Why Do 12" Tonearms Cost So Much More Than 9"?

And Uberwaltz, Franks other arm are also genius. Check out the CB. You can get one for $5000 and it could easily run for best pivotal tonearm made. 

lewm

my first thread here was asking about long arms

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/tt-12-tonearm-who-tried-and-ended-up-preferring-12-arm-2

then I asked specifically about the Blackbird 12.5

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/12-1-2-arm-newartvinyl-black-bird-yea-or-nay

and about the 9" arm I found

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/tonearm-acos-lustre-gst-801-yea-nay
.......................................
chakster was involved,

as I said, no one said 'good idea', chakster said NO, the only thing they make in Russia is military weapons. That definitely slowed me down. Next, Vlad, the Russian in Canada that sold me and Bill our large JVC Plinths, said he never recommends anything he is not personally familiar with. 

Months, nothing else excited me, finally I had to risk it. I discussed the specifics with Square Trade before I bought it and their 3 year warranty.

Those tiny wires were quite a trial, now quite an accomplishment. If they would pre-wire to a din or mini-din connector, they would sell a lot more of them. Stubborn, they say they tried several, but like the sound without a din connector. 

I love this arm, very glad I risked it.

the real deal

https://www.artisanfidelity.com/tonearms/ikeda-it-407

Thank you Mijo again.

The CB also looks very interesting especially in the CB-L version.
I also see there is a collaboration between Frank and Peter at Soundsmith to produce an arm called the Alto at $6k although information seems to be a little sketchy on that?

In my opinion, having heard a few of them, the Schroeder tonearms are indeed very good and very competitive at their price points, but not necessarily better than all of the competitors at those price points.  The LT is desirable for someone like me just because of the clever design and brilliant execution, although I cannot imagine that moving the whole pivot as the cartridge traverses the LP is done without adding friction that must be overcome.  On the other hand, I am a cheapskate so won't be buying one.