Edmonton, AB
The reprints have nothing to do with it (imo). This are the lines that sums it up:
He’s not surprised by the lack of interest. “A lot of people my age, who grew up collecting comics, are trying to sell their collections now,” says Maroney, who works in IT support for Piper Jaffray. “But there just aren’t any buyers anymore.”
“More and more of these types of collections are showing up for sale,” he says. “And they’re becoming more and more devalued. The prices are dropping.”
This is 100% related to anything 'collectable' - cards, books, toys, yes even pinball machines. Anyone who is amassing this crap with the intent of making money has to find a BUYER someday. What the internet or a book will tell you about the value of an item is irrelevant if you cant find someone to exchange money for it, and if you now find tons of people selling because "prices are up" it becomes even tougher to find a premium buyer.
A few years back, it was apparently comics. Years before that, i remember all sorts of trading cards being huge, right now i see it as pinball. These are all hobbies that ebb and flow like fads - if you time it right theres cash to be made. Time it wrong, there's loss. None of it has anything to do with reprints though, much like I dont see remakes causing this decline in 'value'.
Comics, cards, pinball machines, aren't built or printed to make the end purchaser money - sometimes it happens, but it's usually because of an oversight or some random happening where people realize a value where there was none before, not because these items appreciate. No, the reason these items were made was for the end user to enjoy them (for whatever reason) and to make the manufacturer the money.
