Crashes don't need a token catalyst. The purpose of the catalyst is to give news reporters and small minded types something to fixate on/blame. Blaming WWI on the assassination of an archduke, for example. It's bullshit.
The game collector boom will die just as the SUV boom of the 90s/00s died. It will just eventually become completely unsustainable. With a middle class that's been shrinking for 50 years, personal debt constantly growing, *and* the introduction of quality flash carts, it can't go on forever. The Man will want his lot fees and Walmart ain't giving out any raises. "90s kids", oh how they vex me, will eventually go completely broke, even the ones in Europe, and today's 20 year olds will not move to take their place. They have, by and large, no respect for physical copies or packaging. When this f*cked up market does die, people will blame the flash carts, but as you said, the flash carts alone can't do it.
I will say though that I've known more than one power collector that ended up ditching most of their shit, one system at a time, as the good flash carts become available. In 5 years all our PCEs will have internal drives, internally powered, WIFi connectivity, the ability to play and store every single PCE HuCARD and CDROM2 with the push of a button and no visible external modifications. Once more, it will be easy to use and %99 reliable. In that imminent reality, how many people are going to actually collect cardboard and plastic?
I will, of course, many here will, but we aren't the ones making deals like these:
http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/331424224478?_mwBanner=1&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#