"Feeling different" doesn't automatically mean "cheaply made". I think B/W "my way or the highway" fanatics sometimes try to imply this.

Case in point - RBION vs. WCS. Anyone who has played both pins for any time knows one does not feel inherently cheaper than the other.

It goes back to the house argument. You can by a house from the 50's or the 80's. A 50's proponent would say "they don't make em like this anymore!!!" He'd be right. They also don't use asbestos and lead based paint and actually put insulation between the brick and walls in the 80's house another guy would say.

I would think adjusting for inflation would show that today's pins cost about as much as the pins of yesteryear.