It had been hoped the anime craze would translate into a protracted non-sport youth movement. But the kids soon got older and turned toward other pursuits. Now for your perusal are the top articles from 10 years ago:

The Animation Invasion that took place in the hobby in the late 1990s resulted in another subcategory of non-sports. Japanese anime impacted popular culture with a superstructure of mass market mechanizations that hawked more than imported Japanese cartoons. Products included video games, toys and accessories and even barely edible cold cereals. In our realm, Topps scored big with its Pokemon run of issues, while Upper Deck offered Digimon sets and collectible card games. Dart Flipcards found its niche with Sailor Moon ccgs and trading cards, and Artbox eventually printed three series of Powerpuff Girls and other anime-based collectibles.

During its television broadcast history, Wild Wild West melded the shoot-it-out western with the iconography of James Bond espionage adventures with a tinge of Batman-esque villain-of-the-week campiness. Rittenhouse Archives sifted through a trainload of imagery to produce Wild Wild West Season One, complete with three pack-inserted chase sets, 14 autograph cards (including series star Robert Conrad) and five case-toppers. Apart from a limited edition boxed issue focusing on super-villain Dr. Loveless, fans of this underrated '60s show may be disappointed other Wild Wild West sets have not appeared in the hobby.

For decades, veteran collectors assumed the William McKinley card from U.S. Caramels' Presidents set to be a phantom, a pasteboard referred to in Jefferson Burdick’s pioneering works, but never actually seen. But one did exist. An unnamed non-hobbyist contacted NSU publisher Roxanne Toser, who announced the find in this issue. Eventually, Roxanne offered the McKinley specimen through her regularly scheduled auction. The final hammer price was $10,000, and was purchased by Rittenhouse president Steve Charendoff, who didn’t hold on to the card for long. But somewhere another McKinley just had to be resting in a forgotten, musty shoebox.

A thought experiment: Donruss gains the Star Wars trading card license in 1977, and its subsequent profits lead the company to challenge Topps as the preeminent non-sport manufacturer through the coming decade. Fact: 20th Century Fox offered Star Wars to Memphis-based Donruss first, however Topps outbid its smaller rival and eventually paid out over $1 million in royalties to the movie studio. The 1980s found Topps exploiting the Star Wars franchise, along with a pair of top-notch Indiana Jones releases and two bouts with Rocky sequels. Meanwhile, Donruss concentrated on television properties through Dallas, M*A*S*H and Dukes of Hazzard—with haphazard results.

Welcome to the early 1960s when gasoline cost a quarter per gallon, one bread loaf set you back a dime and a Mars Attacks pack had been sold for either a nickel or a penny. Prices are slightly higher today. Oil is dangerous to extract, wheat farmers deal with climate change and collectors contend with rising production costs, and the high price of everything else. Today's hobbyists are older and more sophisticated than previous generations due to insert cards, controlled scarcity and a host of other market issues. We'd all like to see a $10 Star Wars box again, but our pastime’s evolution dictates we must pay for it in the end.