While I agree with your point of view I have to say that I remember when all the manufacturers you mention started selling their wares in the U.S. (Thunder Tiger, Hirobo, JR, Futaba, Thunder Power, Kong Power, Hitec, JR, Hanger 9, GWS, and Great Planes) and they were at one point the cheaper alternative. Did they outright copy designs, yes and no, but at a point they got to a point that they had to begin R&D. Most of the old school helo manufacturers have either gone out of buisness or been bought out to the point they are no longer the same company.

All of us have looked at changes in the hobby and say remember when... I remember stories about balsa packing crates for fruits and vegetables being used to build free flight models and people scoffing at the modern kits that gave you everything you needed in a box (not talking ARFs here), then the gradual disapearing of the kits and semi ARFs coming out then morphing into the ready to fly just add batteries kits. I have to say that alot of the new stuff is great. Take for instance a plane I put together Saturday. I had a Dazzler kit I built and have had on floats for snow flying for ten plus years. It crashed last week due to a bad receiver battery. I ordered a new ARF Uproar from Tower got it Friday, assembled it Saturday and flew it Sunday. And it flew every bit as good as the kit built plane. Pics enclosed.

My point is that there is always going to be an easier way, there will always be the people that are lucky they don't kill themselves, and there will always be people that watch and remember when even when "back in the day" was only a few years ago.