JONESBORO, Ark.—Zorro is the one who started it all.

But for one Jonesboro man with more than 200 metal lunch boxes, it’s now more about the collecting, the search, the find, the rush and the nostalgia.

Dr. Jim Stillwell is the chairman of the Department of Health, Physical Education and Sports Science at Arkansas State University. But years before that, he was a young boy fascinated by the Westerns he watched on a black-and-white television in the home he shared with his grandmother in the small town of Virginia, Ill. The only lunch box he remembers carrying to school featured Zorro.

When he started collecting lunch boxes, he went back to those Westerns, including “Have Gun, Will Travel,” “Gunsmoke,” “The Lone Ranger” and, of course, “Zorro.”

Before he knew it, his collection had expanded to include lunch boxes fashioned from family television programs of the ’60s and ’70s — “Happy Days,” “The Addams Family,” “Family Affair” and “The Partridge Family.” Cartoons and sports also creeped in.

There’s “Charlie’s Angels,” “Hee Haw,” “The A-Team,” “The Bionic Woman,” “Kung-Fu,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “Jungle Book.” Some lunch boxes feature shows he doesn’t remember, such as Chuck Connors in “Cowboy in Africa” and “Kid Power!”

He’s got about half of his collection shelved in his office at the HPESS Building on the ASU campus and the rest are at home. Many are made by Aladdin Industries and Stillwell doesn’t want them unless they have a metal clasp.

“I don’t mind if they’re not in mint condition,” he said. “I like it when they’ve been used.”

Stillwell, 61, purchased a price guide and began to concentrate on the financial aspect of collecting lunch boxes. He goes to flea markets and antique shops when he visits or travels out of town on business. He tries to find them for under $5, but there are some for which he’d pay more. They can be purchased on eBay sometimes for $12 to $20, but the shipping fee adds about $11 to the cost, he said.

“There are probably 75 on eBay for sale now,” he said. “It’s slowed down because of the economy.”

Most of the lunch boxes are pre-1980. It doesn’t matter to Stillwell whether they come with a Thermos, although they’re about 25 percent more valuable if they do. He said he has a few reproductions and a few newer models in his collection, but does not collect domed models.

One lunch box that’s highly sought after, he said, is the “Dudley Do-Right.”

Stillwell has doubles of some lunch boxes. When that happens, he can sell one and keep the one in the best condition. He sometimes sells, buys and trades with collectors who have become friends in other states, including Missouri, Illinois and Oklahoma.

“Hopalong Cassidy is probably the oldest,” he said. “I grew up watching him.”

Stillwell said that the lunch boxes usually have different images on the front and back, sometimes in three dimensions, and some include art along the sides. He said many of the boxes are “very artistic.”

Many Baby Boomer schoolchildren took their lunch to school because it was cheaper or because lunch was not offered.

“Lunch was a quarter when I was in school,” Stillwell said. The regular price is now about $1.50 to $1.75 per meal.

He said he will sometimes ask ASU students visiting his office if they know what the lunch boxes are.

Stillwell has always been a collector—at various times in his life, he’s specialized in sports memorabilia, peanut jars or other items that make up a collection. Those collections have paid off. Part of one paid for a family car, while another paid for a daughter’s wedding.

“I like to collect things,” he said.