I hear you Grant - all the way
. I started with a 60mm Tasco Refractor in the early 1980's. I still maintain to this day is was a reasonable quality for it's time. I do recall the Tasco's of a year or two later were lighter in weight, and "felt" cheaper. But my goodness did it get a good run. I pushed that 60mm into every corner of the sky. It ended up as a finder scope on my homemade 6" f6 Newt! I also recall Alpha Cen looking a little wider than these day. And I also remember what it was like to have teenage vision!