I will say that reading some of the reviews on yelp before going helped me gauge my expectations a little. We had just left the Neon Museum and were heading down to Old Vegas and decided to stop in since there was no line. I would have passed on visiting and avoided a line based on the reviews.
I will say that I am glad the wife, our friend and I stopped in. I am not sure what the haters were expecting, but yes it's a tiny space. The cameras and the angles they use for the show make it seem huge by comparison. It wasn't crowded, so that was not a problem. It's true that the back part of the shop is basically a souvenir shop for all things Chumlee and Old Man. I guess they figured that more people would buy a souvenir versus a $100 or $1000 item. They had cool stuff on the walls and in the cases. The wife looked at the jewelry and bought a pair of earrings that she liked. The guy helping her was nice and personable. She looked at a ring and when he gave her the price, he said that it was negotiable.
Of course none of the cast was there, and I would be surprised if they would even be there at all if they are not taping. The guy at the door was a little gruff, but I can imagine all the people that were in that day earlier and he was probably ready to go home. I was surprised that they are only really open from 9am to 9pm as gruffy told me. They are open 24hrs I guess if you want to pawn something at their drive/walk up window.
All in all, it was a cool place to pop in and I would return, but I still can't say that I would stop when there is a line out the door.