Bottom-Line, for me: The RIMOWA Topas line is my leisure hard-sided luggage, of choice, compared to the Pelican Cases that I use to travel for work and outdoor excursions.

Hard-sided luggage should be compared to other hard-sided luggage brands/lines. It is "apples and oranges" to compare hard-sided vs. soft-side luggage, IMO.

Compared to my Pelican cases, I travel with for work, I save two (2) lbs on my carry-on equivalent compared to RIMOWA (which is irrelevant at that weight difference, to me). On my check-in equivalents, I save 11 lbs with my Pelican weighing 24.03 lbs versus the RIMOWA 68L at 13.2 lbs.

I only buy RIMOWA in Germany, less VAT, since the savings, for me, has averaged 55% compared to US$ MSRP. Other than that, I would never purchase RIMOWA at full US$ MSRP, the value is not there compared to Pelican with their lifetime guarantee.

At the end of the day, all depends on what your specific buying preferences, patterns and budget are. Value is perspective.