Why are people paying these stupid tube prices?

I have been using Viva tubes for the last three years, purchased about 20 small tubes from them in that time, all were priced well with good long term reliability in the pieces of gear they were purchased for, haven't looked but have all their prices skyrocketed like the KT150s?

I guess nobody else has noticed the tube MANUFACTURER, New Sensor / EH, is setting even higher prices than Viva tubes on their own web store. But I guess it’s just fun to bash Viva tubes for some reason? They’re doing you a favor, if you really need (not for spares or OCD) a power tube that’s out of stock elsewhere. They had to price high enough to discourage hoarders and scalpers.

The big power tubes is where the crunch is, because there’s no vintage alternatives to fill the void. The vintage small tubes should still last for many years. It’s bad to need KT120 or KT150 right now, with Gold Lion KT88 close behind. KT170 is also bad to need, but at least there aren't a lot of amps out there that use it.

I ran Jadus tube gear for years,in the 90s it cost more than a grand to retube a defy7....solid state has come so far in the past decade ie..Boulder,Constellation, Dartzel, Pass labs etc there is no reason to mess with tube amps anymore imo

We should have some empathy for poor musicians. They have their Marshall stacks getting bounced around in a van every night.

I can't believe it, but I just paid $300 for a pair of 1950's NOS RCA Black  plate 12AX7 and $150 for 1950's 12AU7 ......    Unobtanium and worth it.