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One of Our Experts Is Missing

If you’re a fan of the break-out TV hit that is Pawn Stars then you’ve probably noticed something strange is afoot. One of the best parts of this guilty pleasure from the History Channel is when the gang at the World Famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop call in experts to appraise rare or exotic items. Chumlee and the Old Man are wonderful TV personalities but so are many of the experts featured on the show. I always enjoy seeing Drew Max pull out his over-sized magnifying glass and confirm the value of Babe Ruth’s signature, or Danny Koker break the bad news to a customer that their custom-built trike just isn’t worth the $30,000 they were asking for.

Lately however, one of the show’s most well-known and loved experts has gone missing. Sean Rich is a Master Antique Gunsmith and has appeared in over 50 episodes of Pawn Stars since it debuted in 2009. He’s usually called in when the gang needs antique guns, swords or other armory appraised and his visits are always fun. For the last two seasons Rich has been the go-to guy for these types of appraisals, but he’s been completely absent from season 5 (and much of the last half of S4 as well). The producers started substituting other experts when Rick needed firearms appraised but they’re just not Rich. I knew something fishy was going on when Mark Hall-Patton, the beloved curator of the Clark County Museum System, was called in to appraise a rare LeMat pistol from the Civil War. This was an item that would have made Sean positively dance with glee, and yet here was Mark at the pawn store, looking over an item that was clearly out of his area of expertise. So what’s going on?

The last expert on Pawn Stars that suddenly took a hiatus from the show was Rick Dale, now the star of the spin off show American Restoration. Rick and his shop proved so popular that producers gambled viewers would watch a show just about restoring antique items, and they were right. American Restoration is a great show and Rick is a wonderful TV personality, but is the same thing about to happen with Sean Rich? I think it’s more likely that Sean is simply busy with another project that’s filling his time. Sean worked as a consultant on some of the Pirates of the Caribbean films and so I’m hoping that he’ll eventually return. In addition, Sean’s business Tortuga Trading Inc., is run out of his home and doesn’t have a traditional shop like Rick Dale that could be used as the basis for a new show. The only other explanation is that Sean and the show’s producers had a falling out, and I really hope that didn’t happen.

One of the things I love the most about Sean is how excited he gets to see a genuinely rare piece. He obviously has a great appreciation for history as he often explains in geeky detail what makes a firearm valuable and I must admit his enthusiasm is infectious. Before Pawn Stars came along, I really didn’t know anything about antique guns or why they were awesome but thanks to Rick Dale and Sean Rich I now have a greater appreciation for the value of these fine pieces of history. Here’s hoping Sean eventually emerges from some dusty tomb or secret Hollywood film set and takes his occasional place along side Rick, Corey and the Old Man yet again.

Update: Thanks to an email sent by another curious fan, we now have the answer of what happened to Sean on Pawn Stars. Seems as though the executives at the History Channel and the production company behind Pawn Stars wanted to lock Sean down into an exclusive arrangement for his appearances and offered him little or no money. He refused and so they replaced him. Damn shame, I was afraid of something like this. Thanks a lot History Channel, this is why we can’t have nice things. 🙁

Update II: After two full years, it appears Sean Rich is back on Pawn Stars. Sean briefly appeared on the Oct, 2nd 2014 episode and was brought in to appraise a colt firearm. I was astonished to see him again and stricken by the fact that absolutely no mention was made about why he had been away or why he didn’t receive a nice “Welcome back, Sean!” from Rick or the guys. It seems like The History Channel wants to pretend he never left. Hopefully he’s back for good. Fingers are crossed.

220 Comments

  1. PLEASE BRING SEAN BACK! Ditto everything mentioned above. Sean’s infectious enthusiasm for guns makes you want to head for the internet to find more out. WE WANT SEAN!!

