What's so special about Wald Brushes?

This is not a sarcastic question.  To my understanding, all Wald brushes only come with a synthetic knot; 
no badgers, and no boars.  They also cost a lot more than any other synthetic knot brushes that I'm aware of.  I've tried an assortment of synthetic badger and boar brushes, and seem to like the boars best.  Admittedly I have never bought a shaving brush that cost over $40, or a razor that cost more than $250.  I have shaved with an assortment of Wolfman, Paradigm, and other high end razors, but I prefer a stainless steel Blackbird, a Schick I-1 Injector, and a Semogue 820 brush.  So what am I missing?  Is the Wald synthetic knot brush worth $200 more than a similar Yaqi, Boti, or RazoRock Synthetic knot brush?  And if so, why?  
I repeat:  This is not a sarcastic question.  Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you.

I have no experience with them, but honestly for myself having tried virtually everything under the sun, I've not had much interest in trying them. Not at the prices they are at. Tips for badger look too gelled mostly. Given I see the right brush used I would consider it. I'm of the opinion there's very few brushes out there worth the asking price new. I love me a used deal. Plus I don't like trying to catch deals. What I do like from what I've seen is the handle shapes and colors that come out. Seen a pink synthetic that definitely caught my eye. I could be quite happy with just purchasing a handle in a color I like and be very satisfied. Synthetics aren't my thing though. I don't see anything special from it, and while I prefer to give something the benefit of the doubt until I've tried it, I am not buying into other people's talk of synthetic. Until I see something different I'm not doing any more synthetics, except for an Omega Evo 2. In my opinion on the synthetics you're paying more for the handle material and finish, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Those handles are gorgeous.

Synthetics are needed these days for some of the soaps that oxidise ..mostly the ones giving out brown lather in the beginning . Now that surely stains badger knots with use.

I have a few synthetics and of them I like Simpsons platinum fibre better.

Imo a high-end synthetic anywhere in the range of 140-160 is the right price tag for what it offers .

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If a Declaration Grooming brush can cost $400, then Yannik‘s synthetics can cost what they do. The raw materials (synthetic fibres) may be cheaper, but the work is the same. Yannik ties his own synthetic knots.

Apart from that, they are just very unique in feel and just excellent brushes.

The handels, colorways, and pours are works of art

Jannik also has previously released 3 Badger knots: J1, J2, J3 and is threatening to release J4 in the near future. 

I have one J3 and the knot is stellar.  Near perfect backbone, lather and release.  Super soft tips that appear jelled (due to color) but have zero jell feel.  Terrific natural feeling knot - one guys opinion YMMV.

I recently pulled the trigger on the new Calyx brush and mostly because of the smaller knot as I just felt like the 29mm knot would be too big for my tastes and now I know that at some point I will order a 29mm in the Stratos handle as I really like the looks of that handle. I now know what most have said about the 29mm A-1 knot in reference to it being much smaller than other knots they have in that size as the 27mm feels much smaller in use than 25 and 26mm brushes I have. The Calyx handle though has just an awesome feel to it and is so comfortable to use and one of the best features is the rim at the top keeps soap and water from running down the handle during use. The last thing I'll say is the Wald is everything I envisioned from comments on the STF XL and more because that brush was just a disappointment from the start for me as I'd had such high hopes from comments but ultimately let down... I know YMMV plays a very big part in every aspect of this hobby but I just don't get why everyone says the STF XL is the best synthetic brush on the market, I think they all should invest in a Wald and I'm sure most would rarely use the STF XL after that!!

I certainly understand that not everybody wants to spend $250 for a synthetic brush, and they don’t need to. But the Wald is very different from other synthetics - the tips are much, much finer and softer, it is much more densely packed, it splays much easier. The differences are not minor, they are a different category. For me it is the first and only synthetic brush that I could happily replace my badger brushes with, and indeed I have used it exclusively for months at a time. The performance of the Wald A1 knot has no real downsides compared to badger, in my opinion. I don’t feel I give up anything when I use it, whereas with all other synthetics splay, in particular, is never as good as a badger (but note that I’m not saying the Wald synthetic feels like badger - it feels nothing like a badger knot and is not trying to emulate badger).

You have to consider too that the Wald synthetic costs $170 less than his badger brushes but has exactly the same handles, so he is charging $170 less for the synthetic knot than his badger knot (both are hand tied by Jannik). Most of the $250 price for a Wald A1 synthetic brush is for the handle. You’re always going to pay a premium price for a brush handle of this quality, and that doesn’t change whether you have synthetic, pig, horse or badger hair in it. But you can see why Jannik just released a lower priced, standard handle option, as not everyone wants to pay for such a premium handle on a synthetic brush.

As for Wald badger brushes, they are comparable with any top artisan hand-tied badger brush, and I’d say better than most for handle refinement and attention to detail in the knot. One of the best. No scritch, no gel feeling at all, no crustiness when dried.

The handles are beautiful works of art. I could be quite content buying handles and getting Shavemac knots set in them. I'm not convinced the badger is for me. Haven't seen one that I consider right for my tastes. Sascoman's is probably the closest I've seen, but still have concerns too much gelling for my tastes. I've convinced myself I'm going to swear off synthetics, but I have to say I think I would be willing to give it one more try for what he describes in doing for his knots. What he says and what you see shows there is a difference in how he makes his, and frankly they look better constructed than the legends in the industry. I always enjoy seeing people post their pictures of Walds. Those handles are bee-you-tea-ful!

I had the same question. Thank you for asking.
Imo the aesthetics of the handles is ok. Just ok.
Enjoy your brushes.

My thanks to all of you for your responses.  I just bought the Calyx that IanG153 had for sale on the BS&T.  
It will be my first high end brush purchase ever.  If they really do seem smaller than they are, that will be okay
as my preferred brush size is usually around 22 to 24 mm.  There's a mini Nimbus also for sale on the BS&T,
but at 18 mm I know it would be too small, though the red and black Beelzebub pattern is really a quite a beauty.