Thomas, I agree with you. I most certainly do not see the Imperial being a even replacement for the Legend. I also feel the manufacturers are watering down their warranties right along with 'cheapening' the model line ups. St. Croix's notion of a handle being a bulbous rubber skinned sex toy leaves me abandoning them from my list of choices. Almost as bad as Redington's new bright red grips or the ever noxious Sage "Bass" rods in baby puke green with red reel seats! Its sad to see the fly equipment manufacturer's taking up the Shimano/Pure Fishing code of profit over quality. Peppered with a good dose of exaggerated marketing to disguise all that empty technology for technologies sake.