As usual, Dan is the true voice of reason.

Every hobby has it drawbacks, maintenance and learning curve.

I spent the last month fitting old brushless plane electronics into a 1/144 U-boat model (about 14 inches long). I had to design a switch to reverse the motor, built a NiMH battery system and work out dive planes, etc. It was ballasted and then (what I thought was hermetically) sealed. My son and I took it to a lake on Sunday, though we had no idea if it would even work. All the the dives we extremely short since 2.4 gig doesn't penetrate water (knew that going in) but it popped back up and rebound so all was well. It took on water, I had a small opening in the conning tower I thought was sealed but had an absolute blast regardless. I took it home and sawed off the bow, stern and conning tower to find the leak. I'll have my work cut out to put it back and it'll probably leak again, but who cares, it was a load of fun on a Sunday afternoon.

As to the OP, I bought a ton of music gear off of guys just like him. After Guitar Hero came out, craploads of people bought expensive gear thinking it'd be as easy as the game. Then they realize strings hurt and theres a lot to learn, a serious commitment in time and effort. Heck, I use Music Man basses, even at $1500, you still have to change strings, tune, adjust, clean. It's a constant struggle.

In terms of hobby expense: By the time I've set up any RC tank, I've outspent the cost of the Macbook Pro I'm writing this on, which I use this about 8-10 hours a day. I use a RC tank about 8-10 hours a year. It's absurd if you're looking at it from the financial aspect, but fun anyway...