The really young crowd is more into music and other "lifestyle" pursuits. They don't tend to collect much of anything. My children learned a lot from the Beanie Baby trend. I had them chart the prices of the "Princess" beanie that was marketed after Princess Diana's death, and they saw the bottom drop out of the market. Now Beanie Babies can't even sell for 50 cents at flea markets. The same happened with Pokemon and Yugi-Oh cars, which my son was into.

It's not all profit or investment, though. I have also seen declines in coin collecting and model railroading. Go to a convention or sale, and it is all older people, and often a large proportion of men. Maybe we can advertise hobbies as a great way for women to meet men! And then again, if you were a woman, would you join under those conditions???

I think most hobbies need to draw kids when they are in their teens or earlier. The desire is imprinted at a young age, I believe. That makes it even more difficult for a hobby like chip collecting where they can't go in and harvest them.