No question prices are way down across the board, despite the fact that some key rare cards are still performing well. There are a number of factors for this. The biggest of course is the terrible state of our economy. Not much you can do about that. Also, as cited by Corey, many of the whales are now selling their collections, and that has a huge impact on prices from top to bottom.
Also, don't underestimate that the baby boomers are getting older, and are now realizing that they don't have enough money for retirement. I heard a statistic on the radio recently, don't know where it came from but I will share it. According to a survey, 46% of baby boomers will run out of money in their lifetime. Have no idea if it's true, but if it is that is one of the scariest things I've ever heard.
Finally, this hobby has matured. It's not the "New" hobby of the 80's that was getting all this media attention and bringing in new collectors by droves. If anything, the media regards the hobby as infested with fraud, so it's not bringing in as many new collectors.
I think we have a confluence of many things happening at once. But if I had to pick the most important one, I would go with the bad economy.
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