'Pawn Stars' guest tries to sell Steve Aoki-signed item for $2,000 — then the DJ quietly walked in

Several guests on shows such as "Paws Stars" and "Antiques Roadshow" turn up on set with items that they claim once belonged to famous personalities. In many cases when experts dig deeper, the memorabilia turns out to be fake, which is why careful scrutiny is required. When a guest demanded $2,000 for a Funko Pop doll of the American DJ and producer, Steve Aoki, as well as trading cards that supposedly belonged to him, the host of "Pawn Stars," Austin "Chumlee" Russell was stunned. The woman named Amber claimed that the price that she demanded for the items was justified as they were autographed by Aoki himself. But Russell wanted to be sure before striking any deal and even got the DJ to make an appearance on the show to verify the goods.

Looking for the Real Deal

Amber explained that she is a big fan of Aoki and she got the Funko Pop doll and the Topps cards signed by him to be kept as a prized possession. However, her demand seemed absurd as the collector’s item was available for $20 online, and the cards were being sold for about $50.

However, Russell admitted that Aoki's autograph did add a lot of value to the items, only if it was real. The host said that the world-renowned DJ has a unique signature but people can stll copy it.

He asked Amber if she could come to a different location about two hours later to get the signature authenticated by someone. Amber agreed and the two met again for the items to be authenticated. Russell then called in none other than Steve Aoki to come and have a look at his signature. Aoki explained that he likes to be known as a creator which is why he partnered with Topps to create a unique line of trading cards.

He shared that he is a card collector himself and he worked on the art for each of the trading cards. The Funko Pop doll was also a limited edition item and the second product produced in collaboration. Coming to the autograph, Aoki says that he always leaves a mark at the starting point of his signature, which serves as an authenticator. Taking a closer look at the golden autograph, Aoki says that's a good-looking signature and it was indeed his authentic autograph.  

Once Aoki left, Amber and Russel got down to work out the price. The final agreement was that even with the original signatures, the Funko Pop and the trading cards were worth about $800 at most. Amber accepted the deal without negotiating further.

An Added Lesson in Caking

Although the authentication was done in a swift fashion, Russell wasn't keen on missing a chance to learn the art of caking from Aoki himself. Aoki is known across the world for his "caking" skills. He famously throws cakes at his fans from onstage during his concerts. He has gone viral for his aim and the accuracy of his throws.

In an interview with UKF, Aoki explained that the tradition started when he was promoting a song "Turn Up The Volume" by a Dim Mak artist called Autoerotique. The trend soon caught on and people soon demanded to be caked at every concert.

Russell asked the star DJ to show how he cakes people using a pillow. Aoki then goes on to demonstrate how he picks up the cakes and throws them at people's faces. The DJ demonstrated a full breakdown of how he does it explaining all the techniques behind the art.