[Skoob]

I want to express appreciation for some very insightful thoughts and observations. I'm sure many lurkers agree.

I likewise miss the smaller toy outlets, with the interesting displays and diverse collections. They seem unlikely ever to resurface. Discretionary retail in general is a car wreck in slow motion. Everybody is drowning in debt, at all levels, and a majority, individually and collectively, seem unwilling to change their behavior and act responsibly. Governments seem totally corrupt and determined to milk what's left of the productive economy to prolong their own bubble. Everything is going to get incrementally worse until the mentality changes.

Demographics dictate flow of capital to some extent, and some of the current situation can be attributed to the post-WW2 Boomer Spike and the fact that those aging boomers who would previously have passed wealth along to the next generation, enabling them to buy nice homes and raise families and buy nice stuff (e.g., quality toys), just haven't saved money like their forebears, making the credit bubble and associated ripple effects worse and more far-reaching than they might have been ordinarily.

I don't know if anyone else here is following events in the energy sector, but that's another looming Sword of Damocles that promises to wipe out any expectations for a more statistically normal, cyclical turn of events in favor of near-term recovery. Things are going to get much, much, much worse, and for a long time, before they get better.

Take good care of the collectible stuff you have, because it could become much more valuable in decades to come.