Bludgeon effect

Pleased to present for your consideration a portrait of a Transformers fan: you. Age: youthful. Income: slim. Your tastes lean towards toy robots, animation for children, and comic books. It is the latter that captures you now. You find yourself charmed by one of its dramatis personae: a modern reinvention and reinvigoration of a character given little to do in the past. Inspired, you feverishly search online auction houses and dealer halls, but you find that the toy that no-one batted an eyelid at during its original shelf life has now risen in demand–and price–beyond your wildest imagination.

You have just encountered the Bludgeon Effect.