The Homework Rick Gave This Pawn Stars Seller For His James Bond Gun
The 1995 "James Bond" film "GoldenEye" opens in a Soviet chemical weapons facility, and finds Pierce Brosnan's super-spy taking down his Russian enemies. Over two decades after the movie's release, it's reasonable to expect that the prop guns drawn in the opening scene of "GoldenEye" could be worth a good chunk of change. At least that was the hope of one seller visiting the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop made famous in History's reality TV series "Pawn Stars."
On an episode of "Pawn Stars," a customer named Rob came in with a silver case containing a prop pistol from "GoldenEye," which he purchased online from a British prop house. And yes, he had the paperwork to prove it. "I have the prop pistol used by the villain in the 1995 'James Bond' movie 'GoldenEye,'" Rob said (via YouTube). "According to my research, $3,000 seems to be about the average market street value for it, so that's what I'm hoping to get for it. ... There's so much sentimental value to it, which, to me, is priceless."
Rick Harrison had no argument against James Bond. "There's no such thing as a bad 'James Bond' movie," he said. "Every guy wanted to be James Bond. ... Everything about the series is amazing."
When it came to pricing the prop pistol, however, sentimental value was meaningless. Rick didn't turn Rob away completely, but he did call in an expert to get a second opinion. And when the expert came in, the interaction ended with Rick giving Rob an interesting homework assignment.
Watching a movie isn't such a bad assignment
Hollywood memorabilia expert Tall Rob, who's helped out on "Pawn Stars" numerous times before, started with the best-case scenario: "Props have set record prices from those films. Anything we find from a 'James Bond' film usually brings pretty good money at auction." Before giving a value, however, Tall Rob wanted to know more about where the seller got it. Did he know how the auction house obtained the gun? Rob had an idea they bought it from a company that Tall Rob confirmed made most of the weaponry for the "James Bond" films.
Rick had questions, too. He wanted to know which scene in "GoldenEye" featured the gun. Rob described the opening scene in a chemical weapons plant, but Tall Rob noted there was no way to know for sure whether the gun appeared in the movie. He had, however, brought a screenshot from "GoldenEye" to help him authenticate the prop. The image shows a gun with a trigger that could handle some pressure, unlike the one on Rob's item. It also features a gun sight where none was present on Rob's.
"It raises questions," Tall Rob said. "With everything I can see, there's just too much inconsistency here for me to say, 'It's that gun.' But it certainly could be a gun from the film — but one of dozens that were made for the film."
It was disappointing news for the seller, and for Rick, too. "I hate it when this happens, but if it was never used, it's not worth a lot, plain and simple," Rick said. Then, Rick gave Rob an assignment: "If you can prove it's the real deal, I'll give you three grand. You're the one whose gonna have to go frame by frame through a two-hour movie and try and find a screenshot that matches. And when you do it, make sure you download it in hi-def."