sharder, I see your point, it's the same with motorcycles to a degree as well, whats hot this year is a has been the next.
I have a term for that, blue chip turned to cow chip..
Glocks seem to have been "glamuorized" by hollywood in a lot of the gangsta movies as well as some of the gangsta rap tunes. (I refuse to call it music).
Another one is the Desert Eagle, it seems to be the weapon of choice for AHHHNold, and quite a few others in the action movies, but having owned one, there is NO WAY I would rely on one for defense , as they can be finicky and need to be kept clean, as well as showing a preferance for certain types of ammo to get proper function. It was fun as he!! to shoot, but not real high on the practicality list
I base my buying decisions on how the weapon performs for me, and I do look at some of the tests in the mags, but I take them with a grain of salt. As long as they don't show some glaring design fault,it's kind of subjective. I will try out several different models if at all possible and I try to ask people who own the model I'm interested in how it works for them.
When it comes to motorcycles, I buy the american rags to read about them, but if I want to really find out how a bike is in the real world, I get the british bike mags, they tell it like it is, no holds barred, and if a bike is a P.O.S, they will call it exactly that, where it seems the american mags dance all around the issue, calling it "quirky", or "narrow focused"..