful formula is not something production companies are going to sit and ignore.  It is cut back a little in comparison to American Pickers, resulting in a more streamlined show, which is "lighter" and as a result actually does seem more palatable & appealing in its content to those who are not necessarily into vintage tech.

So, the next time you walk by a vintage video game system, some ancient electric gadget, or that video disc player, think about the money you could well be leaving on the table.

What Would I Do With My Time?

The title is the question. 

What would I do with my time if I did sell the business?

Oh let me count the ways I would use my time....

Hmmm...................................

Harder than I thought to answer that.

Yes, as I mentioned in the last post, I would get to writing, but that wouldn't be all.

I would be doing more research connected to the writing, even get some road trips planned and executed.  Things connected to Albert Johnson  (aka The Mad Trapper of Rat River), a buried steam locomotive, an ancient dugout canoe, Viking travel through Manitoba, and a number of other areas of research I have interest in.

I think I could well be kept very busy by those pursuits if I was unshackled from my business.  

 How to make a living would be another matter all together, though.

I'd likely need to have a book contract in place, something that would have an advance, to support me in groceries and other "life expenses" while I do my thing in creating a book...

Or....

A reality TV contract, perhaps? 

 The problem with most reality TV contracts is the first season is pretty slim when it comes to real money.   

I am sure I will find enough to do with my time....IF the business were to sell....but until then I need to sell, sell, sell.

So, ready, set, SHOP!

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Formula: Storage Wars:Texas + Moe Prigoff = Storage Wars: Barry Weiss

So, with STORAGE WARS:Texas hitting the tube, we now have another "professional storage locker" buyer who has that antiques/collectibles buyer sort of slant.

I realize these programs follow a "formula." Thus, the plan seems to add Moe Prigoff to the Texas crew to create that vibe that Barry Weiss gives to the original Storage Wars.

I like junk TV programming, I do...it is my business, after all. I am also intelligent enough to see it as "entertainment" and not "that is REAL LIFE"...it is a polished, edited, buffed up, TV representation of life, but not real life. Heck, for one episode of AP they film about 50 hours of footage...so OVER 49 hours worth of footage is edited out! It is entertainment, and I like it, usually.

I have to admit, I am already a little tired of the way the spin offs seem to be going....ALREADY.

Though, I guess if I got a call to be a buyer featured on what would undoubtedly be called "STORAGE WARS: MANITOBA" I might consider it.

Cash is cash, after all.

However, I have substantial doubts it will get to that point....as I really doubt that following the "formula" they have will really work for long.   Unless you really change things up, and make the next "spin-off" its own program, independent from the parent, the formula based clone is destined to fall to the wayside...some quicker than others. The offspring might well bring down the parent into the pit of cancellation, also.

Reality TV hasn't figured out what producers of successful fictional TV program franchises have figured out.
Let's take the Law & Order franchise, as an example.

They are all DIFFERENT.  Yes, they target a similar/same audience, but, their STAYING power lies in the fact they have very DIFFERENT characters, a DIFFERENT formula for each series, and DIFFERENT settings.

Yes, there are some crossovers in characters, even the odd plot, and they are similar in a some ways. However, in other ways they are VERY different from each other.

 Many of the reality TV franchises can not lay a legitimate claim to their shows being VERY different from each other. Some of the spin-off programs have had the embarrassing misfortune to have hosts that even opt to use the same lingo used by the parent show's hosts!

That is just, well, tacky.....I find those TV moments down right painful...I cringe.    It makes it a little too obvious that the hosts are not "legit".... 


That is, unless you are unfamiliar with the trades they are depicting, and you assume that the lingo used on the parent program is the common lingo used right across the trade. Yes, we have trade terms used right across our business...some examples:

Patina
Mint condition
NOS/New-old stock
Hallmark
Reproduction
Fake


Let's take some lingo yanked from American Pickers as an example.  "Honey hole" is not a term I had EVER used  (nor use now) to describe a great picking spot.

From what I have been told by a few veterans of the metal detecting hobby, the term is used in the metal detecting world...and has been for as many years as the hobby has been out there. That actually makes more sense to me...you dig holes when you metal detect, usually.

