Quoted from vanilla:

Thank you for your nice response. I'm not sure, though, if the wealthy collectors among us, as a group, are necessarily chasing status, or have short attention spans, or possess other characteristics that might appear to be unattractive in our hobby. Not all of them. I say that because I believe that having a lot of wealth actually affects how you view the world, how you view people, how you view... having wealth. Money gives you options on how to live, what to do, and of having ideas that don't even occur to a guy like me. There is validity in this. Alternately, the lack of money limits your thinking. Not living for payday all the time also influences your morality, I would offer. Now, I hope you know what I mean there because if you ask me to expand on that, I'll have to think about it and get back to you.
Have you ever heard of humble people who won the lottery and it changed their social network? Their friends are still working 9-to-5 and cannot just drop everything and go on excursions. The lottery winner ends up traveling alone or paying for his/her friends, and their may be tension in that. So, they find themselves trying out high-roller activities where they meet other people who have money, perhaps other lottery winners, ha. They kinda leave their old economic tier behind. They bump themselves up into a higher level of activity. Not everyone, I know. But, I bet if I won the lottery, I wouldn't remain at my current level of activity. Heck, I might check out other expensive hobbies or, hey, go to the Grand Caymon. That, or what, leave it to my heirs?
I'll close by saying that, several years ago at Chicago Expo, I was walking around the game room and of course everywhere you looked was the best-looking games, spruced up, modded, and the general feeling I usually get at the shows is that a fellow should always act like he is up on the latest things in pinball, and should know who is making the next DMD upgrade, what blades are now available, when are the playfields coming out, etc. There's a level of participation around that and you want to be able to talk to people. All well and good. But, that year, in walking around all of the beautiful games well kept, I saw a fellow who brought two games to the show, both were beaters. The playfield on one was well-worn. Neither game was crisp. I think he was working on one of them, IIRC. Two beaters among the blue ribbon winners. Now, here's a guy who is not self-conscious to be among the tricked out and beautiful games all around him. I stopped and talked to him. He wasn't in that happening groove that I mention here, so the conversation was different, and he reminded me of me, and of a hobby we all used to know. I have to say, I don't think I ever was more comfortable than talking to this fellow, in the midst of the wealth around us.