Truer words were never spoken.
I have a friend with a gen YM, and he paid just at 4k for it, and another 900 for service. Your right, why spend this kind of money when you will get seriously beat up if you sell....and more to the point, if you do your research you can buy a good gen 16610 for 3.5-4k.
Yeah I know it's not blue with plated gold parts, but a gen is a gen. Vintage makes more sense, and probably easier to sell..even if you part it out.