Who would have thought 40 years ago that a Chevy Nova could become a collectible classic? Or a family car Impala (which GM made as many as a million a year)? Or the 57 Bel Air, the least popular of all years when new? Or an old VW, which used to be dime-a-dozen? Who would have thought that a Scooby Doo lunch pail could fetch thousands on ebay? Or pair of mint condition original Air Jordan shoes?
Collectibles are usually not just those which things which are rare, but those things which were so popular and common that most people used them, abused them, and threw them away with a 2nd thought, until they became rare. Then middle-aged people look back with rose-colored vision on the "good ol days," and spend everything they have trying to recapture their lost and wasted youths.
Sadly, what this really means is that rice will return again in about 20 years as collector cars, well after the next generation develops their own new version of rice with a different name (just like rice itself was the modern incarnation of the muscle cars).
