Toy Hunter is a Travel channel show about a guy named Jordan Hembrough who travels around the country and finds awesome collectible toys. Collectors invite him into their house and allow him to cherry pick the good stuff for generally a fair price. My description of the show might be a little harsh though because I'm actually pretty jealous that it's not me. Yes, I'm certain that Jordan has paid his dues and built a reputation for himself over the years which has parlayed into a successful cable show. On the other hand I believe there is a team of producers dedicated to sourcing good collections that will make for good TV. They do a nice job of showing a balance of lesser priced toys vs higher value prized toys. I also appreciate that Toy Hunter doesn't fully exaggerate what the actual retail value of a toy is after they make a good purchase. If Jordan finds a toy with a $80 value then he will likely pay up to $40 for it. If you compare this to the outrageous estimated prices in Storage Wars then Jordan is a fucking saint!
On AMC we have another fun show with a similar nerd vibe. This show is called Comic Book Men and it follows the shenanigans around a crew of people that run a comic shop called The Secret Stash. The Secret Stash is actually a comic book store owned by Kevin Smith and managed by his life long friend Walt Flanagan. This show follows the Pawn Stars formula of having 2 or 3 people enter the store every episode and either be selling stuff to the The Stash or buying stuff. Meanwhile the cast of the show does goofy shit for the remainder of the episode. Comic Book Men has a built in mechanism for uncovering cool collectible nerd stuff just like Toy Hunter. I assume that Comic Book Men also has a team of producers bringing in cool stuff that makes for good TV.
Ok, we have 2 good TV shows that cover the kind of stuff I like. It's too bad these shows don't portray what real life is like. When was the last time you randomly went to a garage sale and found some nice vintage Mego figures, a rare Frankenstein bobblehead, and a stack of vintage Superman comics? This *randomly* happened to the Comic Book Men crew as they happened to have their entire film crew filming the cast find this great stuff at a garage sale. Toy Hunter is a bit more believable because Jordan is actually leaving his shop to uncover stuff in collections. It doesn't paint a true picture though because the Travel channel brings in awesome leads for him and they focus on the most interesting finds. The reality is that the common collector is not going to be invited into a stranger's house and sell him their prized possessions for much lower than retail. Another reality is that the common toy dealer doesn't not do the same amount of business as Jordan Hembrough or The Secret Stash. It becomes a novelty to go to a store like The Secret Stash just to buy something from the Comic Book Men. Or to buy a toy directly from Jordan Hembrough at a big toy show. The average Joe dealer needs to hustle to make a living in this business. Not everybody has had the lucky breaks in this industry like Jordan or The Secret Stash. I'm sure happy that I have a great day job because I could never make it at this full time.
Now I need to catch up on Comic Book Men and Toy Hunter. See ya later!
