..... mwhite, .......you made some great points, ..............it's seems in this hobby, to many, you are either with "us" or against "us" the term "us" does not mean the hobby as a whole, but for whichever "clique" or "style" you don't care for, there is such a polarization it is hard for some to find a middle ground.... or worse yet, if you don't do back flips over a product made by a ringer leader of a particular clique, then you are labeled as a "hater".
I know from personal experience, as when the BuzzBall figures first arrived, ........they were met with GREAT resistance, I heard excuses from being "too expensive" to "we want to keep the hobby pure" ..
Too bad you are not in PA or close by, I would have taken you up on your offer for free space at that convention, ......... Texas is a bit too far for me to drag some boards...