The circuit boards could be made of diamonds and Legacy still wouldn't be worth $200-300 more for a similar locomotive, and added details are just a spot of cyanoacrylate away.
Can you convince me one is better? Surely. It's a matter of diminishing returns.
Even if you run command only, it seems to me you can add ERR circuits for much less than $300.
As far as added details, clearly there's a whole lot more to that than "a spot of cyanoacrylate." Like where are you going to get the detail parts, and what will they cost, and will they fit, and how will they look, and will they stay attached, and what about painting them, and where will you get the paint, and how will you get the color right, and etc. etc.?
Sure it's all a matter of diminishing returns. But that's the way it is with most things you buy. As you step up from average to better and better, it costs more, but the basic function doesn't change. Your Chevy will get you around like a Lexus will, and will have a motor, four wheels, air conditioning and a radio.
But there's more to it than that, obviously. However, if you use the added features, and appreciate them, it's worth it. But if it's not, and you don't, then it's not for you.
Back in my HO days it wasn't unusual to spend more on Cal-Scale and Kemtrom parts than the initial cost of the locomotive. Then there was my labor in getting every thing placed properly and painting.
If I were to go back and add DCC and sound to those locomotives, today it would easily run $100-$150 in materials alone.
Rusty
