I doubt Jim's responsible for all the lens and camera madness going around, although it would certainly be fun to try to attribute old gear madness to him.
I can see the newbies in a few years saying "I can't afford the old beat up stuff, so I have to get by on new Super Symmar XLs and Ebonys".
There's been a steady increase in interest (prices) of all 8x10 and up cameras and lenses over the past few years, especially for vintage American glass in Asian markets.
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
In particular, nice vintage portrait and pictoral lenses have skyrocketed - f:64 undone and we've come full circle!!
Steve