Value is certainly somewhat subjective, but I do not think BMs are in the same class of value that they once were.
Still, there are some good-great values. The Contego in M4 and especially M390 are great buys. To me, the materials, design, and extensive G10 machining makes the knife very justifiable even at full retail.
But something like a 710 which I think is an awesome knife I don't think is nearly as good of a value. Likewise, the Grips at full retail are hard to justify given you can almost buy two Delicas for the price or one really high-end Kershaw, or even a ZT0566, which is simply a better overall knife. And I do think the 940-1 is an awesome knife as well...but it's pricing makes it very hard to justify given there are many, many, many makers using the same quality materials and selling their product for a lot less.
Once upon a time I probably purchased 5-10 Benchmades for every other knife I bought. Now I probably buy 5-10 other brands for every Benchmade I buy. Years ago they really were THE brand of hella good value for hella good product. Now KAI and Spyderco really own that title more than Benchmade.
I've noted elsewhere that my biggest complaint with their pricing restructuring is that they bumped the prices the end-user pays tremendously, but did nothing in terms of changing materials. With the current pricing, one often pays more money for a Benchmade than an other brand with more desirable materials. If they upped materials, I'd be able to justify purchasing. But teflon and paint coatings with 154CM and D2 versus tungsten Diamond Like Coatings, ELMAX, S35VN, M390, S110V, CPM-3V, etc., I struggle in justifying the purchase on the latter when the price is the same or greater.
It's a similar issue I have with Emerson knives. I really like many of their designs, but the fact of the matter is other makers are using better materials to deliver a product that is the same or less in terms of pricing. It's hard to justify a $200 154CM folding knife when there were CPM-154 folders for under $100.
