Sorry if I missed it in this thread. I have always wondered about some of the people who are making and selling mods. I see quite a lot of these floating around eBay and here also. A lot of these mods (from my perception) look like toys or trinkets with some LEDs installed. They don't seem like they would be too difficult or expensive to make (maybe with a 3d printer?) but they sell for hundreds of dollars. It wouldn't take huge numbers of these to be sold to make a one-person living. Are these just sideline businesses or hobby businesses, or is someone making a full time living that way?
There are others making money in the aftermarket - selling LEDs, rubber rings, repairing circuit boards, etc. Not sure how well they do.
HEP has all the work he can possibly take from what I understand. But he has said in his threads that he doesn't make a whole ton of money. The skill set it takes to get to that level is through the roof, it would take years to get to that level and that's assuming you have solid mechanical and artistic skills to start with. I have wondered at times if someone could work with him on an apprentice level for some time, thus allowing more throughput and therefore more money to flow. But he is probably too much of a perfectionist to tolerate anyone else doing the work. 
