This is a great question, which I’ve thought about a lot. I’m going to condense a lot for the sake of brevity.
A lot of the new manufacturers are great. Don’t forget cars, too; Ebbro and Moebius come to mind. I find that some can approach Tamiya on at least an individual kit basis, and some outthink Tamiya in some aspects (like new Airfix instruction sheets). However, some are good at one thing and not another; i.e. Meng and Trumpeter for other than armor. I do think Tamiya’s overall new tool production is the best, and they keep pushing themselves to raise the bar for the industry in everything they do; for examples the Mosquito and the new Honda 1/6 motorcycle.
In short, they have more competition now than before. And I think that has produced times for us modelers that we never thought we’d see. I wish I could live another 200 years so I could build everything I want to build!
I often look at the Japanese sites to see what the “real” price is. Often, a Tamiya and another kit are the same price on that site, but when you look at a US site, the Tamiya kit is another 50% higher than the other kit. That’s the importer knowing that Americans will blindly pay more for the brand name.
I know when Tamiya released an M60A3 (which was their old 1970s M60A1 kit retooled with some new parts) and Esci released a brand new M60A3 at the same time. Everyone, including me, bought the Tamiya kit, which was not a bad kit. However, the Esci M60A3 was a superior kit and probably their best 1/35 scale armor kit and only recently surpassed by the AFVC Club kit nearly 30 years later.
We bought the more expensive Tamiya kit because it was a Tamiya kit.
Different animals, a complex model kit is one thing (ZM). A model that is complex because of multiple errors in the instruction sheet, a model created by the inclusion of part trees from several kits (often resulting in multiple different parts with the same number two A5, two C7, etc.) is another.
Other manufacturers may have specific individual kits that fit very well, but Tamiya’s consistency in this area is pretty impressive. Combine the near guarantee of great fit with good detailing, and you have a safe bet.
And that is how I look at Tamiya. If I see a model on the shelf that interests me and it’s by any other manufacturer, I will look up reviews before purchasing. If it’s Tamiya, I figure it’s going to be good and just buy it.
Gravitating more towards the weathering side and the creative placement of subjects in a diorama (whether that be armor, figures, or vehicles), and with less emphasis on the authenticity of a subject in a historical context, finds me gravitating to kits that allow a smooth build over anything else. Kits with instructions that are unclear or have downright errors or too many details that distract from the build process are my personal source of frustration. That is why I gravitate to Tamiya. This also implies strongly, that Tamiya is not necessarily the better kit, but just the personal preference based on my reasons for building. By the way, how is everyone doing?