Many who joined this hobby years ago knew that the quality of what was being offered was worth $100-300 max. The joy was connecting to other members and modding the watches to our tastes and in regards to the gen article.
Remember the old Pams? Having to buy separated crowns, crownguards, dials etc etc. It was joy in itself and within decent price ranges.
Then came the change in the pricing strategy in the gen world. After 2010, demand for luxury watches went through the roof, and so did the pricing in both the modern watch and vintage watch world.
This spilled over to the rep game. But this increase can also be partially put down to the fact that rep factories have improved tremendously to give us watches that are near perfect out of the box. So much so, that i would never buy the gen article of certain reps. I,e. many Pams, some IWCs and Blancpains etc etc.
I stick to reps that are reasonably priced, well made and out of people's eyes.