In these tough economic times, individuals are considering selling objects they no longer need to obtain much needed cash. Items made from precious metals and possibly containing precious and semi-precious stones are high on the list. Hosting a “Gold Party” has become a national phenomenon. Stories appear regularly in newspapers and magazines and on the Internet, radio, and television. The classic cautionary warning of “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” is ignored by a desperate public.

Early morning, it's barely light and I'm staring at a field filled with vintage collectibles and antiques. I don't know which way to go first - the furniture off to the left looks intriguing and over to the right is an impressive display of vintage clothing. Straight ahead are tables loaded with small items that beg closer inspection. After stumbling from my bed at 4:00 a.m. and driving for a couple of hours, I've arrived at one of my favorite events - a flea market.

QUESTION: My stepfather has a painting, oil on canvas, signed “LeRoy Neiman” in the lower left corner. “Healy” is printed beneath Neiman’s signature. My stepfather’s wife bought it for him as a 25th birthday present in August 1966. The canvas measures 23 1/2in x 30in, the frame 29in x 35in. The picture shows the back of a bull fighter. It features bold, colorful brush strokes. According to my stepfather, this picture was featured in Playboy in the early to mid-1960s as part of its “Man at His Leisure” series.

For the auction or estate sale addict, I suspect it’s something we all occasionally do – one thing draws us in, but somehow it’s another that catches our eye and gets our money. Like a sleight of hand, some magnetic force leaves us shaking our head in bewilderment, uncertain of what just occurred.

Those words are forever, very fondly, ingrained into my head. My mother was a "huntress" in the world of bargains and garage sales. Simply driving down the street could lead to an adventure full of excitement for the day.

She would holler: "Stop, Turn, Turn here! There is a Garage Sale!" in her charming southern drawl.

It must have been about 16 years ago or so when I came to the realization that I was hooked on buying and collecting just about everything. If there was an auction, estate sale, garage sale, flea market, within 50 miles, I just had to get there. Sitting next to a vibrant, chatty, woman one Sunday afternoon, the auctioneer had to almost holler over us, as this gal convinced me that I had done enough buying for myself - it was time to become a dealer.

The Fenton Art Glass Company has been in business for over 100 years and is still making glass today in Williamstown WV. With such a long and productive company history Fenton has made something to make every glass enthusiast a happy collector. There is such a wide variety of items, colors and styles it may be difficult to pick just one to collect. Beginning a collection may seem a little over whelming.

It is odd how things work. The current economic crisis seems to have totally distracted the antiques and collectibles trade from the issue of reproductions (exact copies), copycats (stylistic copies), fantasy items (forms, shapes, patterns, and/or color that did not exist historically), and fakes. The simple truth is that these have not gone away and continue to plague the field. If you have any doubt, checkout the latest catalog from AAA Importing or Castle Antiques. New material is appearing in the marketplace constantly.

It was not the flashiest of designs, this milk glass with hand painted blue flowers adorning the pattern. Yet in its sweet simplicity, I found my love of Fenton.

I recently had an experience I would like to share with others about finding treasures. I was out mailing an item I had sold on Ruby Lane and decided to check out a couple of second hand stores for glass items to paint for my other hobby which is designing custom dinnerware. Well to make a long story short I had gone to the first store and found a couple items but nothing really interesting.