Chumlee: How Chumlee Transformed His Brand Beyond Pawn Stars | DSH #1525

Summary

Digital Social Hour – Chumlee: How Chumlee Transformed His Brand Beyond Pawn Stars | DSH #1525

Release Date: September 6, 2025
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Chumlee

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Overview

In this episode, Sean Kelly sits down with Chumlee, the beloved star of "Pawn Stars," to discuss how he's grown far beyond his reality TV roots. Chumlee reveals the intentionality behind his on-screen character, his evolution as a businessman, and his current multi-faceted ventures—from collectibles and Pokémon to coins, candy, and even beef jerky. The conversation is candid and energetic, full of behind-the-scenes insights, entrepreneurial lessons, and honest talk about fame, negotiation, and building a personal brand in the digital age.

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Episode Highlights & Key Discussion Points

1. Crafting the Chumlee Persona on Pawn Stars

• Intentional Character Design: Chumlee shares that his persona on "Pawn Stars" as the comedic relief was a conscious choice based on TV archetypes.
  • Quote: "What I did was just took my natural character flaws and just like over exaggerated them times 10...with the goal of, you know, when you go to Thanksgiving dinner and everyone likes Uncle Billy, but Uncle Billy's just a little bit different." (01:12)
• Character Evolution: At nearly 43, Chumlee appreciates the opportunity to grow up on TV and mature as a person and businessman.
  • Quote: “This year I’ll be 43. That’s the age Rick was when we started filming Pawn Stars.” (02:09)

2. Business Beyond the Pawn Shop: Collectibles, Pokémon, and More

• Flipping Hustle: Chumlee discusses being labeled both a businessman and a scalper, and his philosophy on buying/selling.
  • Quote: “In Pokemon, there’s a thing called the Game Piece Army...they want everything to be worthless. And then the collectors, the investors—they want everything to be worth money.” (03:19)
• Deal Strategy: He dissects margins, negotiation tactics, and how he decides when to walk away.
  • Quote: “I’ll tell people straight up, ‘this is the exact percentage I’m paying for it...If you can get a better offer somewhere else, take it.’” (09:29)
• Platforms & Expansion: Talks about live-selling on TikTok, Whatnot, eBay, and moving into coins.
  • Quote: “On TikTok shop, I go wide. I’m selling football, One Piece, Pokémon, Disney Lorcana, vintage Naruto...I can put everything in there.” (10:29)

3. Negotiation, Learning, and Business Wisdom

• The Art of the Deal: Insights from over two decades in the pawn shop, and how negotiation has changed in the digital era.
  • Quote: “Rick’s number one rule is know when to walk away. Some of the best deals that you make are the ones you walk away from.” (20:13)
• Education: Recommends the book "Surrounded by Idiots" for anyone in sales or negotiation.
  • Quote: “It helps you to identify what color or combination of colors people may be...It helps you in negotiating with certain types of characteristics.” (18:53)
• Marketplace Evolution: Transparency about how online groups and direct sales have changed the value equation for resellers.
  • Quote: “Now you can go on a Facebook group and sell it for 95–100%. Ten, twenty years ago you were limited.” (21:07)

4. Chumlee’s Entrepreneurial Ventures

• Beef Jerky Brand: Launched Chumlee’s Awesome Jerky, working on rebranding to break into retail aisles.
  • Quote: “We’re running through the last bags, and we’re going to rebrand it...to fit into the beef jerky aisle.” (27:00)
• Candy Shop: Opened near the pawn shop to provide for his brother and connect with fans.
  • Quote: “I started it...just didn’t want my brother to have to work for anyone. So, like, oh, let’s just open a candy shop right here.” (45:56)

5. Collecting Trends and Community

• Pokémon & Card Breaks: The modern collectibles boom, community, rarity, and creating childhood memories.
  • Quote: “We’re selling a memory and experience, because these people...are also creating a memory that gives them an interaction to have a moment with someone that they grew up watching.” (12:24)
• Emerging Fads: Boo Boos (K-pop collectibles)—an overview of new collectible trends and market dynamics.
  • Quote: “I spent $55,000 on these this week. I see they're gonna make or break.” (29:52)
• Personal Collection: Most cherished item? A 500-year-old samurai sword.
  • Quote: “Samurai sword. It’s about 500 years old.” (33:51)
• Minimalist at Home: Despite dealing with thousands of items, Chumlee keeps his own home minimal.

6. Dealing with Fame and Internet Culture

• The TikTok Effect: Chumlee explains how social media transformed the Pawn Stars brand and revealed he’s “the guy from TikTok.”
  • Quote: “I realized they’re watching Pawn Stars episodes on TikTok...So I was like, I’m the guy from TikTok now.” (42:54)
• Personal Brand Longevity: Discusses being underestimated, surviving internet memes, and building trust with fans.
  • Quote: “If you’re not changing year by year, then, you know, what are you doing? ’Cause you got to progress in life.” (26:26)

7. Life, Poker, and The Vegas Hustle

• Gambling Roots: Swapping stories about early hustles, from selling candy and sports bets as a fifth grader to high-stakes poker as an adult.
  • Quote: “My mom’s boyfriend...would bring me home the point spreads...I would take bets from everyone all day, and we would shoot dice under the playground.” (15:06)
• Poker Approach: More intuition than analytics, playing at stakes he’s comfortable with (“1,3 or 2,5”).
  • Quote: “I’m just purely body language and try to make, like, does my play make sense from the very beginning?” (17:52)
• Vegas Realities: Why he doesn’t gamble much anymore—risk and dopamine.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “They see me from Pawn Stars...where basically I’m the butt of the joke or the comedic relief. But to be fair, Chumlee, the name comes from Tennessee Tuxedo...the dimwitted sidekick walrus.” (00:43)
• “If the deal’s not right, you got to walk away.” (06:22)
• “You’re selling an experience. That’s what card breaking is, basically.” (13:54, Host)
• “I work in the pawn shop. Every day I’m inside of that giant collection...That’s why at home I’m a minimalist.” (34:28)
• “No one uses shadows like Dali, and that’s, I think, what makes his art so special.” (39:44)
• “I’m an introvert who does really well extroverted, but I prefer not to be extroverted.” (41:57)

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Timeline of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:43–02:25 | Evolution and intentionality behind Chumlee’s persona on Pawn Stars | | 03:19–05:40 | Business of collectibles, flipping, and margins | | 06:31–10:29 | Negotiation tactics, deal percentages, and platforms (eBay, Whatnot, TikTok) | | 12:24–14:00 | Community aspects of collectibles and live breaking | | 18:53–20:13 | Book recommendations and negotiation philosophy | | 21:07–22:13 | How online selling and Facebook groups have transformed the collectibles marketplace | | 25:45–27:00 | On early hustles, gambling, and building new ventures | | 27:00–28:05 | Launching and rebranding Chumlee’s Awesome Jerky | | 29:06–32:47 | Boo Boos collectibles—navigating new collectible fads | | 33:51–34:28 | Most prized collectibles, minimalism at home, pawn shop stories | | 39:06–39:44 | Diving into art—admiration for Dali and art market nuances | | 41:57–42:11 | Introversion, handling fans, and traveling with Pawn Stars | | 42:54–43:39 | Social media’s effect on Pawn Stars and personal branding | | 45:56–47:09 | Candy business, working with family, managing multiple businesses | | 47:18–end | Final plugs (Pawn After Dark podcast, candy shop visits) |

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Closing Thoughts

This fast-paced, insightful episode of Digital Social Hour goes far beyond the memes and TV edits, revealing Chumlee as a street-smart entrepreneur and collector with a sharp eye for negotiation and an adaptable hustle. Full of business takeaways and colorful stories, it’s a must for fans of collectibles, negotiation, Vegas lore—or anyone looking to level up their side hustle.

