[Boog]

I'm not one much to follow particular trends or fads. I like to think I go down my own road. I do, however, see things on other trucks I might like to do to mine. Lifted or slammed aren't my personal preferences and bone stock isn't either but I won't diss anybody's choices.
I don't see the love of these trucks ending with our generations but times are changing and it appears to many of us the younger ones interested in the car/truck hobby are getting fewer and fewer. Not to mention climbing vehicle and parts prices will turn a lot of folks away from owning them. It's no different than any other collector car make. It's an expensive hobby. I wish I had been buying new parts a lot sooner than I started, seeing what they cost today and the increasing shortage of good used parts and cost of them too.
My grandson loves cars too but he isn't interested in these trucks. He likes the 90s and up Camaros, Firebirds, Dodge 300 wagon or something other. But mainly, anything that runs at the time.
These trucks will have a following for a long time, much as the model T Ford has but to a limited few. The pricier they get the fewer will have them.
As far as cut down trucks versus original short trucks, there will always been arguments over which is worth more. Personally I would tend to shy away from a cut down one if I did not know who did the work or his skill level. Once it's slicked and painted you cannot know how well it was done. On the other hand, some uncut short trucks weren't restored all that well either.
Buyer beware is the rule to go by with any of them. If you buy used you run the risk of getting burned every time.