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From wind-up toys to matchbook covers; from army medals to Dairy Queen signs, everything is collectible these days. And everyone, it seems, is a potential collector.

"Anything that someone wants and someone else has is a collectible. It's all a matter of taste, price and the market," says Stephen L. Flood, president of AAG International, a worldwide antique and collectibles company based in Hanover Township.

"Baby boomers are the big collectors now". They pick up collecting as a hobby, for relaxation. Some of them like to re-create days from their past.

Ninety-nine percent of the people go into it just for pleasure. It's fun," says Stan Wateski, of Rainbow End Inc. in Swoyersville.

Fun, maybe. But what about profit?

Unfortunately, you probably won't get rich quick on Partridge Family lunch boxes. Investing in antiques and collectibles requires careful research. Many items often are overpriced, have no obvious market demand and are highly vulnerable to fraud.

"If you want to make money, you're usually better off with a good investment counselor ... rather than a collection," says Tom Tumbusch, publisher of the Ohio-based "Tomart's Price Guide to Garage Sale Gold."

"You can make a few hundred or thousand dollars ... (but) whether you score big is rare indeed."

But those odds won't stop millions of Americans from scavenging flea markets and yard sales in search of hidden treasures.

Some might succeed. According to Associated Press reports, one garage-sale customer found a rare, $4,000 comic book stuffed in a chair he bought a few years ago.

Like anything else, supply and demand determine the marketability of collectibles, which run the gamut from artwork and sports memorabilia to childhood nostalgia. But what makes something investment grade is its rarity, condition and historical significance.

"There are two important concerns with collectibles: that the items have an established secondary-market track record and have withstood the test of time," says Harry L. Rinker, president of Rinker Enterprises Inc., an antiques research center in Emmaus.

It's foolish to even try to make a quick killing on antiques or collectibles, he says.

"When you buy an antique at fair market value, say for $500, you can't turn around and sell that thing for $500. You'll probably get 30 to 40 cents on the dollar," Rinker says. "You're going to have to wait 15 to 20 years to recover any profit on that item."

Even collectible items that acquire value over the years can lose it in a shift of market tastes.

A survey of Wyoming Valley antiques shops reveals that an item need not be old to become a coveted collectible.

Items from our coal mining past, for instance, are popular now. "I can't keep miners' things in my store," says Carol Herstek of Herstiques on Front Street in Nanticoke.

Mining lights sell for $20 or so depending on their condition; a cloth Breaker Boys hat, still in good condition, can bring in $35, Herstek says.

And World War II items, like a leather U.S. pilot's jacket could be worth between $500 and $2,000.

Uniforms and other items from Nazi Germany also command hefty prices -- a Nazi SS officer's sword costs $100 to $1,000.

Also from that period: A playbill from the Broadway musical "Oklahoma" is worth $25; a General Motors 1940s car vanity mirror is selling for $39.

Items from the 1950s can be plenty pricey, too. The 50th anniversary Lionel train Hudson set with three passenger cars will sell for up to $2,000 if it is in excellent condition. A large Jayne Mansfield calendar goes for $45.

And in a classic case of supply and demand, Flood says Vietnam War memorabilia is now becoming quite collectible. While the war is a recent memory for many, supply is limited because soldiers often destroyed their uniforms, "threw them off the planes" upon returning home, Flood says. U.S. military special unit badges from the Vietnam War now sell for up to $500 each, he says.

Both Sotheby's and Christie's -- known best for their multimillion-dollar sales of Impressionist paintings -- report a surge of interest in collectibles in recent years. Sotheby's says sales from its collectibles department totaled $8.3 million in 1993, up from $5.5 million in 1990. Christie's reports 1993 worldwide collectible sales of $15 million, up 35 percent from the previous year.

"We have sold crazy things like lunchboxes, PEZ (candy) dispensers," says Kathleen Guzman, president of Christie's East. "A vintage Dudley Doright lunch box recently sold for $4,000. The record for a PEZ dispenser is $1,900 -- for a Donald Duck prototype."

Despite the potential for profits, many local dealers say collectors often have trouble parting with the items they've so carefully and lovingly assembled for decades.

"Psychology rules for the ones who collect for enjoyment," says Flood.

"They won't part with a collection until their mood changes, either for an economic reason or because of their age."

And even when collectors want to sell, it's not often easy to pull in profits. Knowing which items are valuable, predicting when others will turn hot and how long a hot streak will last is a very difficult task, collectible dealers say.

"It's like trying to make money in the stock market. No, it's harder," says Herstek.

For example, Flood says, several years ago collectors suddenly became interested in Depression glass (items made during the 1930s). Selected pieces of Depression glass sold at auctions for $2,000 or more.

The high prices triggered an immediate interest and a buying frenzy among the types of investors Flood calls sharks.

"Something gets hot, everyone goes overboard about it, then all the sharks come around to feed on it," says Flood, whose company specializes in military collectibles from around the world.

After the supply of Depression glass increased, investors lost interest, prices dropped and the sharks were on to something else, Flood remembers.

Their latest prey seems to be plastic Hess Oil toy trucks made in the 1970s.

They sold for about $3 or $4 a piece back then.

About six months ago, without warning, some of those Hess trucks began selling for about $160 a piece at auctions in New England, Flood said.

"Not the Texaco trucks. It was Hess they wanted. I can't figure out why," he says. It's tough, Ford says to forecast which items are worth hoarding today in the hopes of that they'll someday be valuable collectibles.

One good bet, he says, are video games, especially Nintendos.

"Some are very well made, but they'll be thrown out. Probably 10 to 15 years from now people will want them again."

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