Well the economy sucks, so you'll see cheap stuff everywhere, that's just a tiny piece of the puzzle. Pressure from direct ship overseas places is another factor (lipo's, chargers, 2.4ghz). Certainly better manufacturing methods (and volume) has a little to do with it. People attitudes have changed a bit to methinks. At the club racer level most would rather have a durable plastic chassis that doesn't break much over a carbon fiber unobtanium chassis that may be faster but breaks more often. (I haven't seen as much exotic materials lately in 1/10th scale)
Overall I like the current state of RC. Traxxas/HPI are mostly good models for how a basher type 1/10th scale vehicle should be made, then you have higher end stuff like Team Associated but its aimed a little more at the masses durability/performance than they used to be. Then there are some super nice 1/8th scale buggies, I think that's where the guys who spend the money go.
The only thing I'd really like to see cheaper at this point is personal transponders. $30 each would suit me better than $90 each. AMB pretty much has a monopoly there though.
I remember 1985, my first buggy with the cheapest of everything was $300 from Tower.
