Hollywood star Dennis Quaid once showed up on 'Pawn Stars' to verify his own memorabilia
"Pawn Stars" has achieved the kind of iconic status on TV that is akin to a blockbuster movie on the big screen. Rick Harrison has a habit of calling in celebrities to authenticate their items, but rarely does he turn them into customers. This happened when the pawn boss called in Dennis Quaid to authenticate a poster of his 2024 film, "Reagan." When the Hollywood star learned that Harrison had some Ronald Reagan memorabilia in store, he invited the pawn shop owner to make a deal.
A guest brought in a poster signed by Dennis Quaid featuring the actor in the role of Ronald Reagan in a movie that wasn't publicly announced. Thus, when the guest demanded $350 for the item, Harrison knew just who to call.
Upon walking in, Quaid was quite surprised to see the poster. "Well first of all, what in the hell are you doing with this poster?" he asked the guest. In response, the owner said that he got it from the producer of the movie. "Yeah, I signed this for Mark Joseph who is the producer and he just turns around and sells it to you I guess," Quaid joked.
After confirming that the poster and his autograph were real, Quaid answered a few questions from Harrison. He explained that the movie covered Reagan's entire life, and he was quite excited to portray him because he was his favorite president. "I voted for him twice. The first time I voted for him was in 1980, I was an actor out in Hollywood already and I came home and my roommate said 'Who'd you vote for?' I said 'Reagan' and he said 'You are kicked out'" Quaid recalled.
He then explained that he did the movie because it was an exciting character to play, and during the making, he felt like the former President was one of his family members. Coming to the poster, Quaid said that they recreated the photo from an original shoot. "We recreated the snapshot. He has a crooked smile which I never realized," he said.
Harrison then saw an opportunity and told Quaid that he had several Reagan memorabilia for sale. The star then invited Harrison to dinner to sit down and make a deal. After Quaid left, Harrison started the negotiations. After some heckling, he made the deal at $200 and moved out to meet Quaid.
Harrison showed Quaid a skull cap worn by Reagan in his demos for the U.S. Army and a customized pendant, along with a handwritten note from the former President to one of his girlfriends. "I've done a ton of research, and just the note itself is probably worth $1,500," Harrison said.
After a brief chat, Quaid asked Harrison for the asking price of the items, and the pawn boss told him that he was looking for $3,200 for the set. The actor then gave Harrison a taste of his own medicine by making a low counteroffer of $2,400. After going back and forth for a while, Quaid made his final offer of $2,750. "And I'll buy dinner," he added, before sealing the deal.
