The Historical Society of Islip Hamlet hosted a free appraisal event on Oct. 8. Individuals were welcomed to bring antiques and collectables to be assessed by appraiser Phil Weiss, accompanied by his son, Matt Weiss. The event was held at Islip Public Library and was open to the public from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m

Stamps, vintage toys, coins and sports memorabilia were encouraged. There was no jewelry, furniture or firearms permitted at the event. Over 25 people signed up to have their items looked at.

Appraisers assess and give an opinion on what they believe an item’s market value is. Weiss has over 50 years of experience, specializing in collectables, sports memorabilia and toys and games. He has also appeared on PBS’s program, “Antiques Roadshow.”

Weiss is the owner of Weiss Auctions in Lynbrook. The business was started with Weiss and his wife nearly 40 years ago. The business appraises and auctions items, holding monthly auctions with different specialties.

“I took a hobby of collecting stamps, comic books, and rare books and turned it into business,” Weiss said.

The Islip Historical Society reached out to Weiss to organize an appraisal night event. Weiss participates in these events to help out organizations.

“I do these fairly often for organizations to help them raise money for different charities and institutions,” Weiss said. “It’s our way of giving something back.”

Some items at the event included vintage dolls, stamp collections, plates, paintings, bronze plaques, Mets memorabilia, coins, baseball cards, Olympics collectables and Nintendo games.

One of the higher priced items for the night featured a vintage Twiggy doll from the 1960s-70s. The Mattel doll was brought in by Jo Pelling, still in its original box. Weiss appraised the doll for $300 to $500 value.

A binder of tobacco baseball cards hit a home run for the night, with an estimated price of $1,000. Single cards in the binder had an estimated price of $50. The collection was passed down in the family and continues to grow.

One of several dolls examined throughout the night was brought in by Mary Krumenacker. The Italian doll was appraised by Weiss for around $1,000.

Each workday is filled with excitement and pleasure for Weiss.

“The most enjoyable thing about this is the excitement of finding something new, rare or valuable,” Weiss said. “That’s the fun of doing this; they say that if you enjoy what you’re doing, you never work, and that’s how I feel. Every day is an enjoyable day and an adventure.”

Matt Weiss assisted his father throughout the night. On working with his son, Weiss loves working with his family.

“It makes you feel good knowing that a business you built up for such a long period of time will keep going long after we’re not around,” Weiss said.