Just in my 30 something years in the hobby, I have seen it grow tremendously. Particularly in the detail oriented arena within the past 15-20 years. Once upon a time we were happy to have a new Sherman/Tiger/Panther/Modern MBT. Today, we need a kit of that tank that was used on this day of this battle between the hours of 7 AM and noon.
The manufacturers and aftermarket manufacturers have listened and given us new kits that include photo etch, aluminum barrels, AM quality individual tracks, high quality decals and some even toss in some resin. Everything you need to build a show quality kit.
But what do we say? We come up with comments wishing that some items represented in PE were included as plastic options. We ask if there are cast metal tracks to replace the plastic indy tracks. And we announce the need to replace the aluminum kit barrel with the aftermarket aluminum kit barrel because someone says it is "better." Adding the high quality PE sets has become almost mandatory.
The hobby is run by businesses who need to make a profit in order to continue to produce items for the hobby. We're just beginning to see the time when we readily accept the fact that the latest uber-kit will cost $40-50. It makes sense since the older kit would cost $25 with $20 worth of PE and $20 tracks and $10 barrel.
Pass the older kit on to a youngster and when he posts asking about AM, reviews, etc. for the older kit and the FIRST thing everyone does is tell the youngster he needs to buy the latest $40-50 uber kit that has all those items. Yes, this happened last month.