It's an unfortunate situation, where S&W has created this.
Part of the equation is people who view guns as a "hobby", as you put it.
In my generation's youth, very few people owned more than a small handful of guns.
A hunting rifle, a .22 rifle, maybe a .22 pistol or revolver, a .38 or .357 for a "serious" handgun, and maybe a shotgun.
Those were all working guns, and the percentage of people who bought multiple guns to play with was small.
Quality guns were ALWAYS expensive, relatively speaking.
You could walk into a hardware store or a good gunshop & buy pretty much a once in a lifetime gun, and figure on it having a certain level of quality.
Smiths & Colts were good stuff, lower-priced brands were mediocre, but functional, if that's all you could afford.
With the progressive increase in disposable income that occurred through the 1970s, and the expansion of gunmakers & models of the 1980s, your Hobby Set grew.
It was no longer taking the time to assemble a battery of working guns & then moving on, it became a culture of buying many guns just because.
There's nothing inherently wrong with that reason for wanting many guns, but the net effect was to cause the industry to increase offerings to gain more share of the expanding market, and then through the past 10-15 years to progressively cheapen the quality of both manufacturing AND alternative designs to get more people to spend more money on more guns.
That's put us where we are today.
Those of us older guys who know what used to be there will tend to stick with the better stuff, even if it means being able to buy fewer guns in paying more to get that higher quality.
You new "hobbiests" don't know or care what they used to be, or what they are now.
The gunmakers cater to those who don't know the difference & don't want to spend the money on true quality.
I'm not really a hobbiest, I work with guns professionally & most of what I have are working guns, if they need to be.
I'd cheerfully spend another hundred bucks over purchase price on a new Smith revolver today, if it had forged guts, a correct firing pin, no lock, and real attention to detail.
But, as long as there are people willing to buy at current quality levels, S&W will continue to put those quality levels out.
And as far as S&W goes- if you want a new Smith, as you do, there's only one game in town, so that's the game you play.
Otherwise, you do as many of us have done- you look for an older Smith in great shape.
I've been able to acquire two unfired NOS Smiths without much effort.
They're out there, and to us they're worth the FFL trip & "hassle".
But, you go whichever way you want.
As far as your assertion about S&W closing shop goes, I would PREFER they return to better guns, but failing that if they shut the revolver section down tomorrow it wouldn't affect my life at all.
I've got my good stuff.
Denis