Check out Chumlee’s current projects, including the Pawn After Dark podcast and his candy shop, for a chance to meet the legend in person.

Transcript

[Chum Lee]

Thing with crypto is I just. I don't really know how to follow it. Yeah, I probably should have just bought and held, you know, my friend actually that I grew up with, bitcoin was like, at like, I don't know, pennies, like under. Way under a dollar. He wanted me to buy some. He was like, just throw a thousand bucks in. And I was like, nah, I don't think so.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, you would have been set for life.

[Chum Lee]

I'd have been.

[Podcast Host]

You know how much that is?

[Chum Lee]

Probably. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Hundreds of millions.

[Chum Lee]

I know.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, guys, Vegas legend here today. We got Chum Lee. Let's go, man.

[Chum Lee]

How you doing?

[Podcast Host]

I'm good, man. I can't wait to see what you're up to these days.

[Chum Lee]

I'm up to everything. You know, despite what people think, I'm a workaholic. Yeah, Pretty much all I do.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I don't think that's the first assumption people have of you.

[Chum Lee]

No, they think I'm pretty lazy. And I mean, they have right to. They see me, you know, from Pawn Stars on tv, where basically I'm the butt of the joke or the comedic relief. But to be fair, Chumley, the name comes from Tennessee Tuxedo. I don't know, you're probably a little young for that even. I'm young for that. But it's basically the dim witted sidekick walrus to the smart penguins, so it fits. Interesting.

[Podcast Host]

How did you feel about the way you were portrayed on the show? I guess so.

[Chum Lee]

I actually, that was done by me, by design. So when we first started the show, they were just kind of filming with the three. The, you know, father, grandfather, grandson. And they were. We had like 12 employees at the time, and they were trying to figure out who else can we fit in the show. And so I just went home. It's like I'm go watch reality tv. So of course I chose to watch Jersey Shores. I started watching a little bit of other without reality tv and I just felt like, oh, they need someone that's like loose and fun. So what. What I did was just took my natural character flaws and just like over exaggerated them times 10 with the goal of, you know, when you go to Thanksgiving dinner and everyone likes Uncle Billy, but Uncle Billy's just a little bit different. So, yeah, try to like get that vibe going. But I try to stay true to my character just by like over exaggerating things. Also, you know, I'm 43, almost 43. And I was maybe 26 or 27 when we started, so I also did have the ability to, like, grow up in front of people and grow up, you know, as a man, as a person, as a businessman. So, you know, I went through a lot of changes this year. I'll be 43. That's the age Rick was when we started filming Pawn Stars.

[Podcast Host]

Holy crap.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, time flies. Yeah, it's been a long time.

[Podcast Host]

Let's go. Yeah. I feel like you were underestimated, but you got some pretty good deals on that show.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, I have done a lot of good deals. People always ask me too. I hope you're not going to ask me what's your best deal or this, because I don't know. You know, I always tell people what you actually see on TV is probably less than 1% of the stuff we've ever looked at. And I don't watch the show. Occasionally I'll. When we film a new season, I'll watch the first few cuts just to see if they've changed up the editing style because people always ask if it's scripted. It's not scripted. It's basically improv. And if I know how they're editing it, it makes me be able to make my workflow better on camera, you know. So pretty much at the beginning of each season, I'll watch the first four or five edits and then just kind of see if they've changed up the editing style a little bit.

[Podcast Host]

That makes sense. And you're still flipping a lot of stuff right now too.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, I'm. I'm definitely flipping a lot of stuff. You know, some people call me a scalper, some people call me a businessman. But, you know, I sell a lot, a lot of Pokemon. And I get it because I'm actually, you know, in Pokemon, there's a thing called the Game Piece Army. There's like, there's basically two sides to Pokemon. The Game Piece Army, AKA the Timmy's, they want everything to be worthless. And then the collector, the investor, they want everything to be worth money. So right now, Pokemon can't keep up with the massive print demand. So boxes, you know, MSRP is maybe around 160. But usually a box costs anywhere from one to 110. Right now the new boxes are coming out at about 260.

[Podcast Host]

Damn.

[Chum Lee]

And it's hard to get them. So, you know, I have access to them. We have some distribution. Yeah, I use second hand distribution. And, you know, I sell Pokemon cards. I want Pokemon cards to be cheap too, because I'm a player, you know, I'm part of the game Piece army. I actually play the card Game. But it's in my nature to sell things. I've been at the pawn shop like 22 years at least. So all I know is like selling collectibles. I've been doing it my over half my life. I worked at the pawn shop over half my life.

[Podcast Host]

Crazy. Were cards. One of the biggest movers at the shop, like they sold off.

[Chum Lee]

So we just started doing cards maybe about two or three years ago. And Rick doesn't understand cards at all, but he loves money. So, you know, sports cards and Pokemon cards do really well. Obviously the margin is a lot different than jewelry and stuff, so it's all about volume. But collectibles in general are just. It's massive. You know, a lot of, a lot of people are worried about cards because of the, you know, the 90s junk wax era. Right. But I, I think companies have learned from their mistakes and not that that can't happen again. I think companies do what they can to make sure that they're not overprinting and burning their company to the ground. Right. Like Pokemon is the biggest IP. I don't know exactly, but it's somewhere probably around 200, $250 billion. Massively bigger than even something like Disney, which is hard to even think of.

[Podcast Host]

That's hard to fathom. I remember there was a viral YouTube clip of you seeing a huge Pokemon collection.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Stars like 10 years ago. Right.

[Chum Lee]

So we've done quite a few little Pokemon collections, but you're talking about the Charizards for sure.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[Chum Lee]

And that was actually filmed in 2016 and it didn't hit the air for 18 months. So the, the market changed a little bit in that 18 months. But that was the first time I met Gary King Charizard. He's the one who brought those in and he wanted like, I want to say like somewhere 20 to $40,000 over value, if I remember correctly. So by the time it aired, maybe the value had went up a little bit. And then by the time most people saw it, it was Covid time and everyone was watching, you know, all these different clips on Tick Tock and Instagram. And of course, the collection was worth millions of dollars at the time. So, yeah, you know, every day people always want to know, does Rick regret it? And the truth is like, you know, you. If the deal's not right, you got to walk away.

