Much as been said in this thread that is valid. As an ESP snob I've owned a ton of W-serial Korean LTDs as well. The 1000 series as well as the 600 level signature series guitars out of World Music are damn fine instruments. They've always had QC that was on par with Fenders at double the price & Gibsons at triple. While I do like the old ESP logoed SS serial guitars a bit more, I've seen enough bad E-IIs that those are generally suspect to me.
That said inflation is what it is- this is just the new cost of doing business. I've been tracking ESP prices for a long time as well as I buy & sell a lot of them, and while I don't love the new normal I understand it. Also keep in mind all the $1500+ ones are generally coming with a hardshell case where the cheaper ones generally are not.
All that being said, a bunch of guys including myself scored the deal of the year on Saturday at our local Guitar Centers... Gotta make way for the new 2024 models!