You seem to have somehow my very same tastes in aircraft models or spacecraft ones. i too have rebought the Gemini model you described and I also acquired the complete updating sets in resin and PE from Real Space. I did the same to transform the prototype Apollo capsule by Revell/Monogram into the one of Apollo 17 which was a more advanced version.
All this is also stacked away for a better day, and while the Gemini capsule is a reissue, the Apollo capsule is still the one that came out in the late 1980s. Shame on me.
Alas, I do not remember exactly how much I did spend in US$ to have those updates but surely they made those models become very expensive ones.
The same can be said with my Star Trek model mania, although I only possess the vessels of the Original Series up to Star Trek Voyager that were produced by AMT, former AMT/ERTL, former AMT/Monogram, and by now a pastiche between Monogram and Revell.
I can’t afford the Polar Lights ones since they are either too large for my space or too small compared to the original AMT ones.
Still, since I now invested in a whole panoplia of PE and Resin parts to make the old ones more accurate, not to speak of an entire array of lighting kits for each single one, cheaper than the sets offered by Polar Lights for just one ship, coming from Germany, where there is a company specialized in such kits I too did empty my pockets quite considerably just to have them ready for a day in which I will be tired of WWII diorama building.
And yet, considering how much models, especially newer ones, do cost nowadays, and not always as more accurate than their older counterparts, or even just the aftermarket bits and pieces to turn a basic one into a masterpiece of accurate replication, I am glad I did invest in such things when prices were still rather affordable.
And being that all I bought in time does not rot or has really an expiration date I can safely say that I had them all at a bargain price.
I stopped at collecting when postage and customs went crazy.
I used to order massively in the United States and the United Kingdom but those days are gone.
Today, if I still need something I prefer go with the Chinese or Russian products, or if ever, since I live in Switzerland, and if the price is right, either in my homeland or Germany and Italy.
Other than that is a financial fraud or simply suicide.
I used to order from the US quite a bit, particularly for photo-etch detail sets. Hobby suppliers in Canada do not seem to carry as much after-market products as our American friends. But shipping costs and now tariffs and duties make that a most unpleasant transaction. I am considering ordering my PE needs directly from Eduard. I have ordered from the UK and from Germany on a couple occasions and had no issue with price or delivery time. But I am now trying to limit my kit purchases as I am a slow builder and it will require me to live to 160 to complete my current stash. It is less about the money and more about the time!
In my case, I will have to live 200 years if not more… talk of Methuselah. But seriously, I too have wrapped up my desires and only occasionally (very seldom), if a model that was never produced earlier appears, may I still make an extra exception to the rule, just like a recent release of an M29 Weasel produced by Takom, which I will add to one of my various Normandy scenarios.
I also occasionally have to replenish my paint and primer stash, since I also continue to consume it in time.
But with the exception of a few PE parts which might for instance help me to further detail aircraft cockpits both stemming from WWII or the Gulf War, I usually stay away from that stuff since by far too minute for my big hands and weak eyes to actually handle.
But to add an accurate cockpit board or boards I certainly prefer the pre-painted ones by Eduard, since I exclusively build in 1:72 scale and to paint those by hand is torture and even decals are not much help.
I also like their offerings to further outline jet engines in both Russian, French and East German (Iraqi) models, as well as those belonging to the so called Coalition.
Said that, as of late I also bought excellent reproductions of various MiG-25 models by ICM, both in the Reconnaissance, Strike and Fighter/Bomber mode. But those are indeed crammed with tons of tiny pieces, dozens, if not hundreds of decals and indeed PE parts. And yet they are really worth it.
If I manage to find some time to at least build and paint one, I will send you some pictures of it, and so will I if I also manage to assemble and paint a TR-1A Senior Span spy plane.
Be well and do what you enjoy the best my friend.