[Podcast Host]

100. Have you guys ever paid over for something or.

[Chum Lee]

Okay, so no, not to sell, but I think it's perfectly fine to pay over for something that you like. Right. Like an example, it's maybe not the best example because it's not a collectible but you know, when I went to buy my most recent house, I'd been in about eight years, I came in, I just offered market for, I offered what they wanted for the house and my real estate agent was like no, no, no. I'm like well we want to get everyone else out of the picture so let's get the appraisal and deal with it later. And then I still ended up paying about $22,000 over the.

[Podcast Host]

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[Chum Lee]

Appraisal value of the house My real, my realtor was not happy with me. I've known him my whole life. But I tried to explain to him, I'm like if you really want something, if you really love something, if you know you're paying over for it, it's okay. Like if you're doing this to make money, like if you're, if I'm buying this house to fix it up and flip it, you can't pay over. You got to get the best deal. But you know, my house has doubled since then and my realtor thinks I'm a genius. So you know, but when it comes to collectibles, like when I do card shows, I don't pay over. A lot of people. It's. You're starting to have to get to pay more and more for stuff. But I'm firm, this is what I can pay. You know, I have my, you know, I have three or four employees that I have to pay so I need to make my certain margins and I just don't pay over if I'm trying to make money on it. Now if I want something for my collection, I'll pay full market or maybe even a little bit over if it's something that is, you know, low population report or really hard to find. But that's a personal choice, it's not a business choice.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, you do those coin flip things.

[Chum Lee]

I do not do the coin flips. I'm totally against the coin Flips. And I think it's cool to watch, you know, and do the content. You know, it's possible, like if I was doing content for that, I would do it. But for me it's a business decision. Say, you know, we're doing like a 80 or 120 for a coin flip. I'd rather just meet in the middle at 100 if it works for me. Because if I, you know, pay 120, that means I'm outside of my margin. So if it doesn't work, I just, you know, walk away. I usually make people an offer and I always tell them, hey, if you get a bunch of offers and you're still not sure, come back to me. Tell me what your highest offer is and if I can beat it, I'll beat it. If not, you know, go to them. I tell people all the time when I make them an offer, they'll be like, well, this person offered me this. I'm like, you should take this back to them right now and sell it because you might get a better offer. But that's like probably an insane offer. Yeah, yeah.

[Podcast Host]

That's a good negotiation tactic, right?

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. So I'm very honest when it comes to like buying stuff. I'll tell people straight up, you know, this is the exact percentage I'm paying for it. And if you want to go shopping around, go, I'll be here, right here. And my offer stands.

[Podcast Host]

What's the percentage range you usually aim for?

[Chum Lee]

Um, I would love to do stuff for 70%, but it's a little hard right now. So lower end stuff, I'll go 70 to 80%, but I will pay, you know, 85, maybe even 90% on some higher end stuff. Like I do a lot of my, I do a lot of my sales online, so I have built in fees, so I got to stay below 85%, you know, closer to 80. But if I say you brought me a card that you know was $5,000 and I knew I could sell it hand to hand without a transaction fee online, then I could probably go 90, maybe even 95% if I had a buyer for it that I already knew would buy it. I don't make in mind making 5 or 10% on a sell. But since I sell most of my stuff online, you know, each different platform has different fee structures built into it. So if I'm buying something that I know is going to go online, it's a, it's a tight.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, because eBay and StockX, they take a fat fee, right?

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. So I Do ebay, but I do whatnot as well. Have you heard of that? But I just moved to TikTok about a month ago because at the beginning of COVID I jumped on TikTok right away and amassed like two and a half million followers. So the traffic is good. So for example, if I'm on whatnot because I do live streaming, so I do passive selling on ebay. I do live streaming on ebay too. But if I'm on ebay or whatnot, it's a more of a narrow market. Right. You're in the Pokemon category. You're in the football category. Right. So in my TikTok shop, I go wide. I'm selling, you know, people are buying football cars to chase the downtown and then they're buying one piece or Pokemon cards after it. So like in my store I have absolutely like football, one piece, Pokemon, Disney, Laura kana, vintage Naruto. Like I could put everything in there. And it doesn't really get still, you know, people are buying different stuff all day.

[Podcast Host]

I've seen some shops pulling crazy numbers on TikTok.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, yeah. It's definitely, definitely pretty good. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Like I'm talking tens of millions, like doing cards. It's nuts.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. So I actually just left L. A. I got back last night around midnight because I'm gonna move into the coin space. And I think people know me as a card collector, but I think a lot of people trust me as a coin, you know, a coin bender or coins reseller. So I think that the market is going to be huge. And I've had relationships with coin dealers longer than I've had the relationships with the people I buy my cards from. So it makes sense. But the thing with coins is, you know, you're working on, you know, 3 to 5% instead of, you know, whatever, 10 to 25%.

[Podcast Host]

So it's a volume game.

[Chum Lee]

It's a volume game. Yeah. And you gotta. It's. It's much easier to supply though. You know, no one's ever gonna come in a coin stream and call me a scalper like they do in my Pokemon stream. It's a different market.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. What kind of coins are we talking? Like the ancient coins or.

[Chum Lee]

So I have access to everything coin going to just kind of throw it at the wall and see what sticks. So I'm definitely going to have like ancient coins, but I'm going to have, you know, maybe you're a first time. Maybe you want to buy a coin. You've never bought a coin before. Right. Your budget is maybe $30 on a coin, I'm going to have that. But I'm also going to have some, you know, mid to tier stuff, $300, maybe some thousand dollar stuff. But like, if you came up to me were like, hey, I'm looking for this coin, it's like $50,000. I could probably make a phone call and get you that coin. So my goal is to just cater to the people that, you know, want to buy stuff and not really exclude anybody because I'm in a weird position. You know, most of the time if you go into a TikTok shop, you're buying from someone who sells like Pokemon. Right. Most of the people on my TikTok are buying something from the guy they grew up watching on tv. So they collect all this stuff. But it's a different, it has a different transaction value as to where like they're almost, you know, I always say like, you know, the Pokemon card, the football card. Yeah, it's the final product. But it's not exactly what we're selling. We're selling a memory and experience because these people, most of them grew up watching me with their family or, you know, with their kids or their dads. So this is. They are buying something they want, but they are also creating a memory that gives them an interaction to have a, you know, a moment with someone that they grew up watching in their living room.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, you're selling experience. That's what card breaking is, basically.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

That's why people pay more to open it on live.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. And I always. And people do pay more to open online because it's a different type of community. Right. You're still like, some people go to the cigar lounge, some people go to the bar, some people go to watch concerts or edc. And that's their community. Right. Nerds like me, we don't want to leave the house, so we're perfectly fine sitting on the couch building a community with people online. And that's the thing about whatnot. It's more of a. It's more of a community, you know, as to where TikTok is. For me personally, I have so many people in my TikTok that it's, it's just more of an experience as to where I'm building a community there, but whatnot's a little more personal.

