Who is the biggest culprit?

[Leon]

Great conversations and everyone makes good points.

Just as a point of reference, I collected as a kid in the late 1960s. I wasn't passionate it was just something to do with my friends, sort of like riding bicycles. Then, when I was around 33-34 yrs old I got hooked on vintage cards and have loved it since then. Maybe we are looking at it mostly the wrong way. Maybe the kids aren't the absolute answer for longevity of the hobby but more the 20 somethings through 30 somethings that get back into it, along with the old timers like Dan McKee, who never stopped doing it from when they were young tykes and are now in their later 40s. Maybe it has changed from mostly a hobby for kids to a hobby for adults? That is certainly the case for the pre-war stuff. No doubt due to the cost of some of the cards. Great thread and not one major argument.............yet .