What You Don’t Know About The Experts On Pawn Stars

Brett Maly

Brett Maly is a fine art appraiser who appeared on Pawn Stars between 2010 and 2014. In addition to his work on Pawn Stars, Maly earned a bit of celebrity for his 2011 appraisal of an authentic Andy Warhol sketch, which was purchased for just $5 at a garage sale. If that example isn’t enough to show Maly knows his stuff, you can check out his full credentials. They’re pretty impressive.

Not content to leave the fine art world to the rich, Maly published a 2014 book titled The Pocket Picker-for Fine Art, which features a foreword penned by Pawn Stars’ Rick Harrison. The book is meant to help the average person procure and profit from fine art…and avoid selling off rare art they happen to own for a meager $5.

Long before his current highbrow occupation, Maly worked as a DJ for KOOL 105.5, where he was often responsible for radio voiceovers and board operations.

Rebecca Romney

Antiquarian book dealer Rebecca Romney is the only female expert featured on Pawn Stars. The History Channel shares that Romney’s expertise is “rare and antiquarian books and documents,” but there’s a bit more to her than dusty old texts: she speaks three languages (English, French, Japanese) fluently, but can actually read six when you include Latin, Ancient Greek and Old English.

She hosted a Reddit “ask me anything” in 2014 during which she admitted to going on double dates with Pawn Stars’ Rick Harrison. She also brought filming on the Pawn Stars set to a halt because a rare book wasn’t being handled properly. Now that’s a bibliophile.

Murray Sawchuck

Murray Sawchuck, or “Magic Murray,” is easily distinguishable thanks to his spiky, bleach-blond hairstyle. The celebrity magician and funnyman is called upon from time to time to give his expert opinion on all sorts of “magical items.” The self-proclaimed “Dennis the Menace of Magic” is no stranger to the reality TV show circuit—you can watch him above performing a magic act on America’s Got Talent, and below, take a look at his 2005 appearance on the reality dating series Blind Date, which detailed his magical search for love.

Although things didn’t work out with Georgia, Magic Murray did find eventually love with Chloe Crawford, and the couple was married in 2012. A few years later, Crawford dumped him for rival illusionist Criss Angel. Harsh. Well, they say what goes around comes around, and Crawford was reportedly dumped by Angel less than a year after she left Sawchuck.

Matthew C. Shortal

Matthew C. Shortal is an expert on all things military and aviation—and he definitely has the background to back it up: he achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marines and is a former U.S. Navy Blue Angel Pilot. Also—eat your heart out, Tom Cruise—Shortal happens to be an actual graduate of the elite TOPGUN program.

Shortal is an avid triathlon competitor. In the above clip, you can see him discuss the military connection to and support of the Ironman competition. He actually competed in Ironman 70.3 as part of a team. (The since-disgraced Lance Armstrong memorably won the Ironman 70.3 event.)

As you can see, Pawn Stars has brought in some rather unique individuals. Their contributions have not only helped raise the profile of the show, but they seem to enjoy quite a bit of fame thanks to their frequent appearances.

It’s curious to note that experts seem more willing to interact with Pawn Stars fans than the show’s actual main cast. The same L.A. Times article that lauded Pawn Stars expert Mark Hall-Patton’s genuine expertise also mentioned that the cast hardly ever interact with fans or customers in the pawn shop’s public area; most of the business and show taping occurs in the back.

Credits: looper

Share this story on Facebook with your friends.