Well, I gotta think that the price is because all of the components are essentially top-notch and field tested. If you bought this exact kit piecemeal, it's going to cost you more than this pre-assembled kit.

Packing something like this becomes an art in itself (Not sure if AMK is going to let Doug publish that since it's sort of a trade secret how they do some of their stuff - let the competition spend a couple of grand to find out on their own!).

So, even though they get the items for far less than we would all pay retail, they still have to pack, and yes, market the items. Even so, it's a fairly incredible value. I started a spreadsheet and was looking up prices for items individually. Even at the lowest I could find, I gave up about a 5th of the way through because I realized there was no way to do it "on the cheap" unless you purchased knockoffs and such, which I'm not inclined to do.

Sadly, that bad-boy would make a killer BOB, so I have a goal to try to replicate it over time as my budget allows. :-)