[Podcast Host]

That makes sense. Were you always pretty nerdy growing up?

[Chum Lee]

No, I didn't touch Pokemon cards Till I was 31. Yeah, I was just a hustler and a grinder my whole life. I was basically ran with the Skaters.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Skater boy, huh?

[Chum Lee]

Skater boy, baby.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, but you were still fixing it, like, flipping back then, too.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, just anything I could. I mean, even dumb stuff from Candy when I. I hope you guys are enjoying the show.

[Podcast Host]

Please don't forget to like and subscribe. It helps the show a lot with the algorithm. Thank you.

[Chum Lee]

It's hard to believe, but this is a true story. My mom's boyfriend, when I was in, like, fourth and fifth grade was. He bet a lot of football and anything you can imagine. So he would let me place bets so he would bring me home. Have you ever seen the booklet where you, like, has this point spreads for the whole week?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Chum Lee]

So he would bring that home and I would take little bets. You know, in fifth grade, nothing crazy. $2, $5, whatever. We would. I would take bets from everyone all day, and we would shoot dice under the. Under the playground. And we had a little. Little tiny gambling ring. It was. So, you know, I'm talking maybe 50 to 100 bucks a week type thing, you know, nothing craz grade. Yeah. But, you know, I was also selling candy. Cheaper than the Snack Shack and all that.

[Podcast Host]

A lot of people start with candy, man. That's how I started.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, a lot of people started with candy. I started with sports betting.

[Podcast Host]

Did you ever get addicted to gambling after that?

[Chum Lee]

So me and Corey from the show, we lived together. And I don't know if I was a. I guess I probably. I don't know if I was addicted. I do have an addictive personality.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Chum Lee]

But we used to. Before the show, we used to bet a lot on Sportsbook every Sunday. And he would bet a lot, like, all his money. I would bet a lot, too. Luckily, this was a very good year for me. Sportsman. I probably win like 60, so that's a good year if you go 60%, you know, and I don't bet parlays. I'll bet a parlay once in a while for fun. But, you know, you just bet units, single games. Corey would bet. Would bet, like, all his rent money. I would make sure I had enough money to cover my rent left if I lost everything. But he would bet everything. Just keep flipping it every. And he would just go home and go to bed and wake up for the night game and see how he did. He was just too nervous.

[Podcast Host]

Straight degeneracy.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

But.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, we were pretty degenerate when we were younger.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. But I feel like that's hard to pull off in Vegas too.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. I think that's probably why I don't really do it much anymore. I don't really sports gamble anymore because I'll do a bet sometimes, but for me, if I was to win a thousand dollars right now, it feels okay. But if I'm to lose a hundred dollars, boy, am I ticked off. Hurts more. Yeah, it hurts, you know, like. So the risk versus reward. I don't get the same dopamine kick, but although I haven't for the last year or so because I've been so busy grinding, I do love to play poker.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah?

[Chum Lee]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You're nice at poker.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, I mean I, I play my own game, you know, I just play the smaller games. I don't really play big games, but it, I just like going in there and these old guys, they don't know what I'm doing ever. You know, I get caught a lot, but sometimes they, I just think I like to go in there and mess with them and. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was pretty good when I played. It's hard to make money in poker though, no matter how good you are. Yeah. You always make a bad decision.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Do you use the solvers? Like, are you really analytical?

[Chum Lee]

No, no analytics at all. I'm just purely body language and try to make like. Does my play make sense from the very beginning? Like, yeah, I took some lessons from Jonathan Little at the very beginning. I don't know if you know, I know him. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, I'm not a math guy at all. I'll do like a quick basic kind of rundown, like think of it. But I'm not a numbers or a math guy. That's why I don't play the big games, because I'll get myself in trouble playing those kind of big games. You know, if I'm in a three or a five hundred or a thousand dollar buy in, like just not really too much trouble.

[Podcast Host]

That's your sweet spot.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, yeah, like, you know, 1, 3 or 2, 5 or you know, sometimes I'll. I think 2, 5 is about the biggest I'll play.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, that makes sense though because you've talked to tens of thousands of people, so you're probably really good at reading people.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, you know, I'm pretty good at reading people and I don't read a lot, but I listen a lot. I meant to bring a book for you. I totally forgot it.

[Podcast Host]

I read a lot.

[Chum Lee]

No, no, no. But I, I have this one book that I give to everybody. I bought so many copies of them. I give them to everybody. I'll give you one in the future.

[Podcast Host]

Here.

[Chum Lee]

I read a lot of Psycho. I listen to a lot of psychology books, but this one's called Surrounded by Idiots. I don't know if you haven't heard that one. So basically, it takes the psychology of human personality, and it just breaks them down into four colors, and it helps you to identify what color or combination of colors people may be, and it's. It helps you in negotiation with. Negotiating with certain types of, you know, characteristics.

[Podcast Host]

Interesting.

[Chum Lee]

You can it. I've read a lot of other books like this, but this one is so simple and easy to digest. I always tell people, you know, this is a good book to read, especially, like, if you want to sell cars, if you want to sell timeshares, if you want to sell million dollar properties, you know, $100 million properties. This is a great book to start and get into it.

[Podcast Host]

Did that book help you on Pawn Stars negotiating?

[Chum Lee]

So that was actually one of the most recent books I read. Yeah. I think negotiating Pawn Stars, negotiating is just natural for me. I been in the pawn shop since I was probably 22, 23.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Chum Lee]

And I'm just being there. I've always learned how to negotiate. You know, Rick and the old man, you know, they're just. They're just natural negotiators. So I think I've always been a natural salesman. So the pawn shop really was like a kind of a great fit for me.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Chum Lee]

But, yeah, negotiation is. Is a. Is a. Is a skill that everybody should learn.

[Podcast Host]

Absolutely.

[Chum Lee]

Rick's number one rule is know when to walk away. Like, you know, like, I like Trump's statement about it. Some of the best deals that you make are the ones you walk away from. Right. Like, sometimes that's the best thing that can happen, is you can walk away from a deal and wait for the next one to pop up.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Brick's one of the best I've seen, man.

[Chum Lee]

Dude, he's good. Yeah, he's. He's really, really good at it. I do.

[Podcast Host]

I'm sure you picked up a lot off him, just seeing him over the years.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, I mean, he's. He's the best of the best when it comes to negotiating because he's. He's not afraid to walk away. He just knows it's gonna walk through the door later.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, no, it's iconic. He'll take a deep breath when he hears their offer, and he's the best I can do.

