I don't know about the topping out price thing, but I don't think we have seen the top yet. I do know a few things about manufacturing and marketing how ever. How these high end companies have been able to convince logical intelligent people that an $800 fly rod casts better and will land a 3 pound or smaller trout easier than a $400 rod that is generally built from the same materials, is beyond me. I should qualify my opinion slightly by saying that I have never cast a high end rod and the best rods that I own are a Sage Launch and 2 Cabelas LSTs in 4wt, 3wt, and 5wt respectively. These rods certainly cast better than my skill level so why do I need a more expensive rod? They have landed lots of trout, bass, bluegills, and a few catfish with out breaking or any other undo strain, so how would a more expensive rod help me there? There may be some more pronounced differences in some of the heavier duty or salt water outfits but I don't use them so I don't know.

I do know that the fixed operating expenses and much of the variable expenses of manufacturing a $300 or a $500 or a $800 rod in the same length and weight range are all the same. So even with the added expense of those unconditional warranties, and what they have for shipping and minimum service charges if the company makes a acceptable profit on the $300 rod they are making nearly 3 times that profit on the $800 rods. Economies of scale say that if you produce more of a product then the actual cost of that product actually goes down because the ONLY added expense is the small cost of additional raw materials, and perhaps some extra labor costs. All the fixed costs like buildings, equipment, electricity, water, insurance, and taxes basically stay the same. Research and development costs and advertising costs go up for the new high end rods but that is pretty much it. Also those advertising dollars help to convince those of us who can't actually afford the $800 rod that the same company's lower end rods must be far better than some of the other brands that the company sells more of the $300 which aren't bothered by those additional costs associated with the high end ones. We are all victims of the marketing industry. What I am more concerned about is the increase in the costs of fly lines, which now cost almost as much as many lower end rods. $70 for a fly line is too much in my opinion.