 The first time I had ever heard it related to picking was on AP....and I have been in this biz for just as long as Mike (Wolfe) has. (Though I am younger than Mike....might not look it, but it is true! Hey, I've earned my grey hair and weathered features, damn it!)

The first time I heard Mike say "honey hole" on American Pickers I did a triple take...

 If you weren't aware of the fact already, "honey hole" does have some other definitions that were far more commonly meant when those words were spoken.

As you see, neither of which relates to the antiques business...well, directly, anyway...but any of those sorts of stories are strictly kept amongst a group of pickers, sitting around a bonfire, and after several bottles of beer have been consumed....

Wikipedia nails it down as a mainly hunting & fishing term, though they add American Pickers as a "Popular Culture" notation.

The power of TV is pretty strong in the popularizing of terms and their uses, eh?


I am betting that there will be a "UK PICKERS" or "BRITISH PICKERS" or "PICKERS IN KILTS" or whatever, that is almost inevitable. A change of country can potentially work as a twist that may well hold viewers, if the casting is right.

I have to admit, I was initially a bit excited about "Canadian Pickers" being produced.....until I saw the first episode....and the rest of the episodes.  I was very hopeful....I am an optimist, believe it or not.
Their 2nd season is going to air (finally) in January 2012, so I will save you from any rants, critiques and reviews....at least until after the new episodes air.

 Though, I would really like to hear YOUR opinions of the show....

Actually, comments on ANY of the junk biz TV shows are welcome!

I'd also like you to honestly note how long you have been a professional/making a living/supplementing income/etc in the "junk biz", if you are a long time junker but not pro, or if you are a rosy cheeked fresh newcomer, inspired by the programs you have seen.  I actually think it is GREAT there are newcomers, fresh faces, etc, so do not feel shy that you have become hooked on "junk"...there are MANY of us "addicts" out there.

I have found one thing, in analysis of the last couple years worth of Junk TV programs. The take on things in the "junk biz" by Reality TV seems to have a focus, or at least a "chunk" of attention is paid to, one basic thing..

It includes "getting a deal"..."negotiating"..."appraisals"....."how much"...."it could be valuable"....which are all connected to:

Making MONEY.
 
The almighty buck and its children (bastard and otherwise), get tossed up on our screens to the point of near absurdity when it comes to those programs.
 
That is all fine and dandy,  with the economy and all, they are trying to lure people in to watch.

However, too much of it can really make this biz look like a bunch of money hungry folks whose focus is just on that dollar sign...or Pound sign, or Euro sign...whatever.

Ok, I admit that we do like the cash aspect of it, sure, but that is not the appeal for most of the "players" out there in this field.  We have personalities beyond the almighty buck....and reasons we are in this that go beyond  that. Mike shows that in AP...he goes batty over bicycles. Frank goes owly over oil cans. They are legit in their passion when it comes to "old junk", and it shows.

Me? I LOVE the thrill of the hunt. That is my motivation.....my addiction!

Hell, pay me a realistic wage for what I do, the experience I have, education I have accumulated (etc), back me with $$$ for buying and I will PICK antiques and other assorted cool/neat/weird/odd sundry items on a salary basis! Will have your shop filled to capacity in a matter of weeks....heck, under a week if you have no particular category of vintage items you want.

Problem is, I need cash to buy the stuff....no cash, no hunting for dusty treasures....so paying too much doesn't work....keeping stuff does not work....

Yep, a true addiction...and I am doing what I have to in order to feed my addiction.

I need AAA......no, not AA....I need:

Antiques Addicts Anonymous.

My name is Bear, and...umm......I am self-employed...I am an entrepreneur....

So, um, now when do we get to have that coffee & those cookies? I haven't had lunch...spent my last $20 on those tin cans over there by the door......say, what is in the basement of this building?

All in all, viewers who are even just on the fringes of "the junk business" are smart enough to realize that Reality TV's take on the "Junk Biz" thus far is not realistic.

SO, now think of those who are newbies....just how long is it going to take for them to figure out it is just not like it is on TV...and some/many of the things said, done, experienced, etc, is not the day to day reality of it...now that they themselves have experienced the "junk lifestyle" first hand?

