Originally Posted by Tomillia

I don't want to derail this thread too much and turn this into a discussion and especially not a political discussion.
But everything has become more expensive in recent years. Especially fundamental things like food, housing, etc.
Of course I don't like this development either, but for me it's a never-ending discussion.

Now regardless of essential expenses.
As long as the kits are still selling, the manufacturers can keep charging the prices.
It's simply a competitive hobby, if you race with it, then more money is easily spent if it brings performance.

But if you don't want to go down that route, there are plenty of alternatives. There are racing classes with prescribed chassis, other brands except (Mugen, Xray, Awesomatix, Infinity, ....) that also offer affordable kits. Schumacher, for example, presented a club racer 1:10 touring car just a few days ago.
Racing with these cars is just as much fun as long as they have the same material.

I can only speak for myself, but I simply enjoy trying out rc things and am often not too worried to spend money on them. You simply have to set priorities.
In addition to touring cars, I also drive 1:10 off-road with a 7-year-old chassis including electronics. Compared to current cars, it still drives really well and is competitive for my skill level.