Why do better MC cartridges cost a fortune?

Anyway, Japanese and some others cartridge makers love audiophiles. And not just cartridge makers. They feed on obsession.
I heard that Accuphase costs half as much or so in Japan, don't know about Kondo Japan and Wavac. Americans can be funny too. How much is D'Agostino Momentum integrated? $35k or so? Do you really think that it sounds better than Gryphon Diablo 300 for $16k? I doubt it, but since I haven't heard either, I would be happy if someone who had commented. To be blunt - this hobby field is full of BS, but this doesn't mean that there is nothing but it.

High prices have been discussed quite a bit.  And while it is true that top of the line MC cartridges are outrageously expensive, I think there is an exaggeration in the original premise in this thread, that better MC cartridges cost $5k - $10k.

I paid $1650 for my Lyra Delos (now priced at $1995) and I would characterize that as a better cartridge.  Even my $500 Dynavector 10x5 (now $650) was a decent cartridge.

Sumiko makes a $550 and a $1250 cartridge that both get high marks by reviewers.

Sure, we'd all like a system with performance like a Bugatti Veyron, and that would mean a $10k+ phono cartridge, with superlative performance and tons of diminishing returns in the pricing to boot, but my point is, we can have better MC cartridges with better performance at $1,200 - $3,500.  Lyra Kleos & Koetsu Rosewood are both included in that price range.

Couple of years ago one could get Lyra Delos for $1k or so from the UK. That semed reasonable. As for Sumiko and lesser Koetsu, though I am unfamiliar with them, there is an opinion that they are not really good enough. There is also $1.5k Goldring, which is supposedly acceptable. Kiseki and Transfiguration for about $3.5k would be as high as I ever cared to go. Provided the rest of the analog set-up is up to this level.
Not Bugatti - Koenigsegg, $2million. I think, they make a dozen each year.

If I were those Japanese cartridge makers I would take the prices much higher, say, $50k for top of the line models. All Japanese makers, they know how to talk to each other. How many would still buy them? Enough, I guess.

And yet, none of them are as neutral and reproduce the original as cleanly, with as little distortion, and with as much channel separation as a cd/dvd/bd disc player of a few hundred dollars at most. As I said, such cartridges are the emperor’s new clothes.