Yeah, and I think the reason for that is Naniwa, Shapton, etc. going beyond 8K. Naniwa goes to 12K. Shapton goes to 30 in the Glass line and 12K in the Kuromaku line. All 3 lines arguably have more user friendly 1K hones. If someone bought a Naniwa Traditional/Specialty/Professional 1K, and a 12K Specialty Stone, It's almost inevitable the purchaser would at least get a 3K & 8K Specialty to fill in the middle grits. Same could be said if someone went with a Shapton Glass 1K & 16K/30K, or even a Shapton Kuromaku 1K & 12K. Someone that started with a Norton 1/4/8 and branched out at the top & bottom is almost bound to fill in the middle with the new line rather than at least sticking with the 4/8 - even though there's nothing wrong with them. And that's assuming they didn't see the line end at 8K and decide right then and there to go with Naniwa or Shapton. Or even King with the Ice Bear 10K.

I think about everyone's had the Norton 4k & 8k. And I haven't seen much negativity around them (save for maybe the Made in Mexico 4Ks). They're just a bit weak on the bottom end, and non-existent passed 8K.