looks
I'm a softie for blue steel and walnut too. The first season I hunted with a matte finished, poly stocked firearm, I felt like I was missing something. The gun (a rifle in that case) had no soul.
I must confess that my 870, that I bought all those years ago, has lost its walnut stock/forearm for synthetic ones, and a rattle can paint job, I've even painted the stubby 21" (w/ rem choked with a turkey tube) barrel green. And the green painted synthetic stock is adorned with a foam cheek pad that is held on with camo duct tape and a saddle mounted optic. I left the receiver blued, but painted the saddle mount. The gun is absolutely hideous.
But in about 20 minutes, I can reinstall the factory wood (I actually bought an extra forearm assembly, so swapping is easy) screw one of the matched 26" full or IC choked barrels on, and it will look classy again. Except, since I don't hunt small game much anymore, I quit swapping it back and forth and leave it in its gobbler hunting get -up.
I got my Dad's 28" barreled pump out the other night and two items came to mind at first sight as I slid it from the case and shouldered the old gun. One was how long the barrel seemed after toting a stubby turkey gun (21" and 24") almost exclusively for 25 years. The other was the quality of the stock and forearm. Despite being a price point shotgun (it's a Savage 67) the wood (real walnut) was really nicely figured and had a gorgeous deep color with grain. Back in the 70's, even blue collar guns got nice wood.