It's interesting to look back at the beginning of this thread. It seems that we were mostly skeptical based on features and price and the unfavorable ratio thereof…
I can relate to that. It simply took a hands-on experience with the new Minimoog to have my intial reservations totally annihilated. Feature-wise, it is a simple synth, yes. It's not exciting in terms of its mod matrix and all that. By now, it's even one of the most conservative (I use this term neutrally) synth designs out there, as it served as the blueprint for all hardwired synths that follow the scheme of subtractive synthesis.
But what was striking for me is that although everyone knows its sound and although certain cliché sounds have been played to death, it is still inviting because the core sound is so good that one can get lost in playing around with it immediately. In that sense it feels like any other classic instrument, like a piano, a guitar, a violin, drums, or even a tuba, which are still being played albeit they sound as they do.
And then there are all the factors which are often not considered, especially in the Behringer or Roland discussions. The Minimoog is not only its iconic sound. It's that and the spacious front panel, the chassis, 44 keys, mod and pitch wheels, and the fact that you can set up the panel at almost any angle you like. From today's perspective, it's a really massive synth in terms of physical proportions. But that's exactly what makes it a Minimoog too.
And finally there's the whole build quality aspect. Like one synth cave inhabitor said to me at Superbooth: "It just looks and feels like it's been build and assembled by people who really enjoy what they're doing."