Matt given your line of work I can only echo what Ken and others have said here.
I have a LV block plane the old type Art refers to. I also bought the woodknob and the tote attachment.
There are finer points that i dont think get mentioned enough.
1) On either side of the LV block plane there are two small grub screws that can be adjusted to keep the blade tracking in the left to right direction within the plane body.
2) The adjuster on the LV allows for fine settings that stay put.
3) The throat on the LV also adjusts so you can close it up.
Having just done a whole excercise on sharpening and playing with my old user planes and sharpening my block plane, i think woodworkers underestimate why these features were put in these planes and why they were very definitely missing from others.
In my view its the ability to set it and work with it and come back to its and set it again.
On ones without it that becomes a fiddle excercise and more frustration than its worth. Its the same as a decent spokeshave.
I have 4 now. Two are ww2 versions that have a tang, I am about to modify them as per Glenns suggestion, but without a mod you have to tap and retap and fiddle with them to get theblade set just right. Then it lasts all as long as it takes to jam em up with shavings and you then have the whole saga repeat.
In my view i think the old story of "the bitter taste of poor quality lingers long after the cheap price" is very applicable to cutting edge hand tools.
I would further argue that I would prefer to go without in other areas of my life and have a fine tool i appreciate and enjoy in its entirety than a cheap one.
There is also my strong feelings that if we dont support these companies that have given us the opportunity to purchase a properly well made tool, soon our whole world will be value engineered to mediocrity.
My last parting shot is to the likes of Woodcraft, Rockler and their other cousins out there.
These stores are merely marketing houses. Franchises and brands that serve to distribute wares. The current trend is towards having tools made in a factory and private labeled trading off the brand perception and loyalty accumulated due to marketing dollars and cheap price of asian goods. They are not committed to the art of fine tool making such a Lie Neilson or the Lee family has been. When you take a guy like Ron Hock, Mr Leonard Lee, or Lie Neilson and there are many more, these people have devoted their lives towards producing implements that support our ability as hobbiests and professionals to achieve a quality and enjoyment of woodworking and tool ownership our grandparents would be proud of. Just take the number and amount of variances of cutting edge tools they have made and continue to introduce. Its easy to just go knock off the mass volume items. But lets not complain then when we go into a Home depot and they only got the fast moving lines and ripping us off for them.
What about resale value. Just look at the value still left in them old Stanleys. But consider if you would buy a current version today in 80 years time.
A time has to come when we decide as a generation whether that means something and whether we are gonna support real people with real commitment or complain for the rest of our lives about corporations with no soul and yet support them.
I dont see a newsletter coming from Woodcraft that has an ounce of touch on what Lee Valley puts out. I dont see an antique tool collection or the study of patents of old tool makers and the education that goes with it.
Ok i will stop i am getting carried away with ranting, I apologize it just gets to me that we support these fresh air johnny come lately ride on the back of others copy cat vapor ware brands.
Was a time when we all had an ethic of supporting the good guy for the right reason.
My apologies if i have offended anyone. I am just a simple guy.
There is way more to this choice than just $$$$$$$