I don't know if anyone else noticed this but....
the Ludwig Gold Triumphal has it's own web domain:
http://www.goldtriumphal.com/
Sheesh.
Yes the price has got be prohibitive for most players (like me). But more than that, as another poster pointed out - where would you feel safe gigging with it? Probably just a recording session in a nice studio with heavy security. Then hardly anybody sees this wonderful piece of audio-visual jewelry. Will it sound like a $7k drum?
It's like being married to Halle Berry, dressing her in a bikini and bringing her into a bar, expecting no one to make a move while you aren't looking. The word that comes to mind is 'ostentatious'.
Beautiful drum but only of ultimate value for the Nigel Tufnel drum collector ("You mustn't touch it...NO don't look at it")
Jim