I'm 34, Married, no desire for kids, and I expect 
to be collecting indefinitely. I think a part of 
the equation that is being left out is that there 
probably aren't a whole bunch of over 40 or 45 
anime collectors because anime has really only 
begun to reach outside of Japan in the last couple 
of decades, while we were still growing up. There 
aren't great piles of over 45 toy and comic 
collectors, either (although there are *some*, 
certainly more than anime buffs, anime has really 
only reached the mainstream in the US in the last 
few years.) These genres have really only come 
into their own, being accepted as respectable 
artwork in the last few decades. Sure, there have 
always been a few dedicated Disney/Fleisher, etc 
collectors of older "museum quality" animation 
art, but really, that's somewhat of a different 
creature than anime. Anime has really boomed since 
the 70's and 80's, and my guess is that most 
people that were adults during that time period 
just did not take it seriously, saw it as "kids 
stuff", and looked no further. The children of the 
70's and 80's are the ones that saw more in  it, 
it's for that reason that people over I would 
estimate 45 don't really get into it. I have found 
that some older people that are introduced to 
anime that have an open mind do find it 
entertaining. My mom is 59 and she borrows my 
anime DVD's all the time. She's always asking if 
I've gotten a new series she can watch. Weirdly 
enough, she loves DBZ. I think most older people 
just haven't been exposed to anime, and wouldn't 
know what to make of it without a brief 
introduction from one "in the know".
Blair