>>8484081I've seen plenty of guys saying they're leaving the hobby because they want to sell their collections off. Some people just slow down and pick something up every once in a while, even a lot of hardcore collectors, like Drifter D from Youtube are calling it quits. One guy I know who has one of the biggest collections you could imagine is selling everything and focusing on M2 and Greenlight chases.
Local shows used to be packed and exciting and now there's maybe half the crowd and it feels very cynical. People are mostly looking to make their money back and outside of that they've become an excuse to shoot the shit about diecast with each other and everything anyone has to say usually ends up with trash talking Hot Wheels. Lack of variety, quality dip on the premiums, too much stuff people just aren't into, rising costs, the designs themselves...everyone that's been in the hobby for a while seems to have something they're not satisfied with.
I've been in enough CONSOOOOM hobbies to know when the writing is on the wall. It won't be obvious for a couple years but as those older guys and jaded collectors drop out more and more it'll become more apparent.
Sales on Hot Wheels *specifically* aren't down 26% for no reason. The obvious comeback would be "muh coronavirus economy" but Barbie and Star Wars figures have seen growth in sales which puts that one to bed.
