I was a kid in the 1990s, and my parents were already making the same complaints (except for the film merch one). The kits haven’t changed that much in the last 30 years. At least those for kids; there weren’t many kits for adults back then.

I hate the branded kits with a passion (Batman and the others), but thankfully there are many others available, including great ones. I would have killed for a rocket like the newer ones when I was 10. OTOH recent trains are not much better than older ones.