I greatly appreciate Heddon lures and boxes because of the quality, diversity, and age, but for really tough pieces, I prefer pre-1920 Shakespeare and certain miscellaneous companies. Rhodes is a particular favorite too, but so hard to accumulate that it leaves you thirsty. Better to collect something you can actually find than spend your life looking. I collect boxes and paper because that is where the pieces of the puzzle fall apart or come together the fastest. The paper didn't survive and it's the key to understanding when the lure was made, the numbers, and to document correct shapes or colors.
Paper is the link to the history.
Paper is the trail to rearch. I don't color collect lures because people will stick it to you if they know you need a certain or rare color for your collection. It just never appealed to me for someone to direct which pieces I needed to put in my collection based on what they thought was rare or one of a kind, so I don't color collect. It saves on the dollars too. I avoid areas that are 'hot' because one or two collectors will drive up the price for a while, so I stay away until things settle down.