I'm not about to spend $200 for the A-2, but if we can negotiate a group buy for, say, $160, it might be tempting.
Although dang, now that I like at that number -- $160 -- even that seems like an awful lot, in such bad economic times.
My guess is that there are some bad business fundamentals at play here. Like many companies, perhaps SureFire over-extended on R&D during the boom, depending on the hot economy continuing in order to sustain their cost structure. When the economy dropped, they found themselves in a some trouble. Since to many buyers these lights are not a luxury, now they're testing the waters to see how much they can raise the price to help keep them afloat.
If ASP or Streamlight have been thinking about entering this market niche, I'd say the time will never be more ripe, since Surefire's prices are even beginning to frustrate even the "you have to pay more for quality" crowd.
Joe