It's so obvious that we are all correct and horribly wrong about all of this at the same time.
I believe we are correct when we state that the hobby will survive. It's relative health will ebb and flow over the years, and it is large enough with a diverse enough demographic among the collector base to experience strength and weakness in various sub-areas over time.
I believe we are wrong when those among us simply compare today's activity at shows or price action to what I call the roaring 80s. That is like using the Tech bubble as a reference for the demise of the entire stock market. There will be areas of the market that could crash and not recover, but other areas will pick up and run.
Such a huge topic.
Nobody panic.
We will all be fine.
and if we're not, well then as some point out, there will be other more important things to worry about!