[Chum Lee]

It's like a big meme. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

No, he's phenomenal with it. Because the facial expressions mean a lot too, right?

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, facial expressions do mean a Lot in a person. And you know, negotiating is a lot harder now than it was 10 years ago. Right.

[Podcast Host]

Because now you can look it up.

[Chum Lee]

Not even that. Now you can go on Facebook group and sell it for 95 to 100%. Right. You got, you know, 10, 20 years ago, like if you're the, you know, you're a sports cards collector. You told me like, okay, like yeah, you go to a card shop, maybe you can search ebay, but you're limited right now. You can just go in 100 different Facebook groups, post what you're looking for and you're probably going to get 40 people hitting you up competing for your product.

[Podcast Host]

Damn. I didn't know that.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, Facebook's kind of, I mean Facebook marketplace offer up. You know, I don't really. I used to do Facebook marketplace and the Pokemon groups but I like to use platforms that have built in shipping. I don't like to go right on my shipping label and pay for it at the thing. I like to pay. You pay for it, print it and stick it on your.

[Podcast Host]

Because you're shipping hundreds of stuff.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, yeah. Probably, you know, minimum, you know, 500 packages a week. Yeah. And we only do about 20 hours. 20, 25 hours of streaming a week. We're still scaling up right now.

[Podcast Host]

That's insane. Yeah, I didn't even think about that. So that means pawn shops must be struggling then.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, I think, I don't really know. Like punch ups do pretty good because gold, right. Gold is at an all time high. I did really well on gold last year and I did really well on silver. It's the first time I've ever done well on silver. I've always lost money buying and selling silver. But last year, just the trajectory of gold and you know, the value ratio for silver to gold, it's, you know, it's golds I think around 3, 203, 300 an ounce today. And it goes up and down every second as to where just one year ago it was around 1900.

[Podcast Host]

Holy crap. So it almost doubled.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. You know, it's 50 and I mean when I started the pawn shop it was like 250 an ounce and now it's 2300. So I remember one time I bought a, I bought a big Mr. T rope chain from Rick. Right. This was back when gold was like maybe 253in an ounce. And I put on layaway and one day one morning gold shot up to 450 an ounce. So I went and bought the lane chain off layaway and sold it Back to Rick for a profit. I never even wore it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I love it. Yeah, you got to be quick in this space. You know, Stuff fluctuates.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. Collectibles fluctuate, like every. Every. Every single day.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. That's nuts. I saw on the show you guys bought a 3372 ounce silver collection.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, I don't even remember that, but we buy that every day. Like yesterday, you know, I was with our coin guy and, you know, he, you know, spent 30, $40,000 on silver coins. And, you know, that's probably about. He probably bought two weeks to a month's worth of stuff, depending on if it's a little slow or normal. But, you know, we're rolling into summer, right. And tourism. Even though they say tourism is down in Las Vegas, it's always going to be massive in the summer. Even if it's down, it's still massive. Maybe the casinos are losing out because of these big resort fees, and maybe they'll change that, but the people are still coming. And, you know, if you can buy a $30 silver coin or. I think silver is $32 an ounce now, so it probably costs you about 40 bucks to buy it. And, you know, people look at that as a solid investment. Right. It's. You know, some people like bitcoin, some people like to have a tangible piece of, you know, value that they can hold and put in their safe.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Are you big on crypto at all, or.

[Chum Lee]

No, I have no crypto. I had a bunch when bitcoin was around 15, and I just sold it like an idiot. My thing with crypto is I just. I do. I don't really know how to follow it. I just. I think it's great. I do believe in it, but I don't know how to follow it. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

A lot of anxiety if you're following it every day.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. I probably should have just bought and held. You know, my friend actually, that I grew up with, like, probably bitcoin was like, at like, I don't know, pennies, whatever. I don't know, like 10, 20 cents. Was it ever, like. It was like under. Way under a dollar. He wanted me to buy some. He was like, just throw a thousand bucks in it. I was like, nah, you would have been. Separate life. I'd have been, yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Does he still have it?

[Chum Lee]

He lost his keys. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You know how much that is?

[Chum Lee]

Probably. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Hundreds of millions.

[Chum Lee]

I know.

[Podcast Host]

I only.

[Chum Lee]

Literally, he was. We were just. I was probably 21. Yeah, 21. 22.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Chum Lee]

Maybe 23. At the oldest. So this was, you know, 17, 18 years ago. Something like.

[Podcast Host]

Well, back in the day. That's how you bought fake IDs.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. Well, we just used to go to the swap meet down there, a fantastic, fantastic swap meet, and buy them in the. In the.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, they had them there.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. Yeah, you can get them there.

[Podcast Host]

Damn. I actually went there the other day.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, they don't have them anymore. Yeah, you just go in the parking lot and they. They would be walking around.

[Podcast Host]

They would make them there. Yeah.

[Chum Lee]

I was Johnny Zero.

[Podcast Host]

Damn, what a name.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Did it work at the bars?

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. But honestly, I really never had to do it. From the time I was 16, I could cash my own sports ticket. When me and Corey were. He's about. About. About a year and a half younger than me. So I was probably like 18, and maybe I was 17. 18. And we used to go. We lived in Reno. We went to Job Corps. We lived. Instead we'd go to Reno for the weekend because he had a truck out there about 18. I could go into this pizza joint and I would get us our pictures of beer and a couple pizzas, and we'd sit there and drink beer. So I always had facial hair and I could always. I have a really baby face when I shave my.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, yeah.

[Chum Lee]

That's why I don't shave it off. It's such a baby face. But, you know, the beard goes a long way. I love it. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Damn. The good old days, huh?

[Chum Lee]

The good old days. But I always say, if you're not changing year by year, then you know, what are you doing? Because you got to progress in life. So change is a good thing. I don't stray away from change, but change is needed. I do love the good old days. They made it what it is.

[Podcast Host]

What's the main focus these days, outside of coins? I know you brought some stuff today that you wanted to show.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. So Pokemon is my main focus. Let me pull it out and then I'll talk, cuz I know. All right, so we'll start with something that's not a collectible. I made this to sell at my candy shop. We're running through the last bags, and we're going to rebrand it because it looks like candy. But I have a beef jerky company.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, nice.

[Chum Lee]

So these are my flavors. Original Western Barbecue. Scorpion Jalapeno, Garlic, and Western Teriyaki. So we have a great name, Chumley's Awesome Jerky. We're going to take the Chumley off of it and rebrand it to Fit into the beef jerky aisle and take it, like, you know, no added sugar.

[Podcast Host]

Let's go. I love jerky.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, that's it. Well, when I made this, I fell off a little bit. I've gained like 30 pounds this year, so I'm back on my back on my grind. But I did no sugar. Like, just grassy, grass fed meats and vegetables and eggs and cashews.

[Podcast Host]

That's the way to do it.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, so. So I got that. That's going good. In the candy shop. We're gonna, you know, sell these last thousand bags and then rebrand it.

