Simply put- the first reason is that the one thing required for an item to be sold at a premium is just not there anymore.

You need to replace older (not an age issue) collectors who have maxed out or stopped collecting with new people who are starting to collect.

This process becomes harder to accomplish as a line "ages" and expands in total number of items which in turn tends to overwhelm new collectors.

In addition we have the problem that while quite a bit in the past stills haunts the HL Collectors world- serious overproduction of many of the replicas.

You then add in the general economy and it's efects on disposable income and you have the 3 top reasons why most people find themselves with a collection that has little or no monetary worth but still has an emotional value.

Dennis