I disagree on that... I think price hurts it far more. I've seen every vintage wave, multiple times, just as I have in every year prior, and while some were harder to get (a lot harder) Hasbro is bringing many of those back out to retail this year.
What I've noticed though, is the sharpest decline in collectors ever, since 2008. Since the major hikes in price, collectors have jumped ship like it's the titanic. Retail seemed to slow down a bit... Prices go up, people stop buying as much.
Don't get me wrong, distribution isn't perfect, but I don't think that issue makes people bail on the hobby like pricing them out of it does... Pricing them out affects everybody too, parents/kids/collectors. The first two don't notice the distribution as much as the collectors, since they of course monitor that with a microscope.
Both can drive people away, but I think price ultimately forces a much broader group to avoid the line.
Usually people finding what they want works itself out. You see that all the time on the forums. It starts with days, then weeks, then a month or more of people being vocal on what they cannot find, then they find it usually.
