2008

2008 has been an unusual and interesting year in the world of pop culture and collectibles.

This past summer saw some outstanding movies such as The Dark Knight, the return of a classic hero in Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, Marvel Comics best movie ever: Iron Man and the re-engineering of a previously failed movie entry: The Incredible Hulk, Hell Boy had a second go around, Wall-E demonstrated that even robots can have souls, Prince Caspian added to the Narnia legend, Daniel Craig returned as James Bond in Quantum Of Solace and Kung Fu Panda surprised everyone. Of course there were a few clunkers. Speed Racer anyone? DVD sales are strong.

Comic books had a Crisis at DC, a War at Marvel, more licenses for Dark Horse and Image Comics expanded its independent creator titles. Other smaller companies came and went, with a few exceptions holding on.

Trading cards have become more of a specialty item with collectors snatching up high-end, special insert sets predominately from Rittenhouse, Inkworks and Topps.

The game industry suffered some setbacks, most notably the termination of HeroClixs.

Video games and video game systems were and are red hot.

Book publishing is suffering but surprisingly coffee table editions are big sellers. Less novels are being published and read.

Magazines have taken a big hit as more and more publishers loose ad revenue and have cancelled titles or switched over to the Internet.

Toys continue to sell, but split into two camps: to kids who actually play with them and collectors. Small specialty toy companies are seeking more commercial tie-ins and hot properties.

Models are still popular with a key group, but rising prices and other hobbies are slowly eroding the hobby down.

Anime and manga are as popular as ever. However, more and more fans are downloading freebies off the Internet, thus cutting into sales.

Diecast collectors are finding it more difficult to find what they want and sports collectors are watching memorabilia and sports events skyrocket in price.

With the struggling U.S. and world economy it will be interesting to see what's in store for 2009.