This is a fair assessment. That means in TN's view, the tube/switch/batt. carrier is worth about $50.
So if the heads are $120 and $130 and the tube/switch/batt. carrier is worth $50, are these 2 lights overpriced as a whole?
Of course, if you wanted to buy all flashlight parts separately, it should be expected that the price is higher than the retail price for the ready-made flashlight, too.
Overpriced? A good guestion and I can't answer that. The pricing roulette has been puzzling (MSRP something like $220, and then plenty of sale champaigns for some $150 or so). At least it tells that the sale margins can't be very thin. Perhaps the "real" price for TN30/31 is ~$150 but because the lights made by other well-known companies are more expensive, they have been sold for more, too. That would be my guess.
TN31 is pretty muct the best led thrower in the markets, unless you count some lights that are considerably more expensive or perhaps some lights with an additional aspheric heads. In that way it is not particularly expensive. There is a lot more competition in 3xXM-L class but the lights made by other reputable companies are not cheaper. Are they better when it comes to quality? I don't know. The only big flashlight I have is TN31 and I have only had it a few days (I didn't have a good thrower before and I got it considerably cheaper than the prices mentioned here, so, had to buy now). Someone else with more experience should answer that. If you ask me, I think that the prices are generally high. Flashlights have become sexy high tech instruments. If someone told me 10 years ago that $200-$250 is pretty typical price for big flashlights, I would have thought he is joking.
