WEEKEND GETAWAY: GLENDALE AND PRESCOTT

getaway weekend COLLECTIBLES AND ANTIQUES Stuff the Roads From GLENDALE TO PRESCOTT

ANY EXCUSE TO HUNT COLLECTIBLES WILL DO, but when you tackle both Prescott and Glendale, you'd better use at least two weekends or you may go into sensory overload. With more than 90 antique, collectibles and specialty shops clustered in downtown Glendale, an early 20th-century farming community next to Phoenix, USA Today christened it one of the top 10 antiquing spots in the country. And who can resist the dozens of shops in cool Prescott-many within strolling distance of its famous Courthouse Square and inviting, green lawn? Well-known for the Victorian houses that line its streets, this mountain town's an easy two-hour drive north of Phoenix.Undoubtedly, Internet auction houses like eBay have caused more than a few collectibles merchants to scramble for business. Some swear at it, others swear by it, a few ignore it. But Jeanne Antonius, owner of Merchandise Mart Antique Mall on Prescott's Cortez Street, assured me, "There will always be those customers who want to touch and feel."

"Collecting's very psychological," said Richard Johnson, of Prescott's Richard Johnson's Toys and Collectibles. "People collect what has sentimental value." His store on North Cortez Street caters to the tourist trade, but Johnson deals worldwide through his monthly collectible toys newsletter. "The baby boomers' childhood toys are very hot right now," Johnson explained. While antiques (items 100 years or older in this country) once reigned supreme with collectors, the baby boomer generation goes wild for playthings from the 1960s and '70s.

Take the teeny prize from a 1960s Cracker Jack box. According to Johnson, that trinket, which may have cost 5 cents or less to produce, now fetches from $12 to $125 based on its rarity and a collector's determination to possess it. Got a mint condition Beatles lunchbox? Finding the right buyer could garner a hefty $2,500. Star Wars and GI Joe figures that originally sold for $1.95 in the '70s can generate $600 to $700. And if you held onto GI Joe's scuba outfit, pocket another $500. "Condition is all important," Johnson advised. But don't disturb the package it comes in either. He smiled ruefully as he admitted, "I've paid as much for a mint condition, original box as for the [rare item] that came in it." He laughed and ticked off a few more desirable items. "And, good grief," he said, "don't forget old Arizona Highways magazines. They're very collectible all over the world."

Antonius agreed that condition plays a huge role, especially in glass and pottery. "Its condition, name of the maker, proof of its history, a signature - age is almost the last consideration in collectibles-but serious collectors will not buy anything chipped."

When buying, Antonius carries a little bag with a black light to expose hairline cracks or past repairs. In her mall-type store, pottery sells well, particularly McCoy, Roseville and Fiesta. Head vases and old paint-by-number pictures also top the hot list.

So who convinces the public a piece has achieved "must-have" status? There's some debate, but media exposure helps, and any connection with celebrity Martha Stewart always helps. Most merchants remember when an article in Stewart's magazine made mention of Fiesta Ware and prices skyrocketed overnight. Antonius also says the biggest collectors write the reference books and print their preferred price, and these often become the standard.

Browsers in Ogg's Hogan on Cortez Street in Prescott enjoy his specialty antique Indian baskets. They line the walls, surrounding cases of Western hardware-bits, spurs, bridles and branding irons.

Jeff Ogg, pointing to Apache, Pima, Yavapai and Zuni pieces, said, "These are extremely collectible, and the most expensive are easiest to sell." For a mere $20,000 to $30,000, Ogg offers the serious basket connoisseur an early 20th-century Yavapai basket or something considerably less expensive.

"The baskets give the best return on your money," he said, "but don't oil or shellac them." Keep an eye out for fine weaving, unbroken stitching and coils, and baskets with life-form motifs.