[Podcast Host]

Love it.

[Chum Lee]

Into the jerky aisle.

[Podcast Host]

Can I try one?

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That one has sugar in it.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, it does?

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. Only the brown one has no sugar because there's no flavor. All the rest of them have sugar, but that one's hot. This is my favorite. This is. That's a really good barbecue.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, this looks.

[Chum Lee]

That's really spicy. Do you like spicy?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, that's okay.

[Podcast Host]

And I love the wet jerky, too.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, that's fire. Holy. I'm gonna eat the whole bag.

[Chum Lee]

I'll leave those with you. You can try or give them out or whatever. Yeah. So Pokemon, obviously, these are the hottest sets right now.

[Podcast Host]

Is this brand new set.

[Chum Lee]

So this 151, I think is about two years old, but it's 100. And it's the 151 original Pokemons rebranded into a modern set.

[Podcast Host]

Got it.

[Chum Lee]

So you know, this. When this comes out, I think this should be about. This should be about 18 to $22. But you know, like, there's 65. Probably 65 bucks right now. Damn. This is not the newest set, but it's the second to newest set. It's a small set, Prismatic Evolution. Same price point as this, but these are about probably $73. They just. They have a lot of very expensive cars in there you can chase. So it's pretty crazy.

[Podcast Host]

73, just for that.

[Chum Lee]

You're more than welcome to open any of those if you want, but I do have something I want to open with you. Are you cool? What is the hottest trend right now? Oh, what do you think the hottest, newest, biggest trend is right now?

[Podcast Host]

Is it Magic the Gathering?

[Chum Lee]

No, but I do sell magic as well. I could play magic too, but no, we're talking K pop, right? What does everybody want right now? The Boo Boos. Have you ever heard of them?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, my fiance collects these.

[Chum Lee]

All right, well, let's pull her something good. Let's do it. Do you care if we open something.

[Podcast Host]

She'd be so happy with this.

[Chum Lee]

So I just dove in. I. I got a few of these last week. And at the card shop, I saw how attached everyone are. At the card show, I saw how attached everyone was to them, and I said, oh, this is going to have a nice run.

[Podcast Host]

So, bro, we just waited an hour in line for these.

[Chum Lee]

I just bought 1200 units. Holy crap. An insane amount from a guy I've only done business with once. I spent $9,000 with him and then I sold a few of them. I called him back and was like, yes, these are.

[Podcast Host]

These are flying right now.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, I spent 50. I spent $55,000 on these this week.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, my gosh.

[Chum Lee]

I see. They're gonna break. Or is it gonna make her break it?

[Podcast Host]

So how did these take off, you think?

[Chum Lee]

Lisa from Big Pink. So they were created in 2015. I forget the lady's name. But they're created after, like nortek mythology. So this is like a little monster in some kind of like, little mythology. Maybe like in a. You know, maybe popularized in a book or something. And so let's do it. Yeah, basically those are your options. And there's a secret one. 1 in 72 if I really want the black one. But it today, then your girl is going to be super, super hyped.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, let's go.

[Chum Lee]

So inside it will be in a blind bag, because, you know, blind bag is the, you know, the big thing right now, right? Yeah. So don't look at the. Just pull it out and don't look in there, cuz there's a card in there that. That will give it away.

[Podcast Host]

All right, got it out then.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, you just.

[Podcast Host]

So you want the black one? Is that the secret one?

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, and it goes for 400, maybe more. I saw one actually. So I looked today and there was one that sold for $589 on eBay. That's insane. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

So it's super rare then.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. And I didn't get the black one.

[Podcast Host]

But that's pink.

[Chum Lee]

This is the one I pulled. I only opened. Oh, so you got love and I got loyalty.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, Love and loyalty.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

So how much would these go?

[Chum Lee]

Probably? I didn't. They're less. So less than if you bought it, you know, in a box already. Right.

[Podcast Host]

So it's like funkos. When you open it, it loses a little.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. So I mean, let's see. You want to just open these? Yeah, I want to, you know. Okay. Then your girl will be happy you came to the podcast. So this is the Big energy. These are like the new. Hottest. Hottest ones.

[Podcast Host]

So these just came out.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, these are like the newest series. Everyone wants these and they go for you. You. They go for about 60 to 65. You can find them cheaper, but you got to be careful because you might be at a lefufu. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

So they're already faking these.

[Chum Lee]

They're already faking these. Yeah, they're already faking these. If there's money to be made, they're gonna fake them.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, we just waited an hour in line to buy. We spent like 21 each on a stuff.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, yeah, they're a lot cheaper if you wait in line. But yeah, I. I pay. I personally pay quite a bit more than 21.50 for them. Yeah, so I make about 20 bucks per one. So I think I pay, you know, about 40, 45, depending on what it is. Yeah. So these ones I pay about 45 bucks for.

[Podcast Host]

Oh.

[Chum Lee]

So if you don't want to wait in line, you know, you could pay a little more and hit me up. I got you. Yeah, I'll give you. I'll give you my price.

[Podcast Host]

We got four out of the seven.

[Chum Lee]

All right, we have two more chances to pull. To pull a secret rare one here.

[Podcast Host]

Have you ever pulled a black one?

[Chum Lee]

I've only opened one of these. I just got these. I haven't even. My first time opening one of these was Sunday. Damn. And then I just. I saw how much people liked him and I was like, oh, this is. There's going to be a good year long run. Probably around Christmas, Black Friday. They're going to go crazy.

[Podcast Host]

So I might have to start collecting these on.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, well, you got a good collection here.

[Podcast Host]

All right, let's see. Last chance.

[Chum Lee]

Oh, well, I think we got them all though.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, we did.

[Chum Lee]

All right, so now you just have to chase the secret one. It's cheaper just to go buy it for 500.

[Podcast Host]

I've spent a lot chasing cards.

[Chum Lee]

You know, I don't. If your girl does like to collect them, you might want to take this little card out of each one. Tells you exactly what it is.

[Podcast Host]

That was fun, man.

[Chum Lee]

So, yeah, that's what I do, you know, and Pokemon cards, obviously. You know, there's a card in here that is probably worth about fifteen hundred dollars. Like ungraded Charizard or something? No, it's Umbreon, you know. Umbreon.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Chum Lee]

So Umbreon's the modern Charizard, basically is the moon kitty, they call it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, yeah, I remember that one. That was the black One, right?

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. Yeah. And a lot of people will use these Pokemon cards to actually play a game and build a deck. Like what I do as well.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Chum Lee]

There's a huge people that just collect them.

[Podcast Host]

What's your most prized collectible? I know you collect everything.