And what happens after they have expressed this to ALL their friends, and relatives...who tell all their friends and relatives, who tell all their friends and relatives, who.......)

Got the picture?

Even the "good" junk biz programs will start falling in popularity. Reality TV is crying wolf.

No pun intended....if I had intended a pun, there would have been an E on the end.

That said,  I'd think that Mr Wolfe's original premise (which I believe was to focus far more on the people, especially the real characters we pickers encounter) is actually a more long term survivor, in my opinion.

What do most of us do with an antiques/collectibles price guide once it is a few years old?

Compare that to your other reference books in the bookcase...the many "book of silver marks", "pottery marks" or other books we use for research purposes? And that favourite novel you read and reread?

What about the spin-offs that are pure "follow the formula" of the successful parent Reality "Junk TV" show?

Well, they will be the first to fall....if they didn't hit circular file called "cancellation" after their first season....or first few episodes.

What I clearly recognize that is needed for "junk TV" keep a grip on the audiences long term is simple...non-formula based spin-offs.

Fans have clearly and loudly expressed this about other programs.

 Danielle Colby-Cushman of American Pickers is a PRIME example of this. 

She is founder of a BURLESQUE troop for crying out loud...and a former roller derby queen.... ....she makes/remakes/designs CLOTHING, is an ARTIST...and a MOTHER...man, COME ON, can no one (in the production company) not see "SPIN-OFF MATERIAL" flashing in bright orange tubing of a huge (but of course rusty) neon sign???

No, I am not a fanboy of Danielle's. She seems to be a cool person and all, but so are many folks I know in this biz, who think for themselves, and are "eccentric" in some ways...and are not on TV, nor ever will be. Frankly, many SHOULD be...they are certainly all far more interesting than some of the folks that have been cast in these shows.

Don't get me wrong, there are lots of interesting & simply cool folks out there that have been cast/given shows (some current, some gone) that are certainly quality TV characters, but some are just NOT...and who ever cast them is not doing their job well at all.

AH, that is IT, I know what the next big Reality TV blockbuster will be!

"CASTING DIRECTOR - THE FINAL CUT!"

A Day Late And A Dollar Short

Well, another one of my ideas has hit the Reality TV airwaves.

"The Great Big American Auction" is debuting Dec 8th on ABC.

But, Ty Pennington gets the credit, fame, etc....not me. Par for the course.

Funny how many of the ideas I have had end up hitting "the big time." 

The whole premise of having cameras follow me around picking, seeing the people, the situations, places, etc that I saw and dealt with, was the idea I was positive was a Reality TV, no-brainer, mega-hit. I   mentioned it to a number of movie/media types...well over 12 years ago....long before Mike even started filming himself, and later pitching "his" show idea.

No, no, no, of course he didn't steal the idea from me, he just happened to have the same idea, and he was blessed with good timing & ability to get it to the right people.

He also had the trait that other skilled pickers have...tenacity.  Sometimes timing helps, and a bit of luck never hurts!

I highly doubt he and I were the only ones with that idea, either.

I have tenacity...LOTS of it....wouldn't still be in this business if I didn't.  But good luck is something that doesn't always come easy. A few friends took to calling me "Black Cloud Barry"...things that I had zero control over seemed to smack me around.  It was like I committed some horrific acts in a prior life, and it was payback time as far as the universe was concerned.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" as the saying goes.

 I have found that to be quite true. Once a wound heals, you tend to be tougher the next time around.

You have to wear that scar as a badge of accomplishment. 

So, every time I see one of "my ideas" hit the big time or find out I missed some great stuff, I shrug and go on.

Well, ok, so I grumble, curse a bit, THEN I shrug and go on.

Shit happens and life goes on....that is my motto.  It applies to much of the way life tends to happen.

Oh well, I have LOTS of ideas, and considering how many of those very same ideas hit "the big time"  perhaps one or more of my other ideas are just as good...or better.  Hopefully, just by considering the odds thus far, I will be at the right place at the right time, and will finally know the right people to make that one  great idea reality.