JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Makaha residents Steve Deleconio and Christina Cure fiddled with a camera phone to take pictures of the two pieces of furniture they brought while standing in line yesterday during the "Antiques Roadshow" taping at the Hawaii Convention Center. About 5,000 people showed up for a chance to have their treasures old and new appraised by professionals from the PBS show.

Hit PBS show draws thousands hoping antiques are treasures

Appraisers rate as fascinating the isle stop on a six-city tour

AFTER 11 years on the road, the show is a well-oiled machine. PBS favorite "Antiques Roadshow" set up shop at the Hawaii Convention Center yesterday and thousands of people had their attic treasures appraised.

Pop culture collectibles expert Gary Sohmers describes the collecting mania as "the right fly attracting the right fish. Sooner or later you'll catch something."

He's one of a pool of about 150 appraisers here for the taping. None are paid, he notes, and all appraisers shell out their own plane tickets and travel expenses.

"But I got to come to Hawaii!" he said. "It's all about credibility and exposure. We're all in the business of buying and selling antique items, and we get to see hundreds of wonderful things, plus meet great people.

"No, we can't buy items from the folks who come in. ... If we get on TV, great, but of the thousands of items appraised, only 50 or so get on the air."

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM A model of the famed RCA dog Nipper seemed to nod at the camera yesterday during the "Antique Roadshow" taping at the Hawaii Convention Center. The owner of the sculpture is Clemente Villanueva of Alewa Heights, who is an avid polyphone and gramophone collector. Villanueva said he waited "years to get this particular piece, which had been on display at Eurasian Antiques but was never on sale."

"We pick cities that have a geographic diversity, plus they must have a convention center big enough to handle the set and the long lines of people, plus the convention center has to be available on our schedule," said Judy Matthews, the show's senior publicist.

By the end of the day, more than 5,000 residents had had items appraised. Not a sellout house, noted Matthews, but "the consensus among appraisers was that we saw more items of true value and true interest than in any other city this summer."

One appraised collection will likely become an Antiques Roadshow classic: a half-dozen pieces of inherited Art Deco jewelry in the auction-house ballpark of $145,000 to $197,000. And there was a napkin sketched upon by Andy Warhol and Diana Vreeland that, if authenticated, could fetch $50,000 to $100,000. The owner acquired it as collateral on a $1,500 loan that defaulted.

But the award for quick thinking goes to the couple who, on their way to a Hilo museum, saw an old painting of Hilo Bay in an antique shop but couldn't make out the signature. Once in the museum, though, they saw works by the same artist and they immediately called to reserve the painting.

For $400, plus less than a thousand dollars worth of restoration, they owned one of a handful of works by Hawaiian artist Joseph Nawahi, dated 1888.

Estimated value: $100,000 to $150,000.