I agree with this. Or if it's true, what you're really paying for is lacquer and a nice shine. I think it's so much easier to buy a good used horn than a good new horn. Prove me wrong.
I'd be willing to bet that the Q line drives the Custom out of business just because you can't maintain the profit margin along with any kind of volume with the Custom line. They bought the fancy Shires name, Q'ed the value out of it, and next will dump the carcass when it's no longer useful.