I suspect a lot of it is coincidental or generational.
There are a lot of us old fart collectors who bought their collections decades ago for a pittance and have huge paper profits. Some are cashing in. Since we all travel in the same relatively small collector circles (I interact with maybe a thousand collectors between boards and in person dealings), a relatively small number of collectors from that core selling out looks like a stampede.
There is also the timing. The early and middle Boomers are at retirement age, and the late Boomers and early Gen X'ers are entering (if we are lucky) the wind-down phases of our careers and the downsizing of our lifestyles and needs. We are moving out of the big empty nests and into smaller spaces more suitable for couples. Part of that is the collection: either sell it off or pay to move it.
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