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Marvin Brown always has an eye out for a bargain. That's how he got started collecting old lunch boxes, the metal kind that baby boomers carried to school when they were kids. Brown, who dabbles in antiques, likes to scour yard sales and flea markets looking for bargains.

About five years ago, he started collecting lunch boxes because they were cheap. His collection now numbers over 340. No two are alike.

"I really got started by seeing them around at yard sales and flea markets, and people wanted maybe a quarter for them," said Brown. "I found out later they were getting valuable. That's what made it better."

Lunch boxes were cheap because they were plentiful. Lots of children carried them to school - and still do. The only difference is that the boxes are now vinyl.

"They're still making them, but they've gone to plastic," said Brown. "I just primarily collect the metal ones."

The boxes' colorful themes mostly are based on once-popular television shows and movies, comic-strip characters and performers.

"The most valuable one is the Jetsons - a 1963 box - and I don't have it yet," said Brown, who lives near Lancaster. "It will probably range in price from $300 to $1,000 - that's why I don't have it yet. It depends on the condition."

His collection does contain many classics, however. There're Lassie, the Beatles, Superman and Star Trek; Gunsmoke, Happy Days, E.T. and Star Wars. "I guess my favorites are the cowboys and the ones with airplanes," said Brown. He has Roy Rodgers and Dale Evans, Gene Autry, and Hopalong Cassidy. Some of the cowboy boxes are worth $100 to $200.

Brown keeps a list of the ones he has and the ones he doesn't. If he happens upon a particularly cheap lunch box, he'll buy it even if he already has one like it. He's found boxes for as little as a nickel. Besides his collection, he has an estimated 200 boxes which he has bought to resale or trade.

"The most of them came from around this area," said Brown. He keeps the boxes on display in a crowded outbuilding near his house. "I'd like to have a better place to display them. They need to be turned face out where you can see them," he said. Brown, 57, has always collected antiques and for many years operated a cabinet shop and furniture-restoration business. He didn't have a lunch box when he was growing up.

"When I went to school, I took a paper bag and a pint jar. I never did have a lunch box." He has gotten a lot of enjoyment out of collecting the boxes. "It's been a real fun thing, but it's getting hard to do because I have just about all of them," he said.

"They'll ask you from $8 to $35 for a very common box. Of course, you don't have to buy it," he said.

Brown says buyers should be careful with the new vinyl boxes. Some command $35 in antique stores but can still be purchased at retail stores for much less.

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