This thread has gone in a very weird direction. Allow me to get back on topic, if there even is one anymore.
I think we can all agree (well, most; we can't *all* agree on anything) that these are very nicely produced kits, and that they quite expensive for their size. In looking at the product pages on the Apogee site, I can't help wondering if they've simply over-engineered these kits. You can see in the pictures that there are about a billion pre-cut slots in the body tubes, and then there's the printed vinyl decals, and their own custom molded nose cone. And Tim talks about in the description how easily they come together.
I had two thoughts while reading them (other than that, again, wow they've really put a lot of effort into these kits):
1) Why did they even bother to slot the tubes on such small LPR kits? And further, why did they cut slots for every single attached fin? Even in situations where I might TTW mount the largest fins, I certainly wouldn't bother for canards and other ornamental pieces.
2) Why is making them so easy to build a feature? There's a middle ground where you have nice laser-cut wood parts, but the rest you just, you know, "build".
As for vinyl vs. waterslide, I don't know the economics of producing the different varieties so I'll refrain from commenting there.
Anyway, I feel like they could have simplified these kits a little, targeted them a bit more for builders, and maybe brought down the price a bit. And then they would be much more appealing.