Ah, Christmas... Turkeys, crackers, silly jumpers, baubles, tinsel, sprouts, selling things to men in a shop in Las Vegas, you’ve got to love all of the classic yuletide traditions.

The Pawn Stars boys certainly dig the holiday season. Only for them, ‘tis the season to be jolly hard bargainers. The Harrison family have flipped some pretty Christmassy stuff in their time. With December the 25th now visible on the snowy horizon, let’s take a nostalgic look back at some of the most festive items to have graced the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, shall we?

Alright, so no one actually claimed that the late 19th century sleigh that someone tried to pawn at the shop one Christmas actually belonged to ol’ Saint Nick, but it’s more fun to imagine it did.

The owner of this ‘cutter sleigh’ originally wanted $4,300 for the thing, due to its good condition and novelty value. But Rick wasn’t feeling as festive as that. He countered at a grand and no deal was struck in the end. The guy had to take a sleigh ride home sans the cash, wondering who he could gift a giant horse/reindeer-drawn sleigh to. 

Ho ho hold on a minute, here’s a genuine antiquity and piece of history that caught Rick’s eye one recent Christmas. A brass ‘baccy tin that would have been gifted to a British troop by Princess Mary all the way back in 1914.

Rick’s eyes lit up like Christmas tree lights when he realised he could pick this World War One curio up for a mere hundred bucks. Ordinarily these things won’t sell for much more than that but as it was Christmastime and it was in good nick, making a profit wasn’t going to prove too tricky for a wily ol’ dog like Ricky Boy.

When a shrewd seller wanted to sell four original but unpublished preliminary cover art cartoons drawn for Mad magazine by its legendary illustrator Don Martin, Corey called in an expert. His buddy Chad swung by and took a look. Chad valued the pieces at $2,400. Corey, in full-on Ebeneezer Scrooge mode, offered $1,000. A deal was eventually agreed at $500 more, half of what the seller originally wanted.

The colour illustrations were rare because Don Martin’s cartoons - which are very collectable - are usually black and white. So we’re sure Corey flogged the things on for a tidy little Christmas profit. 

This colour storyboard illustration for the original 1966 film version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas came into the store in the hands of its owner, who wanted five grand for it. Drawn by the iconic animator Chuck Jones, it was even signed by Jones. The owner knew its value, but Rick was being a Grinch himself in the negotiations.

Art expert Chad Sampson was called back to the store and he valued the cool piece of festive film history at a little less than its owner wanted. A deal was struck at $2,000. It wasn’t quite as epic a heist as The Grinch’s Christmas robbery, but it wasn’t far off. A nice profit was all but guaranteed for the guys. 

When a literary fan brought in a couple of old copies of Charlie Dickens’ festive classic A Christmas Carol, she was confident of getting $10,000 for the pair. Turns out the second edition novel, in poor condition, wasn’t even worth buying. The first edition, however, definitely was…

Corey’s ‘bah, humbug!’ reaction to the 10k price saw negotiations underway. A deal was struck at half that price because, as their book expert Rebecca informed them, a thousand dollars or so would need to be spent on restoration.