Guides...and blogs
Top 10 Collectables TV Programmes 2018 update
Wednesday 1st August 2018
We watch too much collectables television and, judging by comments from friends and neighbours, we are not alone. But some things have changed since 2015 when we first wrote this.
Then heavyweight antiques expert James Lewis (pictured right) in "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" had bought a vase from a dealer at a car boot for £38, then identified it as a rare Nantgarw piece and sold it for £3650. But in 2017 up pops Paul Laidlaw, morphed into a bearded waistcoated Scottish gentleman, buying a sub miniature camera for £100 and selling it at auction for £20,000. That is the draw of Antiques Road Trip
To us the key for a good collectables programme is the mix of entertainment and information. Using these guidelines to arrive at our scores, here's our revised top ten in reverse order.
Out, with no regrets whatsoever, are Dickinson's Real Deal and Cash in the Attic. In come Fake or Fortune and Salvage Hunters.
We have separately reviewed Make Me a Dealer, unfortunately it does not make the top ten
Let us know if you disagree.
10: Four Rooms Four dealers in different rooms take turns to make an offer for unusual collectables, but if an offer is refused the seller can't go back to that room. Enjoyable programme but collectables are so one-off that they have little relevance to most people. Entertainment 5/10, Information 2/10, total score 7/20
9: Storage Wars US show where dealers bid for self storage lots. Main attractions are the aggro between dealers and the hopes of a massive bargain. (Similar programmes Storage Hunters and Baggage Battles) Good fun but not very informative. Check out the real life aggro with Dave Hester, who sued the producers, lost and then returned to the programme. Entertainment 7/10, information 1/10, total score 8/20
8: Pawn Stars Ignore the bad pun. Programme has too much macho gun and auto focus for UK tastes but it works ok. Format is that an unusual collectable is brought into a Las Vegas pawn store, an expert appraiser is usually called in who will identify (and verify authenticity(or not!). Sub plot of ChumLee cast in role of village idiot. Marked down since 2015 for being an advertising series for the pawn shop. Entertainment 5/10, information 3/10, total score 8/20
7: Salvage Hunters New entry. Drew Pritchard seeks out antique and stylish items for which he pays good money. And at the same time his company gets oodles and oodles of free publicity, a real win-win situation. Unfortunately, the newspaper reports of Drew's personal life make the staged reveal scenes at the end of each episode a little cringeworthy. Entertainment 6/10, information 5/10, total score 11/20
6: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is Over a week two competing dealers buy at a series of different venues and then have to sell at a profit. Some class experts (such as Eric Knowles) and a few that aren't! Good basic structure to the show, let down by a crass, juvenile narration that constantly irritates. Entertainment 6/10, information 6/10, total score 12/20
5: Fake or Fortune New entrant. Compelling series where Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould team up to investigate paintings which may (or may not!) be valuable masterpieces. We may have scored this one too low. Entertainment 7/10, information 6/10, total score 13/20
4: Bargain Hunt Tim Wonnacott presides, two pairs, each helped by an expert, have one hour to buy three objects to be auctioned to make a profit. Long running series that does what it says on the tin. If we go on this programme, can we have Paul Laidlaw as our expert please, he has a real eye for a profit! (We saw Charles Ross describe an erotic sake cup on this series, which helped us identify two in our possession that we hadn't realized needed to have liquid added to reveal certain hidden attributes!) Entertainment 7/10, information 6/10, total score 13/20
3: Flog It! Another long running series, sadly to end soon, presided over by Paul Martin. Items are selected for auction at an open valuation day with expert presenters and researchers. The auction provides a test of the valuer's expertise and the valuations are detailed enough to provide good information. Flog It!: Trade secrets is an informative spin-off. Entertainment 7/10, information 7/10, total score 14/20
2: Antiques Road Show The grandaddy of antiques tv, with the best range of antiques experts. Has a tendency to concentrate on high value items and does not have an auction check on values, indeed values seem to be sometimes viewed as slightly vulgar. Has tried different tweaks but has never quite managed to ramp up the tension that an auction can deliver. Still, it is constantly entertaining and informative, but not quite enough to make number 1 spot. Entertainment 7/10, information 8/10, total score 15/20
1: Antiques Road Trip Our clear winner! The format of two experts driving classic cars, getting wet/breaking down and buying in antiques shops to sell at auction works very well. Objects are examined and explained, light humour is provided by Tim Wonnacott's narration and there are some quality experts such as James Lewis, Paul Laidlaw and Charles Hanson. The auction held after each day's buys shines a spotlight on the experts' skills and some are found wanting. A celebrity version of this programme has been made which we would score much lower. Entertainment 9/10, information 8/10, total score 17/20