FIELD OF BARGAINS\Rose Bowl Flea Market packs 'em in for monthly rush to find discount\path to heart's desire.

Byline: Diana E. Lundin Daily News Staff Writer

If the waning afternoon light was any dimmer, Tim Wilson would seem to be in a terribly awkward position trudging across the endless asphalt of the Rose Bowl's parking lot.

What appeared so out of place was the frame of the small man he carried.

But it was actually a leg form used to make clothing patterns, a bargain the North Hollywood costumer picked up at the humongous Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena for $130 instead of the $300 it would cost him to order it from New York.

"It has legs," Wilson said happily. "And most of them don't have legs."

The Rose Bowl Flea Market, named among the 10 best in North America by the Wall Street Journal, is one of the largest, too, full of new, nearly new and downright old treasures and collectibles of every kind.

Croquet sets, troll dolls, eight-track tapes ...

The second Sunday of every month, shoppers fill the perimeter of the Rose Bowl to find old baseball mitts, skateboards, Pee-wee Herman dolls, Fiesta ware, Bauer pottery, antique phones, cameras, radios, globes, toasters, furniture and fishing reels.

At the Rose Bowl since 1969, the rain-or-shine flea market draws an average 20,000 attendees a month who browse among the goods of up to 2,000 vendors. It adds about $500,000 to Pasadena's city coffers annually, said Dennis Dodson, operations manager for R.G. Canning Attractions, the Maywood promoter that puts on the swap meet.

"It's a good little event," Dodson said.

Good it may be, but little is hardly the word.

Baseball cards, duck decoys, "MASH" beer ...

The flea market is actually three shows in one, Dodson explained, with vendors in the oval around the Rose Bowl selling new merchandise, then separate areas for arts and crafts, and antiques and collectibles.

It opens at 9 a.m. for most people, but hundreds of early birds line up in the dark with flashlights for a special 6 a.m. entrance, which costs $5 on top of the regular $5 admission.

"They're your really hard-core people," Dodson laughed. "They hit that turnstile and they're running."

But it was the end of the day when Wilson found his version of the supermodel. Somehow, he knew he would find something.

"At the very last minute, I came across it," he said. "I never come looking for a specific thing. I never know what I'm going to find. It's just if something hits me at a spur of the moment, something that speaks to me enough that I know I'd kick myself later if I didn't break down and buy it. Before Christmas, I bought an African mask; last summer, it was a Czechoslovakian crystal head."

Planes, levels, saws ...

While Wilson may be a man without a plan, other shoppers know exactly what they're in the market for.

"I'm looking for a chandelier, a real candle chandelier," said John Stevens, a Hollywood resident who comes to the flea market every two months, spending anywhere from $50 to $300 per visit.

Asked if he thinks he'll find such a specific object, "Yes," he says confidently while lugging some wall hanging featuring a medieval-style ball and chain. "I don't know if I'll buy it, but I'll find something here."

Marbles, surfboards, clarinets ...

Phyllis Munn, a retiree from Palm Desert who comes about once a year with her husband, Rogers, also knows precisely what she's looking for.

"Fostoria crystal and glass, that's what I look for," she said. "He," she said, pointing to her husband, "looks for antique wooden putters."

By early afternoon, only she was successful, having acquired a Fostoria salt-and-pepper shaker set.

Gary Thibodeaux of Orange had a productive hunt as well, taking home with him a '40s child's booster seat he snapped up for $45 to add to his kitchen, which is decorated as a diner.

Some come to browse.

Fishing reels, candelabras, vintage bicycles ...

"Part of the fun is just looking at stuff," said Jeffrey Lynch, a Glendale storyboard artist. "It can be old clothes, vintage things."

His most prized possession was an Averaux reproduction bomber jacket that would normally sell for $400. He bought it for $75.

But he is cautious, too.

"There are some vendors here that have vintage clocks and toasters that are just really fabulous looking," Lynch said. "At the same time, you ask yourself, do I love it 150 bucks' worth? Sometimes I think there are really good bargains here, and sometimes I think the markup is already here."

But, he said, "It's sure a lot more fun than going to stores that have this kind of thing."

Bauer, Fiesta, Catalina Island pottery ...

It's true that even Pasadena's venerable swap meet requires a careful eye. Some of the merchandise may not be what it's purported to be.

"It's 'the buyer beware,' especially when you're buying antiques and collectibles," Dodson said. "It could be way overpriced." Or priceless at any price, according to someone else's definition.

But the swap meet has an excellent reputation, according to Myron Freedman, who was the president of the recently disbanded International Seal, Label and Cigar Band Society.

"I've recommended it to several people," said Freedman from his home in Tucson, Ariz.

Tiffany Brown and Scott Torney, friends from Venice, also collect vintage items, particularly because of their sideline occupations - they're swing dance instructors.

"We teach at the Derby," she said. "It's a big swing scene there, and everybody dresses vintage."

Her greatest treasure was a Salvador Dali tie she bought for 45 cents for her boyfriend, who collects them.

Torney, who hoards old Harley-Davidson metallic signs for his own pleasure, was proud of his purchase that Sunday. His parents collect Olympic memorabilia and Torney managed to track down a flag from the '84 Olympics.

And denim blue jeans are hot right now.

"There's a lot of interest there," said Dodson, who has hosted three Japanese camera crews at the flea market since the beginning of the year.

Slow, though, on this particular day seems to be California pottery, at least for Washington-state dealer Derek Johansen.

"This is my first time here. I'm just kind of testing the waters, but it's not going very good," he said. "I'm really disappointed from what I've heard about this place. The dealer next to me is already gone. He just said it's a bad day here, so I'm not taking it too personally."

Deedee Gordon of Los Angeles killed two birds with one stone recently, both shopping and touring the site for a possible booth of her own.

"I was thinking about working out here and I wanted to check it out, see the atmosphere," said Gordon, who decorates hats and socks. "The prices are pretty good. Some things are a little sky high. You have to know what you're looking for."

She found some deals on hats, antique French ribbon and dried flowers, while her pal, Juanita Mucthison, found something to take care of a bare hardwood floor hallway in her Hawthorne house.

"It was an antique runner for - believe it or not - $25, and I jumped on it," she said.

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO

Photo (1--Cover--Color) Swap till you drop If it's been made, you'll find it at the Rose Bowl Flea Market (2--4--Color) Above, mannequins take the field at the Rose Bowl Flea Market, which begins filling up at 6 a.m. with early-bird shoppers. Below, some of the 20,000 people who attend the monthly swap meet. At left, Art Center students Vince Pedretti, left, and Pierre Dubois try on some firefighting gear at the flea market, which hosts vendors selling both old and new merchandise. (5--6--Color) Above, Gordon Heck of Oxnard saw a flea-market bargain in this telescope. Below, Florence Fuss of Hollywood is surrounded by eager shoppers as she looks for jewelry at the Pasadena event, which features up to 2,000 vendors. Michael Owen Baker/Daily News