A common theme throughout the articles I write is the sentiment that the only constant in the entire antiques and collectibles trade is change. If we look back at what was actively collected in the 1980s and 1990s versus today, we will see some overlap, but there are also a lot of collecting categories that died out or are near extinction in the year 2025. If I would poll readers under the age of 40, very few would admit to actively collecting cast-iron mechanical banks, Hot Wheels cars, Aurora model kits, PEZ dispensers, and Lionel toy trains. For the younger set, it is all about vintage toys, retro video games, Nike sneakers, and Pokemon cards. This begs the question as to how collecting categories get to the point of death or extinction in the first place. Understanding this is a vital concept because I can assure you that I work with a lot of collectors under the age of 50, and very few know what a Hummel figurine is. There are really only two ways that an organic collecting category can die. The key word here is organic; later in the article we will get to the reason why this is so important. The first is a slow and rather horrific death that would make any mask-wearing machete-carrying psychopath from your favorite horror movie jealous, so we will start there. In order for a collecting category to remain vibrant over the long term it has to be coveted by more than one generation of collectors. Western toy collectibles were popular amongst baby-boomers because they grew up with the likes of Gunsmoke, Hopalong Cassidy, and the Lone Ranger. My generation (Gen-X) did not identify with the likes of Westerns and, as such, my generation was weaned on Star Wars, Nintendo, and the Transformers. This is why people my age tend to gravitate towards those kind of items and pay tidy sums for them on the secondary market. The younger generation of collectors seems poised to, at the very least, identify with both Star Wars and Nintendo, so those items have multigenerational collectability. Unfortunately for the likes of Western toy collectibles, those items already started to die a slow death. If anyone disputes this analysis, just check auction records, and you will see the peak of the market was back in the 1990s. This is because in order for any collecting category to remain prominent, more than one generation has to actively want to collect the items in question. Coin collecting is still going strong because younger generations still value numismatics as a whole, whereas stamp collecting, at least in the United States, has been on a downward spiral for many years now. The second way a collecting category can die is due to something known as cannibalization. Lets assume that a prominent collector spends roughly $10,000 a year adding items to his two favorite collecting categories: vintage comic books and Pokemon cards. One day this collector makes the decision that he no longer wants to spend any more money on vintage comic books, so he chooses to spend the entire $10,000 of his yearly budget on Pokemon cards instead. In a sense, he is no longer actively acquiring vintage comic books. If enough collectors choose to do this, it can and will affect the market. In fact, if anyone is studying the collectibles market right now, this actually is happening in regards to vintage comic books. A lot of high-profile collectors and investors with the potential to move the market have started to pull away from vintage comic books. This is not implying that the vintage comic book market is dying, but it is in a downward cycle at present time. It is also possible that it comes roaring back in the next few years. Again, the only constant in any of these markets is change. This is what makes speculating on these items so inherently risky, especially over the long term. Whenever I bring up these two ways a collecting market can die, I am often asked about what happened to something like Beanie Babies? Beanie Babies came and went within less than a decade. The problem with Beanie Babies is that they never had true organic collectability. They were simply a speculative bubble that caught fire thanks in part to the advent of eBay and also the fact that the manufacturer limited production of the little stuffed critters through a concept called mass-produced scarcity. Beanie Babies represent the dark side of speculation. Beanie Babies, much like many other collectible crazes, never had a chance to gain multigenerational collectability, let alone true organic collectability. The generation that was buying them was doing so squarely for financial investment. We know this to be true because the Beanie Baby craze ended toward the beginning of the new millennium, which makes these stuffed toys more than 30 years old today. And while there are some Beanie babies that do have some value on the secondary market, there are very few that can be considered truly collectible today. This should tell you all you need to know about the power of speculative bubbles within the antiques and collectibles trade. A lot of collectors incorrectly compare Beanie Babies to PEZ, but PEZ, which has been in business since 1927, does have organic collectability even if PEZ collecting is not as big as it once was. In conclusion, every time I talk about the concept of multigenerational collectability I am met with critics who proudly lament that their favorite collecting category will never die out. To be fair, it is quite obvious that Nintendo, Pokemon, and Star Wars have proven to be, at least at present time, loved by multiple generations. That should not mean, however, that these items will always command the amount of money they are currently on the secondary market. And that is why we are having this discussion, because much like Lionel trains and cast-iron mechanical banks that were selling for all-time highs just a few short decades ago, the only constant in the entire antiques and collectibles trade is change. Younger collectors, especially if they are investing in these items for the long term, would be wise to learn this lesson. Thanks for reading! Shawn Surmick has been an avid collector since the age of 12. He currently resides in his hometown of Boyertown, Pa., and is a passionate collector of antiques and collectibles. His articles focus on various topics affecting the marketplace.