I don't have anything to say about the
new Savvy, but the good ol' days .. irrespective of price, the best thought out and the best performing stuff were the ones Blaine designed and built and Savvy productized and sold. The money you paid is more than just for the materials but also includes an
amortization cost (for lack of a better word) of the intangibles that are not seen. I am talking about the (1) intellectual property itself (i.e. a design that is not patented) (2) the thought process for the design which only comes from experience and understanding both why something works and why it doesn't (3) the design iterations and effort and (4) the effort of
productization i.e. after confirming it works functionally as designed, making something available in a form that is effective both from a manufacturing point of view and a customer use point of view. Every designer also deserves their fair compensation and a company whatever margins they deemed fair for the products they put out, for them to continue supporting customers and doing more good future products. Anyone that has even smidgen of understanding about how to get even a small scale product to market knows the level of capital investment, work and effort involved and it is not trivial. If you think about all that, what the old Savvy used to charge for the midarm kit was actually a very good price.
To put something out for public consumption that you can proudly put your name behind and confidently say "this is the best I can do" and supporting them to the level Blaine has done for so many years is something simply wonderful and to be respected. We live in a "order cheap stuff on Amazon and get it in 2 days" world and the level of appreciation people used to have for a lot of stuff has drastically diminished. We should be thankful and appreciative of folks like
@Fluxor and
@sunnysideup_lj that are doing some custom stuff for the rest of us and supporting our niche vehicle hobby.
Yes, there will always be companies that price gouge, there will be companies/people that sell junk without themselves knowing any better, or often even intentionally lie or mislead and sell snake oil to unsuspecting customers all to make a quick buck without a conscience. It's upon us to learn to differentiate good from bad and support the right kind of people wherever we can .. even if it's sometimes tempting to take the cheapest option and just not care.
None of what I wrote is for you directly btw - I well understand how cost can be a factor. I also understand that building is fun and Blaine has shared a LOT of good information over the years and he's never refused to help someone that approached him for help in the right way. I don't know if you have seen/followed
@sab's build thread - his build is similar to this one in many ways and given he is building it himself, he has put out a LOT of excellent pics. Perhaps you will find the answers to some of your questions there.
