The main reason the're overpriced Rani, is that they were built in fairly limited quantities, other then the Max Wedge and Hemi's. I think you'll be hard pressed to find someone that grew up in the 60s/70s that doesn't have a soft spot for them, or the cars they were installed in.
I personally like that the small block had the tall deck height. Try putting a 6.123" rod in any other "true" small block engine. The only thing I wish was addressed before the race blocks came out, was the 59* lifter angle.
With that said, I like all of them. Some were just better at different things then others.
