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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;krispy, post: 1666465, member: 19065&quot;]Ken, I think you (almost) hit the nail on the head. &#039;<i>what the collector demand</i>s&#039;... It&#039;s important to consider, are folks collecting or are they consuming?</p><p><br /></p><p>At least in this current era, the U.S. Mint (and many others, if not all other mints by now) have found a loyal base and a steady stream of profit in producing and selling collectibles (particularly expanding their NIFC coins) purely to feed consumers, who in this case are consumers who align themselves as coin collectors. Success of the mints&#039; sales programs relies upon such consumer-based collectors believing they are collecting based on the principles of rarity, profitability and owning history and tradition, seeking a goal of complete sets and such, all borrowed from an earlier definition of what collectors do/did and how they came about their collections. </p><p><br /></p><p>Some still collect purely by those traditional ways (not buying direct from a mint), others do that as well as begin to consume the new products rolling out annually. Some may be putting all their collecting-budgets into the newest, latest mint releases, and it&#039;s entirely possible to be engrained with buying all that&#039;s new and chasing only the latest from a mint as such buying behavior becomes trained on that activity, or in doing so to keep up with others they feel are doing the same. And as product lines expand, individual budgets get more involved in consuming anything that is put before them, evermore easily accessible with modern online buying ability taking them ever farther from what was once coin collecting and what they once collected. </p><p><br /></p><p>In some ways, this direct marketing to the consumer usurps the modes of collector behavior and replaces it with purely consumerist behaviors. Collecting as a hobby becomes <i>shopping as a hobby</i>. At some point, it really doesn&#039;t matter what you are a consumer of, you&#039;re just a consumer. Accepting lesser production quality, being offered automation in place of human labor on products deemed the height of craftsmanship, all indicate such allegiance to a purely profit exploitative company.&nbsp; Many of your statements in these threads reflect the obedience that marketing demigods thrive on, unshakeable loyalty to the brand, a willingness to buy anything new, readily and enthusiastically praising the merits and overlooking the flaws.</p><p><br /></p><p>Of course, I&#039;m not trying to slice-and-dice just you-you-you or any others in particular, but rather sound a reasoned perspective to mind the purpose of consuming where it collides with your choices in collecting. Hopefully, rather than demanding something new all the time, we ought to demand unwavering quality without harming the already steady nature of a series such as the ASE.&nbsp; I enjoy collecting as much as the rest of us here who admire coins and the collections we have worked to build. I have collected these very coins since the series began, but in recent years I&#039;ve had to step back for the reasons I&#039;ve given here an in other threads. This is merely a viewpoint offered for consideration as it falls within the range of whether we are buying this or not.&nbsp; :smile[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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