[Chum Lee]

Samurai sword. It's about 500 years old. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

That's cool.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. So actually, I collect a little bit of everything. I don't collect a lot. A bit of everything. I'm actually a minimalist when it comes to my house. It's a little overflowing with product right now. I have it all stacked up. I'm looking for the perfect space because I'm very picky. So I'm looking for a place right now. But typically, when you walk into my house, it looks like Airbnb. It's very, very minimal. Few little decorations. And then my Pokemon is. You know, I like collecting that because I can binder it or slab it and put it in a case and put it in the closet, and it's not like, out everywhere. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

I didn't expect that answer. I thought you'd be like a hoarder with all the collectibles you surround yourself with.

[Chum Lee]

Well, I work in the pawn shop. It's like, every day I'm inside of that giant collection. Right.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Chum Lee]

I do have a weird collection of. Do you know what Milford is?

[Podcast Host]

No.

[Chum Lee]

So it's been around thousands of years. It's basically glass art. And what they do is they. There's different ways to make it. There's called stringers, where they put a tube and they stack different color, tiny little strings in there and make a picture. And then other artists will paint the picture up. Right. And it's a big tube like this. Then they heat it up, and they pull it out into little canes or coins.

[Podcast Host]

Wow. That's cool.

[Chum Lee]

And then they put those. Some people collect those. But have you ever seen, like. So they put them on, like, pipes and stuff, too. Have you ever seen, like, a pipe with that marble with the picture inside of it?

[Podcast Host]

I think so.

[Chum Lee]

So I collect those marbles. So they have like. I've actually sent someone on a plane to go pick one up before. Damn. Because I didn't want to risk losing it in the mail, you know, Wasn't crazy. It was expensive. But 2500 bucks, usually collectible like that, you just send in the mail. Right. But it's so rare, and I wanted it so bad. I wasn't. I was like, I'm just gonna send my assistant to San Francisco to pick it up and not worry about getting. Losing this thing in the mail.

[Podcast Host]

Well, it's glass. You don't want it to break, right?

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. I mean, I bought so much glass. I bought more expensive glass than that through the mail and stuff. But this particular artist, Mike Gong, is just. It was my first Mike Gong marble, and I just really, really, really wanted to make sure that it got to me safe.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I've been looking into art. I might start collecting art, too.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. Do you know what artist you like?

[Podcast Host]

Basquiat.

[Chum Lee]

Basquiat. Yeah. This is a Basquiat hat.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, yeah.

[Chum Lee]

I got this from the Basquiat Museum.

[Podcast Host]

No way.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. I love Basquiat. Do you have a living artist that you like?

[Podcast Host]

Not yet, to be honest. I just started researching it.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, I love Mark Ryden. Have you been in Single Stuff at all? It's like, kind of pop surrealism, but it's like, he uses, like, little girls in, like, doll form, kind of figures to create, like, an innocence to his painting. But there's also, like. It's. It's just really, really weird. Really, really weird stuff, and I absolutely love it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. Check it out. It's either you're either for it or you're not, but it's completely different than Basquiat. But he is, like, you know, one of my top artists as well.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Chum Lee]

So, yeah, he, you know, like, his story and everything.

[Podcast Host]

No.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, so he kind of basically like, Apprentice with Andy Warhol and stuff. Yeah. So he was all in the New York scene, Keith Haring and all that. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Art is fascinating because it. First of all, it just looks cool. And also there's. The appreciation is insane on some of them.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. Well, we're gonna have you at the pawn shop, I think, very soon. So we have a lot of art at the pawn shop.

[Podcast Host]

Can't wait to see it.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, we have a framing shop there. We frame stuff up and everything. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

So what's the most expensive thing you got in there right now?

[Chum Lee]

I. Well, it changes all the time. But we had on the show, we bought these prints of where the Wild Things Are. Yeah. So we still have those.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, you still.

[Chum Lee]

I'm pretty sure they're like. I'm. I'm pretty sure they're around, like. I don't know if they're like 50,000 or like 80, 90,000 each. Yeah, I'll show them to you. I'll show them to you when it's crazy. Yeah. Damn.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Those are probably worth over a million collectively, right?

[Chum Lee]

I don't think they're that much. But they were. They are worth like a. They are worth a lot of money. Like at least over a hundred thousand. But they. We don't really deal in the million dollar art. Right. We. We can get all that stuff, but we deal in like a lot of it is like several hundred or a few thousand. A thousand, five thousand. We do have some 10, 50,000. We keep that in the back. But we deal on the stuff that your average person could come in on vacation and, you know, buy some prints. Like, we have tons of Picasso prints, Sal.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, Dolly. That's another one I like.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. So Dolly has so many different art styles. Have you ever been to the museum in Miami?

[Podcast Host]

Not that one, but. Okay.

[Chum Lee]

If you go to Miami, go to the Dolly Museum. It is insane. It's so beautiful.

[Podcast Host]

I gotta check that out. There's this one piece I definitely will buy of his. It's like a watch, like a blue clock.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. That's my favorite one.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. No, Dolly has a real interesting story. He, you know, he went to art school for fine art, and then he was in all the, like, Aristocrat Circle and just kind of decided to go his own way and do his own thing and. And really, like, he's one of those artists that actually made something of themselves while they were alive. You know, a lot of artists never get to see their success, but Dolly actually, like, you know, was able to make something out of himself while he was alive. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

That's such an interesting concept. I wonder why that happens to artists.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, I think a lot of time, you know, art isn't appreciated until it's appreciated. Right. I think the best artists are ahead of the curve. So a lot of art that gets sold while artists are living, you know, and this isn't a Knox artist, but it's not an original style. Right. Although there was other people doing surrealism, like Dolly. When you see a Dolly, you know, it's a Dolly. What he can do and convey with the. With, like, how he uses shadows is really hard to do. And there's other artists that are good at it, but no one uses shadows like Dolly. And that's, I think, what makes his art so special and why it's just still so collectible today. When you see, you know, something here and then the shadow of it is in the perfect position. Exactly how it should be like with the light facing it. It's just, you know, that's crazy. Dolly's understanding of light is just beyond, you know, it so, so, so high level.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Legend. What was it like Taking stuff on the road with Pawn Stars to America.

[Chum Lee]

Oh, my God.

[Podcast Host]

Stressful.

[Chum Lee]

So, yeah, it was a whole. It was a whole production. I mean, the stressful part was I'm a homebody. I do not really leave my house very often. So we did three seasons, but two of the seasons were done back to back on the road. So the first season was crazy. We were like, you know. And then this. The second one was even crazier because it was basically seven months at a time. We. We would go on the road for 21 days, and the first season, we'd only come home for, like, three or four days. And then we go back on the road.

[Podcast Host]

That's insane.

