I've only been into the Neo Geo for about 6 years now (nothing compared to a lot of you guys). I've always been an SNK fan and always wanted one, but it wasn't until then that I took the plunge and spent what I thought at the time was 'crazy money'. If only I had known, I would have bought everything I wanted back then. Now I have gaps in my collection, like Burning Fight, that I just don't want to pay so much for.
I think part of the problem with Neo Geo is that it's the top end of the retro market. People seems to get into the whole retro thing with something from their childhood that's still relatively cheap, and then a lot of them work their way up to more expensive systems and eventually end up at the Neo Geo. Sadly, people also seem to see it as some kind of status symbol, like their better than other collectors because they have these rare games. You see it a lot on the Neo Geo related FB groups, people posing with multiple copies of a rare game, it really is quite pathetic.