I think there's more than 'get what you pay for' here.
- I'm not making a show car, so a little pitting doesn't bother me. Heck, I can replace it every year for as long as I intend to keep the car and still pay less than full price for the big name.
- Part of the reason the name brands are expensive is that they have to research and figure out all the dimensions and such... The copycats don't, they just duplicate it, using cheap Chineese labor. Sure, supporting them by buying their products is iffy, but I'll just have to live with that.
- There's nothing really magic that the name brands do; it's a tube. It's got smooth bends, and puts the filter outside the engine compartment. And it's a bigger than stock filter. These simple things account for most of the gains, and the copycats do that too.

How about this one: Still 1/3 to 1/2 the name brand, has a cotton filter, and a CARB sticker:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEBWA%3AIT