We have quite a few Italian barbers around here and all they seem to use are boar brushes.
I started on boar brushes too many years ago and have now been through badgers and synthetics. At the end of it I have come to the conclusion that I could have stayed with boar brushes and saved a lot of money. As you say, their price to performance ratio is very good. They really perform far better than their price would suggest.
Bob