[Chum Lee]

So the second and third season, we did it back to back, but we do, like, 19, 20 days on the road, and then we get to spend a week or two at home. But it was super stressful for me because I was doing card shows in between one month. I did, like, 24, 25 plane rides or long drives. We would, you know, get off on Friday. I'd get on a plane, fly to another state, do a Pokemon convention, you know, work till Sunday, hop on a plane Sunday night, arrive back in the road show on a Monday, get in my car, maybe shower. Sometimes I didn't have time to shower, drive straight to work. But it was really cool because people, you know, in Vegas, people are bringing stuff to us. So you go somewhere, like, you know, Indianapolis, right? People from Indianapolis are. They're bringing you their stuff there. It's, you know, it's a lot of stuff that you won't get to see come into Vegas. So a lot of cool stuff, a lot of good memories on the road. But I spent most of my time in the hotel room, so, yeah, I was so happy to. You know, Rick is a social butterfly. Rickle. You know, Rick will just go out, sit at the bar and have a drink and just talk to who's ever right there. Even if he's not having a drink, he'll go to the bar, get a diet Coke, and. Or a regular Coke and just, you know, have conversation with people.

[Podcast Host]

So you're like the total opposite. You're an introvert, it sounds like.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, I'm an introvert who does really well. Extroverted. But I prefer not to be extroverted. You know, I do. I do really well in my circle or with someone I want to be around. But if I don't want to be there, I just don't want to be there.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, well, people probably drain your energy, you know.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. Well, and it's, you know, I appreciate my fans so much and I want to give them a good experience. Right. But I can only do it for so many hours. Right. Because it's the same thing when I'm out. You know, we have a huge fan base and I want people to have a good experience when they meet me. And you know, it's. But the last thing I want to do after I worked all day 19 days in a row is go eat dinner and have a drink and talk about what I did all week, you know. But I understand that's what I have to do when I'm out. So if I'm not in that mindset, I just, I just don't go out. But yeah, I do really well when I am out though.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. And I feel like social media really revived the show too with all the clips. Right?

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. So it's crazy you say that because for like the last three years, this. In about six months ago, I got the realization. Everyone kept saying, you're the guy from Tick Tock. And I'm like, I had a Tick Tock, but I don't post anything on ticks. I haven't posted on Tick Tock for years. You're the guy from Tick Tock. I'm at the bank one day and someone goes, you're the guy from Tick Tock. In it like a light bulb. I'm the guy from Tik Tok. And I realized they're watching Pawn Stars episodes on Tick Tock. And you don't ever hear our name on Tick Tock. You just, you see me and Rick or me and Corey, or me Rick and Corey. And we're the guys from Tick Tock. They don't know it's Rick, Chum and Corey. So I was like, I'm the guy from TikTok now. So, yeah, social media has like put a huge, you know, revive into the show. And it's. I feel like it's just so strong.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, that's how I consume content these days. I don't really watch many shows or movies. I just see highlights and clips on social media.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah, I mostly watch. Yeah, I mostly watch YouTube or I'll watch some shows. Like everyone. I'll usually watch an hour or two of TV at the end of the night, you know, just to relax and hang out and, and unwind. But sometimes I'm not even watching it. I'm maybe working on my spreadsheets, just have it on the background. But I wake up really early, so I like to have like two hours of, you know, current events in the Morning on YouTube because you could pick where you want. Right?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Chum Lee]

You don't have to listen to the legacy media. Push their socks down. Yeah. Push their agendas down your throat. Whether it's, you know, left or right, it doesn't really matter. But I listen to all of it. But you get a more authentic perspective from the YouTube channels and stuff.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, yeah. I love YouTube over media too. A lot of good podcasts and shows on there.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. And I feel like everyone's attention Spanish shot these days. Like I used to be able to watch a whole season of like Naruto in like a day.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. Oh, I wish I would have brought my 2004 Naruto cards.

[Podcast Host]

Naruto cards.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. I did a really good buy a while ago and I got some really, really, really hard to find stuff.

[Podcast Host]

That's sick.

[Chum Lee]

Yeah. But no attention span is, is shot. You know, it's 15 second attention span.

[Podcast Host]

So I can't even watch a show without checking my phone anymore.

[Chum Lee]

It's crazy. Yeah. Like literally that's so. I'm so good. Like, um, I don't. I'm just a post and ghost. I'll like respond. If I make a post on social media, I'll try to respond to it for the first 15 minutes. Maybe I'll come back a couple days later and try to respond a little bit or throw some hearts. But even if I am sitting down doing nothing, if I get on my phone for after two or three minutes, I'm like, oh, I got to put it down. This is because I will have an addictive personality. I will get sucked back into it. And there's so many other things I'd rather do to waste my time. Because, you know, I like to waste my time. I don't waste much of it, but. But if I'm gonna waste my time, I want to do a wasting at something else productive.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[Chum Lee]

Or even if it's not productive, there's other things I wanted to waste my time doing than like being glued to my phone. Right. Even if it's unproductive. You know, I just. There's other things that I could be doing to waste my time.

[Podcast Host]

You addicted any video games right now or.

[Chum Lee]

I haven't played a video game in years. Yeah, just I play the card game Pokemon. I mean all day I'm working, I'm, you know, different parts of the businesses. I have a candy shop, you know, the collectibles online business, the beef jerky company. You know, Rick and I do pawn stars or we do Pawn After Dark, the podcast. So, you know, I'm either doing the podcast with Rick, working at my candy shop an hour or two a day doing the card stuff. So I do the candy shop because it's right next to the pawn shop. And we're not. We don't. We're not out on the floor a lot when we're at the pawn shop. So just an opportunity for fans to come by and meet someone. And really, I started it. I have a brother, he's 26, but candy shop's been open since 2017 and just didn't want my brother to have to work for anyone. So, like, oh, let's just open a candy shop right here. You could run it, make your own money, and then, you know, I can come in here a few times a week and. And say hi to people for a couple hours, take pictures.

[Podcast Host]

That's cool.

[Chum Lee]

Damn.

[Podcast Host]

So you're doing a lot. You're working like 80 hours a week.

[Chum Lee]

They say you work less when you work for yourself, but you work more, right?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, no, way more. Not even close.

[Chum Lee]

You don't have any time off. Even in your time off, you're somehow. It's relating. Back to work.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, I'm still thinking about work and my time off. I'm on the bed thinking about podcasting for sure. Well, dude, it's been fun. I can't wait to come on the show tomorrow. Anything else you want to close off with here?

[Chum Lee]

No, just, I guess. Yeah. Check out Pawn After Dark. Rick and I have a podcast. Rick's not the best interviewer, but, you know, people love listening to Rick. He's super fun. Sometimes we just do episodes where me and him talk about stuff. Last time we were talking about solar flares and stuff like that. Yeah. So Rick's a well of knowledge. He really is that smart and it's just fun to talk with him. So, yeah, check out Pond After Dark and come by the pawn shop. I'll be at the candy shop all summer from like 12 to 2, you know, Thursday through Sunday. If anyone's out here, come say hi.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, we'll link it all below. Thanks for coming on, man. My pleasure, Boo Boo's.

[Chum Lee]

Also, I'm going to start collecting you.

[Podcast Host]

See you guys.