C'mon guys. What % of back issue sales, or sales of "keys" as Ryan is arguing, are made by female collectors, and does anybody really believe it spiked starting in 2010-11 because of New 52 to a level that would be germane to the current conversation? Sadly, I doubt that data is out there, but, I bet if you actually looked at the hard numbers and not just anecdotes and viewpoints distorted by confirmation bias (go re-read your copy of Thinking in Bets ), that you'll find that this phenomenon does not actually exist.
Don’t over think my post. It’s just an observation we made, and it may not even extrapolate to the broader market. I didn’t see a lot of key sales. I saw a lot of favorite character, favorite cover, and recent back issue run buying. For us, it was encouraging that the market could reach new customers.
Overall, in the context of this discussion, I think the only hope for more of this is advertising, visibility, and quality product.