I use to braid coax for Belden and their cable was garbage. The supervisors would tell me to send out bad coax. They said they just needed to get it out and it didn't matter if it was bad, money and shipment was more important. Especially if it was sent to 3rd world countries. This is when I was doing inspections. Timesmicrowave is 10 times better then Belden.
The tools are still expensive for the everyday ham. I was able to acquire a new prep tool on Ebay for $65 and the crimp tool for $50. Trying to source the connectors now.