Storage Wars is a New Kind of Treasure Hunt

Storage Wars is a New Kind of Treasure Hunt

Storage Wars introduces the viewing public to something not that many are familiar with. The show centers around storage facilities, places where lockers of various sizes are sold to individuals so that they can store whatever they desire inside. When people fail to pay their bills for three months straight, however, the storage companies can legally put the locker's possessions up for auction.

In the first half-hour episode, the show introduces several of the regular buyers, people who regularly go to the locker auctions and purchase them. These buyers range from a man whose been a collector since he was a teenager to another who has only been involved in the auctions for the past couple of years.

For these and the other buyers, it's all about the contents. The interesting element is that no one really knows for sure what is inside a locker or the boxes within it. Once the locker is opened, they have only five minutes to stand at the entrance, observe what they can, and make a decision about whether or not to be. It's a bit of a mystery, and it's definitely a gamble. For the most part, no one knows for sure what they've purchased until they unload it at their home and/or store.

After the buy is shown, the show takes the audience on the reveal of the locker's contents and then at the end gives a total of how the main buyers did when all is said and done.

In the premier show which sold off lockers in Victorville, California, the big winner secured monogrammed clothing worn by Suge Knight. In the second episode, another buyer took home the big prize that netted him $19,000. He had purchased a locker full of restaurant equipment.

Watching the gamble is part of the fun of Storage Wars, and the buyers don't always come away with big wins. For example, one of them was hopeful that a name brand Swiss watch was authentic, only it turned out to be a knock off. For another, he was hopeful that the piece of an organ he'd seen in a locker was a Hammond B-3. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

The show is a bit like going on a treasure hunt. Sometimes the treasure is worth thousands and sometimes it's just an empty chest. For the TV watcher, the excitement is there, but without the risk. It's good viewing.

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