I agree on everything you said mate, except for the above quote. Some bits of kit end up worse than the original versions..... It really is "Emperors new clothing" mindset with all the marketing hype..... I've always said, look after any older kit as best you can... Can be difficult to replace like for like..... This is why we always hear sponsors saying "we must get more youngsters into the sport", IMO, there are very few people left that continue falling for the spiel, once bitten, twice shy. They need the youngsters to fall for their shiny ads..... As you say, just in time for Christmas...…. So called upgrades and new products used to be a generational thing, now it seems it's every six months.... When they say "We've spent loads of time developing and sourcing for this ground breaking "must have" bit of bankside kit", translate that into lay mans terms, equates to "We've found some other factory that will do it cheaper, so we changed it slightly"..... My mk2 Tracker rod sleeve I bought recently, is a cheap knock off of there first one, hence the grumpy old man rant...🤩