Ogg suggested appraiser Lila Cook as a savvy antiques dealer. I found Arizona Territory Antiques owned by Lila and her husband, Herb, tucked back several dozen feet from Montezuma Street, just south of the Courthouse Square. Cook carries an eclectic antique assortment that includes elegant glassware, salt dips, cups and saucers, sewing items, lamps, men's watches, fountain pens - [CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT] Ogg's Hogan rarities including a Pima basket, antique spurs and a passel of trading-posttype Indian wares; Lynx Creek Farm Bed and Breakfast's cozy accommodations, satisfying food and a cheerful welcome. all of which she calls good investments.

"Art pottery and particularly anything advertising old Arizona stores are the hottest items now. Contemporary toys from the '60s and '70s also sell well," said Cook. While on the northern portion of our collectibles quest, my husband, Larry, and I wound our way up to Lynx Creek Farm, a bucolic bed and breakfast inn perched on the side of a hill between Prescott and Prescott Valley. Greg and Wendy Temple and their four children operate this 32-acre guest ranch that faces 7,815-foot Mingus Mountain.

Along with their apple and rag doll memorabilia, the Temples have collected a farm animal menagerie from which the children help gather eggs and milk for their guests' farm-fresh breakfast. Chef Greg wipped up delectables like Pasta con Pesto Frittata. He and Wendy served us and fellow guests on the outdoor deck dining room, overlooking Lynx Creek and tall cottonwoods far below. Wendy attended to even the tiniest decorating detail in each of the six homey Victorian-, Westernor country-themed rooms and the two stand-alone cottages. Two rooms include private hot tubs in which collectors can ease their shopping aches and pains.

Glendale offers two main shopping areas: enticing Catlin Court-city blocks of cottagelike houses reborn as specialty shops and restaurants - and Old Downtown.

I can spend days browsing the excellent stores around Glendale's tree-lined downtown square, but A Mad Hatter's Antiques and Collectibles store mall (a bit east of the square on Glendale Avenue) features nearly 100 dealer collections and gathers a gazillion objects in one place. Ray and Debbie Ralls maintain 20,000 impeccable square feet of showcases, mezzanines and rabbit-warren rooms. Their hot items? Everything that fits into country and Victorian home decor and great furniture pieces and toys of bygone days.

I planned my visit to Catlin Court so I could have lunch on the patio at The Spicery Tea Room and Gift Shop. And I never want to miss the vanilla ice-blended coffee (rich enough for dessert) at mural-covered Espresso Garden Coffee House next door.

Just across the street, I noticed flashes of color in the window at Glass Creations. Inside, distinctive glass glistens in every shape imaginable, scattering pinpoints of cranberry, green, purple and cobalt throughout the store. Like owner JoAnn Chase said, "Glass is hypnotic." Limited editions, color, scarcity, manufacturer and methods all determine value. Next, I headed east to Larry's Antiques, a mecca for machinery, rusted mining wagons and airplane propellers. This off-the-square store boasts six buildings on a half-acre.

Lack of air-conditioning and heating notwithstanding, owner Larry Lahaie trades internationally and fills large orders for interior decorators. In one pass-through, I spotted furniture, wooden wagon wheels, gobs of architectural salvage, authentic outhouses, 20 claw-foot bathtubs (stock was "low" that day) and Lahaie's favorite-Western "stuff." A sign in the front building isn't kidding: "If we don't have it, you're probably better off without it."

"I love to trade and dicker," Lahaie said, grinning.

Sandy Kralovetz of Sandy's Dream Dolls (look for the white gazebo in the Catlin Court yard) contends that dolls have now beaten stamps and coins as the most popular collectible, and she calls doll collecting an "emotional decision."

"Collectibility depends on the desire to own, uniqueness and a pretty face." She recommended Madame Alexander and Hildegard Gunzel dolls, the Ginny doll by Vogue and the Gene doll designed by Mel Odom. Kralovetz and her staff also restore and repair over-loved dolls and offer classes in dollmaking, perhaps the collectibles of the future. The Internet may have permanently changed the collectibles market, but in the face-to-face collectibles world at Glendale, Kralovetz found something even better than dolls. "The best thing about this business is the number of good friends you collect," she said. And you can't find that on eBay. AH