Fans of the truTV series Hardcore Pawn may think they know every nook and cranny of American Jewelry and Loan, the pawn shop at the heart of the show, but there are at least a few areas that have remained off-camera. In a recent TikTok video, series star and shop owner Seth Gold took fans on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Detroit-based pawn shop, taking them where cameras haven’t gone before: the dungeon.
The minute-long clip began with Gold, who boasts more than 780,000 TikTok followers, walking through the shop’s e-commerce area as he told fans, “So, you have access to behind the scenes of American Jewelry Loan, and we’re gonna walk through our e-commerce department.” The e-commerce area is just as it sounds, with Gold explaining, “As you can see here, we’ve got some packages going out to some TikTok fans and subscribers.” While the e-commerce area of the shop isn’t necessarily the most riveting, Gold had other plans for fans, teasing, “I wanna show you guys something really cool that a lot of people did have access to, and that is the dungeon. What’s the dungeon? Well, follow me.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
While the room seemed pretty inconspicuous at first glance, Gold went on to reveal that the so-called “dungeon” is not only the shop’s current “training room for new hires and leadership meetings,” but was also “the house of production for Hardcore Pawn.” The hit series ran for nine seasons on TruTV from 2010 to 2015, and although the show has since come to an end, there are still remnants left behind in the shop from those filming days.
“The dungeon is actually our training room for new hires and leadership meetings, but this was the house of production for Hardcore Pawn,” Gold revealed. “This is where the crews stay, camera operators, producers, while we were filming the show. As you can see, behind me there is still story boards from certain scenes of Hardcore Pawn.”
American Jewelry and Loan, which Gold and his family own, is located in Detroit and is still operating. According to the Detroit Free Press, the family has several shop locations, with two more opening in 2021. Their reality series, Hardcore Pawn, isn’t currently streaming anywhere with a subscription, but it is available to buy on most digital platforms. The show is also still repeated around the world, drawing plenty of yearly visitors to American Jewelry and Gold.
