Honestly...it's Beyond Words!

[Vaughn O.]

As long as there are baby boomer collectors around with deep wallets and in their peak earning years, prices will not go down. After they stop, I just don't see anywhere near the same numbers coming up from below to continue to support it.

I wish this was true but IMO prices will continue to climb. Look what happened with the Civil War militaria, antique guns along with TR. I don't think that the growth will stop with the demise of baby boomers. There is plenty of money coming up from behind.

[MauserKar98k]

I wish this was true but IMO prices will continue to climb. Look what happened with the Civil War militaria, antique guns along with TR. I don't think that the growth will stop with the demise of baby boomers. There is plenty of money coming up from behind.

At least us young collectors will still be around when the bubble bursts. That is, if it ever does.

[phild]

I wish this was true but IMO prices will continue to climb. Look what happened with the Civil War militaria, antique guns along with TR. I don't think that the growth will stop with the demise of baby boomers. There is plenty of money coming up from behind.

Vaughn, you are right IMO. The youngest boomers are now well into their 40s and approaching 50. The oldest boomers are reaching retirement. They (we) may account for some of the buying on the higher end items but in the main the market is being pushed from below.

The "X"'ers are the main buying force right now and the Gen.Y are the ones praying for it all to crash.

The boomers were not seemingly into a lot of things that our parents were but I'll be darned if I've seen the price of any of it go down one penny! I can assure anyone that the price of race horses, pre war turbo charged roadsters and 18th century English silver and furniture is still very high and rising.

Please don't bother telling me it's apples and oranges because it's the exact same dynamic.

[NTZ]

The "X"'ers are the main buying force right now and the Gen.Y are the ones praying for it all to crash.

I agree. A lot of my friends in the hobby like my self are "x"ers. The 40 something crowd it pretty large not to mention all the younger guys we see on the forum. As the younger collectors get larger disposable incomes they will be moving away from buying Ek’s and into those 30K uniforms. I see no drop in price anytime soon.

[JG 51]

I have seen many threads on the forum were prices are being discussed..
what really defines the value of an item?? thats the question.. if something is rare you can expect to pay big money for it... lets face it wouldnt be the same if for original uniforms you only had to pay 49,99 ( I would not mind but then also the thrill of collecting goes away... ) for me it is a constant finding funds trading items till you get that item that you wanted for so long...

For me collecting is only about my intrest in history. The thrill does not come from paying a lot of money for an item, it comes from having a piece of history. The big money causes big disapointments like it did in this case. It also attracts greedy businessmen selling put together tunics sold as the real deal. So along with the higher prices, sellers greed will follow and destroy the hobby of collecting WWII items.

[Bobwirtz]

Why do so many of these threads end up going down the same road: prices? Like any collectible, the prices are going to continue to go up and there will always be people who will be able to buy this stuff regardless of the price.

Bob

[Johnny R]

Why do so many of these threads end up going down the same road: prices? Like any collectible, the prices are going to continue to go up and there will always be people who will be able to buy this stuff regardless of the price.

Bob

I agree, this should almost go to the Kniepe now or Community Forum. Sorry but there are 50 other threads with the same statements, all opinions which are interesting but really have nothing to do with the original subject.

To paraphrase Popeye's "I yam what's I yam"- This situation with collectables and prices "yis what it yis".