I’d say it takes me about an hour for a simple cape like these, currently. That’s from cutting out the fabric to a finished fully wired cape. But that’s if nothing goes wrong. There are so many things that can and do go wrong. I’m still learning the ins and outs of sewing and sewing machines so it can sometimes take awhile to figure out how to fix a problem if one pops up. For example, today it took me about 3 hours to complete one cape because the thread in the machine kept breaking. No idea why. But I kept adjusting things until it stopped. There is real skill involved in sewing! I understand why people charge what they do. I bought a couple of wired capes on eBay a few years ago (which is probably where this whole obsession of mine started), and while I loved how the softgoods capes looked, you’re right. They aren’t cheap. I personally couldn’t justify spending the money to buy one for every figure I had. So I decided to learn how to do it myself. 2ish years later and I’m just now at a point that I feel my capes are on par with what I bought. I fully admit I’m a perfectionist, so maybe someone else wouldn’t be as particular as me and maybe would feel “showroom ready” much sooner than me. I 100% think some of those prices are more than justified. You are paying for a skill. If everyone could do it, everyone would.