Based only on personal & team experiences mate. The Master series proved out to be a real blunder(5000 & lower models). On the other hand, my gladiator is still going strong after about 3 years with fair usage.
You're right with one aspect that if dug deep, you sure can find bargains & you need knowledge & luck on your side to score the deal but you're almost certain to find a great bat in the top ends. Ofcourse, it's applicable to all the brands. The query was b/w SS or BDM top ends so my vote stays with SS