[Arran]

Shows like "American Pickers" often adversely drive the prices in our hobby unrealistically high. 

One of the things that eventually kills a hobby or makes it exclusively in the hands of a small elite is driving prices of items so high that old members are unable to keep up and potential new members are driven away.

I have personally witnessed this occur in the car, gun, and insulator collecting hobbies. I see it in the radio hobby more frequently than I used to, although it still seems a "cyclic" thing vice a constant one. Back in the 80s and 90s it was the "Cathedral Craze." Now we see Waltons, 37 and 38-690s, Catalins, and Radiobars making the silly-high prices. 

Of course there are sets that command a premium price, based mainly on rarity. Ever see the prices realized by a WLW or a 1000Z ??

It is incumbant on every one of us to not allow this to happen by refusing to pay these prices, even though it may be a set you want badly.   

   

 
 I don't know of anyone in my area who collects insulators, so I guess if there was a trend of pie in the sky pricing with insulators it killed it stone cold. With respect to cars it seems to depend on what era of cars it is, at one time it was 1920s and 30s cars, then 1950s cars, and more recently early 70s muscle cars.
  With the radios the cathedral craze really took a dump, the days of people paying $400 for unrestored Philco 90s are gone, as they should be. Actually the Catalin market really took a dump in the past 10 years, sets that used to sell for 1000s can't even crack $500. Honestly though sometimes free is too much to pay for a radio given how much time you have to spend on the chassis and cabinets to restore them correctly.
  As for American Pickers they generally seem to avoid buying anything radio related, none the less I would really like to see that show, and the storage auction shows go off the air, the latter will probably die first since there are too many competing for the same audience. These programs are really doing a disservice not only to collectors and people who make their living in this business but the general public as well by miseducation. At least the pickers passed on this delusional woman's prices, if it were the Canadian Pickers show, which is no longer on the air, they would have given her a double take and told her how they can only get about $XXX in their shop for one of those. The one pictured more then likely had a 38-620 chassis in it, and it's in the most common cabinet, realistically it should be under $1000 or perhaps $500 unrestored, but I agree, the best way to keep prices in line is not only to not pay them but be honest and tell them up front how off the beam they are.
Regards
Arran