Inside the Untold Story of the Million-Dollar Treasure “Storage Wars” Stars Overlooked—What They’ll Never Forget
Even if he doesn’t find a treasure in a storage unit, a pretty good prize is waiting for him just outside.
Hester Says It’s Fake, And A&E Didn’t Argue It
Dave Hester is one of the most opinionated cast members on and off the show. In 2012, he claimed that the show was completely rigged, and that producers stash items in the units.
Usually, we take Hester’s words with a grain of salt, but it was pretty suspicious that A&E didn’t even try to refute it. They just said Hester was free to have an opinion.
Non-Cast Members Can Sometimes Make Off With The Best
You might have noticed that the cast members always snag the unit even though there appear to be other non-cast members bidding too. Storage Wars obviously wants to focus on their stars, but that means missing out on some good television.
It turns out that even amateur storage hunters can make off with a prize.
Hester Might Actually Have A Heart
Hester comes off like he’s extra aggressive and cutthroat, but he’s only in the business after having a change of heart. Hester owned a furniture store when he was busted for a DUI and forced to do community service at a Goodwill store.
He hated seeing that people could barely afford clothes, so he converted his business into a thrift store and started storage hunting.
Trey Songz And Hester Got Into A Serious Lawsuit
The most unlikely pair in history ended up in the legal system together because both of them wanted the rights to the phrase “Yuuup!”
The judge basically ruled that neither can trademark the phrase because it’s not a unique or made-up word, it’s just a variation of a common phrase. Sorry, boys.
Finally, A Fistfight
It took eight seasons, but finally, in 2015, a physical fight erupted on the show. Allegedly, Dan missed a bid made by Hester. The producers kept pushing Dave to make a comment about it until he lost his cool and went at Dan.
No one got hurt, but Laura was pushed down in the fight and started swearing up a storm.
An Eye For Expensive Items
Barry once bought an entire storage unit because he thought he spotted an ornate gold bowl up at the top of a heap of junk. The ornate bowl turned out to be a hard hat that had been covered in metal and engraved for fun.
You’d think the “bowl” was useless but it ended up fetching a pretty penny anyways.
Playing Dirty Isn’t A Crime
Hester is the king of playing dirty on Storage Wars. In one episode, he used his acting skills to make it seem like a unit was worthless. In reality, he had spotted a bunch of brand new vending machines in the back behind the junk.
After everyone else lost interest, he bought the unit for $1,300 and sold the machines for $28,000.
Barry Has A Famous Family
Before Storage Wars, Barry already had a good idea about reality TV because he is the godfather to Jesse James. You might recognize James as the motorcycle customizer from Monster Garage and Jesse James Is A Dead Man.
James was married for four years to actress Sandra Bullock so that basically makes Barry a Hollywood celebrity.
Darrell’s Fantastic Art Heist
The biggest payout in the history of Storage Wars belongs to none other than Darrell Sheets. He invested a hefty $3,600 into a storage locker, which is pretty pricey, but it paid off.
Inside was $300,000 worth of art by Frank Gutierrez. Even better: it’s not fake. Darrell has been in contact with Gutierrez and it was indeed his old locker.
A $7.5 Million Storage Unit Treasure
One of the unaired storage unit discoveries includes a cash bundle worth, oh, just a crisp $7.5 million. Auctioneers Dan and Laura Dotson sold a unit in Indio, California for $500.
The guy who bought it found a safe inside with more than $7 million in cold, hard cash. The previous owner must have died. Finders keepers, right?
Jarrod Can Thank His Aunt For Getting Into The Business
Jarrod may have had a dark past but he can thank his aunt and his partner Brandi for turning it around. His aunt actually owns a public storage facility and after spending some time with her there, Jarrod was encouraged to get into the storage hunting game.
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