First off... Congrats on the Explorer II. It a beauty and will no doubt give you years of enjoyment.
I understand your feeling and agree with all the observations made by the other members. A Gen will be a Gen. Can't compare it to a rep. But the beauty of this rep hobby and the satisfaction you derive is one of a kind. With Gens, its all about how much money you have and how much money u willing to spend. Reps on the other hand is about the hunt... hunt for parts, looking out for modders, the thrill of coming back home to a package and of coz the community of watch fanatics that never seem to need sleep (somebody is always online...).
There will always be something that u can takeaway from a conversation with a rep collector. With most gen collectors, its always about their next purchase. It gets tiring sometimes...
So dont worry too much about it.... its just normal.