I didn't know the company changed owners but that would explain a lot! My gut feeling is that they've really cheaped out and cut quality across the board over the last couple years. Most of their newer kits use lower quality components than they used to. One example is the sparker wheel- instead of the excellent old Spark-Lite most of the newer kits user a larger, gimmicky looking sparker that's not as well made nor as robust as the old one. Much of their stuff seems to be made to a lower standard/price point. Hopefully this doesn't spread to their HeatSheets blankets! They're one of the few reliably high quality "space" blankets on the market.