My first miniature purchases were made as a youth in a dusty Five & Dime store, from glass bins full of painted soldiers. Today, many years later, I still make the occasional visit to the Five & Dime's successor for that cheap but rare gem! These stores are the ones that carry the many cake top decorations, and party prizes. They can be found under Craft Supplies in the Yellow Pages, and right after Christmas is a great time to hit them.

Various trees, buildings, and livestock abound in plastic bags and jars. But use your imagination and be creative! There are other treasures waiting. Three points may help. One, take a few painted figures for onsite scale comparison. Two, be open and direct. The woman clerk is probably wondering what a middle-aged man is doing searching through the wife's store. Show her your painted figures, and enlist her help looking for things for your dioramas. Once a clerk disappeared, only to return with a box of 79-cent Cinderella coaches that were perfect!

That leads to point three, be creative! Ignore the color and surface detail; instead look at the size, shape, and possibilities. Those Cinderella coaches were perfect for Highwaymen scenarios, or Thirty Years War period coaches. Just paint over the gold color.

Red, snow covered Santa workshops with giant candy canes? Clip off the candy cane, paint the red walls stucco, and the snow roof straw color with thatching marks.

A baby carriage? Clip the handles, putty on a large canopy, and paint as a gaudy, steppe army supply cart. Two or three lagered makes a great base camp stand. Remember scale comparison, and use your imagination to make unique gaming pieces.

Before leaving, be sure to look at those post-Christmas bargains. You can rake that snow from the pine trees with an old comb, or dry brush mint for spruce, olive for pine over it. Livestock for Dark Age loot, or camels and elephants looking for a few crew. Yes, finding that odd gem is fun. You may feel like a kid again. Have fun!