Duckfat:
I am glad to hear of your happiness with your Viking product. Every product has its good and points. When people ask me what they should buy, I normally suggest that they are not so much picking out what they like in a product what problem they can live with in the future.
I will certainly agree with you that the electronic ignition system is the week point in any gas range regardless of make ( eaton and honeywell make probably 90% if all the ignition electronics used by all manufacturers). However, viking makes only ranges and cooktops of there own design. they do not make all of there wall ovens, or any of there hoods, dishwashers (as noted), etc. So it is hard for the average consumer to determine what the are getting in some cases. Further, having been a factory trained viking repair person, I can tell you that they over charge for parts to the tenth power and that there designs are poor from an engineering standpoint. They may or may not be functional from a user standpoint (i have in fact not owned most of these brands) but from a repair standpoint they are a nightmare to fix. This means higher labour costs for repairs as well as parts costs compared to, for example wolf (still not cheap exactly but more reasonable).
As I have noted in my previous post, Kitchenaid in most cases is little more than an overpriced mid level whirlpool. So with that in mind you get what you pay for, it will likely work fine for the average person but not keep up with an energetic home cook (lower btu burners, smaller oven cavities, cheaper electronics etc), regardless of the fact you've over paid or not.
I am vaguely familiar with Blue Point, having never worked on one, but thoroughly looking them over at a training seminar, they appear to a reasonable if not simple sort of copy of the better known brands. They are made cheaper and of course cost less. Another line that is very similar is Five Star. Many of the burners, valves and other core components of these machines are made by a few manufactures (ie eaton, honeywell etc) and thusly what you are often paying for is creature features if you will; electronic igniton, better gaskets, fancy paint job etc.
You are also correct with regards to Viking having a large service force, but this neither here nor there as almost all of these servicers will in fact provide factory authorized service for any well known brand of product, high end or not. For example when I was in the field our company was authorized for all of the big US brands, LG, SUB/Wolf, Dacor, Fisher/Paykel, DCS, Best, Broan, Smeg, Asko, Eurotech, AGA, vent a hood, Ducane, weber, woods, aeg, miele, Bosch/Thermadore plus more, and even one off jobs for odd ball brands that didn't have local service personal like Creda, and Philips.
Ultimatley it is up to the consumer to weigh the pros and cons of each unit and pick based on their own personal tastes.
PS another brand of refrigerator that I would recommend is Northland from Greenville Michigan. They are Sub Zero in style with built in looks and features but have a overhead (or remote i believe) cooling unit witch makes for easy and quick (read cheaper labour costs) repairs.