Keep the faith, brother... you just got to survive to the end.

Alan is so right. I've been watching this happen for a decade, and the worst is yet to come, I'm afraid.

As a kid, I collected sports cards... baseball, football, etc. I bought packs with my allowance, saved multiple sets in pristine condition, and traded and played flip games with the rest. I enjoyed my 'hobby' and got tons of satifaction from it. There were a few companies out there.. Topps and Fleer being the biggies. Then the speculators arrived...

They knew that as the baby boomers grew older, they would hit that point that most of us do... nostalgia for our childhood. They started buying and selling.. older cards, new sets, etc. I watched as people started to 'invest' in sports cards... sinking tons of money to buy, buy, buy. Then the new companies arrived... they added marketing to the cards.. jazzy new series, multiple series, 'special SPECIAL collectors editions', ad nauseum. They flooded the cards, hype and the that goes with it. Real collectors couldn't afford to keep up, they get frustated, they quit. The speculator rides the wave until it crests, and then sells everything to some schmuck with get rich quick dollar signs in their eyes (who ends up taking a bath and losing tons of money), and heads out to see the next thing they can exploit.

Coin collecting was 'safe' from this... it was perceived by the masses as 'boring' and 'nerdy'... until the Statehood quarters hit the streets. People got excited, old collectors were envigorated and new collectors entered the market... and we became a ripe target for speculators. Now you see the same thing happening all over again... Shopping channels with coin shows, special labels, super exclusive special labels, super mega ULTRA Collectors Sets! Insane prices, a glut of coins, mass marketing... the whole nine yards. Soon the get rich quick suckers will come along (they are already starting to appear).

The aftermath will be:

1. Real collectors will be disgusted and many will fall away from the hobby.

2. The speculators will suck the hobby dry and move on.

3. With the money well going dry, the companies that depend on it will go away.

4. The hobby will survive, tattered and in ruins, but alive; barely.

I don't give a damn about labels, or glitz or whatever. I try to shield myself from the madness, but its impossible to do so fully. I'm keeping the faith, because inevitably, the speculators and their sycophantic lackeys will be gone, and we can get back to collecting in peace.