I once co owned a comic shop and have sold toys and collectibles on the side at shows for years now. This is my insight into things.
People buy what they grow up with. When I have a table of GIJoes from many decades. A certain aged person will always go towards what they had as a child and they ignore the rest to some extent. I use GIJoe because of the long production run.
Trains are very similar. Kids don't have as much a fondness for steamers and conventional operation. There are of course outliers. They want what is new.
As far as values. Right now is very weird. I’ve been buying way more than I should because prices are down. But it is only temporary. They will go back up. But I don't think they will ever hit that crazy pricing from the 90s. Comics are very similar. I don't expect them to ever hit that 90s pricing. In my opinion you really need to discount any pricing from that era because everything was over inflated in value... remember Beany Babies?
But like everything. Don't buy these things as an investment. Buy them because you love them or enjoy them.
