Good post JB. As you said, there was a time when the difference between alpha glass and the other stuff was a major gulf. Not so much anymore. About 35 years ago I sprang for a Zeiss 8x20 compact (over $400 at that time) when my hunting buddies were all using Bushnell, Swift and similar optics. We had several instances when they would be looking at a deer trying to decide if it was legal (forked horn or better) and couldn't make the determination. I would look with those Zeiss compacts and immediately tell it it had a legal fork and on which side.
I still have 2 pair of alphas but recently bought a pair from one of the medium range upstarts for about $600. They are noticeably better than the older alphas.
