For something to become collectible, you need buyers with a certain type of insanity. That's what makes otherwise rational people pay large sums of money for things like Beanie Babies or Hummel figurines. It's also why thousands of guys chased Parkers and paid big bucks for them, when there were lots of guns just as good or better for less money. Scarcity helps a lot, but there has to be demand. That's why my Hunter Arms Co. Gladiator double shotgun will probably never be worth as much as a Parker field grade in equal condition, even though there were only about 365 hammerless Gladiators produced.
If I knew what was coveted by gun collectors, I would have loaded up on Colt Pythons when they were relatively cheap... compared to the stratospheric prices today. But it is fairly safe to say that prices for semi-autos will jump again if this country is stupid enough to elect an anti-gun Liberal left Democrat in 2020. People will collect as many as they can knowing that Democrats want to ban them.
