A good post. I have respect for the brand still, in terms of quality and aftercare, but the whole spirit of the hobby suffers in my opinion when the market is manipulated as it currently is.
You should be able to walk into an AD and, if not buy straight away, then order any model you want and receive it in a reasonable amount of time to enjoy using it in for the purpose it was designed.
All the mark-ups, safe-queenery and pretend added value that follows the brand around is a bit pathetic.
But there's one born every minute as they say.