When I mention the words vintage advertising, what comes to mind? Is it an aging Coca-Cola advertising sign from the 1950s? Or maybe its a Mobil Gas advertising sign from the 1960s featuring the iconic flying red horse known as the Pegasus? Watch any episode of American Pickers and you are sure to encounter coveted vintage advertising pieces like these that can easily be seen selling for thousands of dollars. Vintage advertising is and always was a popular collecting category of the Baby-Boom Generation, those individuals who were born between 1946 and 1964. But unlike some other once popular collectibles coveted by the boomer generation, the market for high-quality vintage advertising isnt dying; its changing. And if you are wondering if your favorite vintage soda pop or petroleum advertising collectibles are going to still have demand long after the generation that made them collectible passes on, the answer likely depends on the item. I was born in 1976 and am a proud member of Generation X. I belong to the generation of slackers (as we were once called) that were born between the years 1965 and 1980. The first toy line I remember getting excited for was the original Star Wars line released by Kenner Toys shortly after the premier of the original Star Wars movie that made its debut in 1977. My parents tell me that I saw it in the theater, but I dont remember seeing the original Star Wars in theaters. I do however remember seeing the sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, in a theater, and as a child I thought it was the most magical experience. Being able to recreate all my favorite movie scenes with the actual toys and playsets brought the Star Wars universe to life. Today, almost all the vintage Star Wars toys and action figures produced by Kenner Toys between 1977 and 1985 have collector value. Most were bought as toys and immediately ripped open and played with. This is why near mint factory sealed examples can be seen selling for thousands of dollars. There is also a lot of vintage advertising displays that Kenner Toys released to retailers that can be seen selling for thousands of dollars on the secondary market as well. Another popular innovation that my generation witnessed firsthand was the arrival and dominance of Nintendo. Released in 1985 to a lukewarm response (believe it or not), Nintendo almost gave up on trying to bring what would be known as the Nintendo Entertainment System to American shores. After the rise and quick fall of Atari and related video game systems in the early 1980s, video games were seen as a passing fad. Retailers wanted nothing to do with anything related to home video games and still had massive amounts of unsold discounted stock sitting in bargain bins when a relatively unknown Japanese company named Nintendo tried to market their video game system, which was known as the Famicom back in Japan. Amazingly, they decided to package early units with an innovative interactive toy robot (known as R.O.B., short for Robotic Operating Buddy) and removed any mention of the words video game from the packaging. Slowly but surely, major retailers like Toys R Us agreed to carry the system, and once American consumers got a chance to play games like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, they were hooked. By late 1987, Nintendo became a household name in North America, and kids from my generation were screaming Mario on playgrounds everywhere. As a result, today there are a lot of coveted pieces of Nintendo advertising that sell for thousands of dollars (and in some cases tens of thousands of dollars) on the secondary market. Ask anyone my age if they know what World of Nintendo is, and you are sure to get some stories rooted in nostalgia. For the uninitiated, World of Nintendo was an advertising campaign complete with its own line of advertising that Nintendo created by granting certain retailers permission to create sections of their stores devoted to nothing but Nintendo products. I fondly remember walking into Toys R Us and specialty department stores as a kid and seeing row after row of shelves devoted to Nintendo products with now coveted World of Nintendo advertising signs hanging above. So what does all this have to do with the market for vintage advertising? Well, by now you can probably guess. Younger generations are going after the vintage advertising that means as much to them as a vintage Indian Motorcycle sign means to the average 70-year-old. This doesnt mean that your vintage Indian Motorcycle sign is going to become worthless. It does however mean that auctioneers who want to remain relevant when the Baby-Boomer generation passes on are going to have to go after more types of advertising collectibles that cater to the changing demographics. This means along with vintage Coca-Cola signs, Mobil Gas signs, and the like, you can expect to see vintage World of Nintendo advertising signs and Kenner Star Wars advertising displays being sold in the same auctions. This transition is already happening. Case in point, a few weeks ago I got to attend Zolocon 2026, which was held in King of Prussia, Pa. If you dont know what Zolocon is, youd be forgiven. Zolocon is an important pop culture collectibles convention, and a lot of high-profile dealers come from around the country with some of their best wares. A dealer from Ohio attended the show and had a coveted Kay Bee Toys World of Nintendo advertising display. The piece sold with an asking price of $9,500. It is coveted pieces of quality advertising like this that any true Nintendo collector would love to have. Words cannot describe the amount of nostalgia that something like this has to any avid Nintendo enthusiast who was there when a little Japanese toy company did something extraordinary by refusing to give up on making Super Mario Bros. a household name. In conclusion, younger generations do collect a lot of the same coveted vintage and antique advertising signs that are beloved by Baby-Boomers as well. Coca-Cola and Harley Davidson are still in business, and there is just something about the iconic look and feel of those older signs, especially ones made of porcelain. And while prices for most pieces of vintage soda pop and petroleum signs are not as high as they were when the market peaked around 2013, there still is a lot of demand for them, and I dont see that ending any time soon. That said, this is one market to watch due to the changing demographics. 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.