Barry and David1 - I disagree - every hobby/pursuit is made up of a distribution of individuals and those individuals have a distribution of disposable income. As a result, you will find, without exception, individuals in any hobby/pursuit who have a hard time coming up with even a minimal amount of funds to pursue their interests and others for whom money isn't much of an issue.
If you have the funds and you have the desire to assemble a collection of only the best of whatever (toy trains, paper currency, antique cars, cast iron banks, old door stoppers, weapons of any type, mechanical pinball games, wind-up old toys, etc.) you will choose to spend that money on the best you can find in your area of interest and it will cost money.
I have friends with interests in old cars and old U.S. currency and they just laugh any time I mention the "high" prices paid for old toy trains. For instance, the highest price in the latest Stout Auction (the standard gauge $19,000 switch tower) won't get you anywhere near the hammer price for something of comparable rarity and condition in either the old car or U.S. currency market.
The other thing to consider is the fact that the $19,000 is an extreme outlier. The reality is that for the 650 lots sold the mean price was $859, the Median (the 50% point) was $325, the minimum was $20, and the maximum was $19,000.
Here's the breakout
The interlude is that group of lots that fell between the standard gauge listings and the postwar listings.