  3. Sean was the best, History is the only Channel I watch and you need to PONY up for Sean. You keep Chumlee, and not Sean, your nuts. I love the old man! Rick and have gotten to like Cory more but Chumlee is just obnoxious.
    I also like Shelby the Swamp Man, American Pickers! American restorations and I love Counting Cars! I even liked the GOD, Guns & Automobiles!
    But Sean needs to return to Pawn Stars!

  4. Sean was the best, History is the only Channel I watch and you need to PONY up for Sean. You keep Chumlee, and not Sean, your nuts. I love the old man, Rick and have gotten to like Cory more but Chumlee is just obnoxious. Not entertaining at all.
    I also like Shelby the Swamp Man, American Pickers! American restorations and I love Counting Cars! I love Danny! I even liked the GOD, Guns & Automobiles!
    But Sean needs to return to Pawn Stars!

  5. Seriously! The best one u have and you can’t pay to keep him?! How much can u put up with the old man sitting at his desk and eating. Or Chumley doing idiotic stuff that most people would have been fired for by now. Please bring back Sean! Nice to see someone with such enthusiasm about his job. These other people you bring in just don’t have the same connection with people! Come on Rick and fight for him

  6. So what happened to Drew Max? I think he’s still in business – why doesn’t he appear on Pawn Stars any longer?

  7. What happened to Wally, the original car guy from the early seasons? I liked him 20 million times better than that Danny guy. Koker is too fake on that counting cars show. You are right, Sean was a great firearms and antique weapons expert. Also, what happened to Dana the other historian, who would actually give the shop values on the old stuff from history. Chumlee should have been fired, and they should have kept Olivia Black, she is much easier on the eyes than any of the others.

  9. Seems like there’s been a changing of the guard. I like the old team better: Sean, Dana, Drew, Danny, Rick. I guess Rick and Danny have Pawn Stars to thank for their new shows. Mark is still called on which is good. Rick, Corey, and Chumlee are pretty worthless. It’s amazing to me the show keeps getting renewed.

  11. When I first started watching Pawn Stars it appeared to be realistic. I enjoyed watching all of the odd and rare merchandise that people would bring in. I also enjoyed all the original experts that would come in and evaluate, rate or varify the products, ages, signatures and values that the store wasnt sure about. Now they seem to take the show into a B movie phase by doing boring skits by the staff who cant act. And how could they let a great personallity and knowlegable gentleman like Sean go. When he walked on the show he had a sparkle and a charisma that got everybodies attention. He’s a very learned man around arms and I appreciate how easy he gets the point accross in an understanding way. Its to bad that someone doesnt appreciate the value of this man but I guess thats the kind of showbiz politics you run into in the business. I appreciate Rick’s knowlege and expertise and I still watch the show – just not with quite the same enthusiasm.
    Rick Carter
    Nova Scotia

  14. I thought Rick & Sean were good friends. Surely Rick has some say in this. Come on Rick stand up for your mate. Avid watcher Australia.

  15. Miss Sean Rich. He really was good and enjoyed him. Just watching repeat and he is on it and so good to see him. Sorry the channel and the show did not think he was of value. Because he did add to the show. Strange the choices they made.

  16. The pawn stars is now becominy the Chumley show. He is very obnoxious, and you can tell that the things the pawn stars do with Chumley are set up. I love it when the people come in with items of interest, and there use is explained in detail by Rick, and the experts who come in an help him with items. The old man is very nasty so often which is a turn off to me, even though I do like him. I also like Corey. Chumley is alright when he is not being obnoxious, which is almost all the time now.

    I miss and want to know why Danny Koker doesn’t appear on the show any more. I love his personality, and I think he is very genuine. He shows his feelings about different people and things, and you can’t fake the kind of responces that he makes.
    I love his personality, and he adds so much to the show, because of his uniqueness.
    I hope you can get him back. Also I liked Drew Max more than the person replacing him. That goes for Sean Rich too.

  20. What has a happened to Danny and Rick Dale? They seem to be missing from the 2014 shows. I also would like to see Sean back and hope that Drew does not go away.

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