I should have added that in the case of repros depressing the prices of old beads, that just makes collecting old beads more affordable...so maybe there will be renewed interest in collecting the old ones as prices drop.

Additionally, some long-time collectors have been surprised at how little in demand their old beads are for the prices they now "expect". It seems that some old beads have not been an especially good investment.

A recent example - I was told by a long-time bead collector / dealer that phenolic beads shaped into flat diamonds in Mauritania were selling for about $30 each (in the US) around 40 years ago. Today they are still selling for about $30 each, which means they have devalued greatly. So it's a buyers market for at least some sorts of old beads.

Grab all the treasure ye can!