First off, let me apologize for coming off a bit too strongly perhaps - but I'm sort of passionate about music gear. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree about a few things. When comparing brands of strings, it's true that there really isn't that much difference between the products of most of the companies competing for the budget minded players' business.
I bet you've never tried some of these "boutique brands" of strings. If you have, you'd know that they are quite different from the generic product most of us have all of our playing experience with. FYI, Thomastik-Infeld does in fact use different materials from what is customary in the business for certain components of their strings. Their core steel is not the Swedish steel everybody else uses, for example, but a more expensive German steel. Another big difference is that in a number of T-I strings, they utilize lengthwise filaments of silk, or "inlays" between the core and wrap wires. This is done - as one of their primary technical consultants (a PhD in acoustic science) told me - to create "a kind of mechanical filter to partially attenuate odd order harmonics the higher frequencies". The difference can be heard in the smooth, very musical, tonalities from these strings. That's pretty sophisticated stuff, and it is very expensive to make these things and to keep the QC at a high level.You are definitely getting a very differentiated product - from a mechanical and engineering standpoint - for your money. And their players typically are fanatically loyal to the brand.
Similarly, some of the hand made picks have little in common with the "twenty-five cent picks" that most players use. Blue Chip picks are made from an exotic machining specialty type of polymer (I think) that has very unique self lubricating properties that makes them feel softer than they actually are, and makes them almost impervious to wear. I've been told that the material in their $35 picks costs the company $28, and then there is considerable hand work before it can be sold as a Blue Chip. They have a softer attack and a tone that might be closer to nylon than to other pick materials.
Gravity picks are cut from a high grade acrylic sheet stock, and then the bevels are hand ground and polished. This makes for a stronger, longer lasting - and I think more "musical" and livelier sounding and responding - pick than the typical injection molded mass manufactured picks. The feel is very different between a Gravity pick and one of the mass produced ones - to the point that if I use one of the latter, I feel the pick is an impediment to my playing, rather than an aid. That, and did I mention that they sound better? What is $35 difference in tone that you guarantee won't be there with hand made picks like Gravity and Blue Chip? That's like asking if players get their money's worth from the most coveted collectible vintage guitars, or from a hand crafted Suhr or Anderson, or Collings instruments, compared to a lower line product from Gibson or Fender. If you have to ask how and why, then the whole issue doesn't even apply to you.
. CB, a highly accomplished and knowledgeable guy who used to be a major contributor, took me to task once for jumping on things I didn't like that were basically aesthetic issues. Told me to STFU and get lost (or words to that effect) unless I wanted to work and play well with others. 