There's no problem with 'choice' but there is problem with the
illusion of choice. Go into any supermarket and look at the sliced bread. You're likely to see at least four or five different brands all offering the same product for roughly the same price. White, brown, wholemeal, seeded and maybe 50/50, four or five of each. They're all the same. There is no actual value in choosing one over the other and there's no difference in the experience of eating it. You may as well just have 'white', 'brown', 'wholemeal', 'seeded' and '50/50' from the same manufacturer because they are all substantively the same. It's a waste of time, energy, resources and space - and this is where the German discount supermarkets get it right. Offer one 'named' brand, one store brand and you can cut down immediately on all of the difficulties of the supply chain and storage and pass the saving onto the consumer.
It is a bit different with drums because you're getting a slightly different product between manufacturers but I would argue that unless you're buying high-end and spending a lot of money there really isn't enough difference between most budget and intermediate kits to start navel-gazing over it. Just buy one. If you like, buy one second hand for even better value. The drum kit in its mainstream, everyday form was perfected over twenty years ago in this segment of the market.
Pearl offering so many variations is bound to have a knock-on effect on their efficiency as a company and given the current supply chain issues it only makes things harder and this is true of most manufacturers. I honestly think that they all need to rationalise their product lines and offer - essentially - three sets. A beginner set in two different size configurations, an intermediate set in three size configurations ('bop', 'standard' and 'rock' 18-20-22 bass drums) and higher-end sets in a range of configurations.
You might think that you're being disempowered as a consumer but we're also sat here in a drum forum discussing minute details all of the time and although we're a relatively large community, we only represent a tiny number of the people that are actually buying drums each year. I very much doubt to most people it would make much difference if the lines were somewhat rationalised.
So respectfully
@larryace I disagree on this and I think it's better for the longevity of the companies that we buy drums for because the current status quo cannot carry on forever. It's too big and inefficient. Look at what Apple did in the late-90s when Steve Jobs came back - rationalising all of their computer products into four basic products (consumer desktop, consumer laptop, professional desktop, professional laptop) with a small range of configurations in each segment. It was largely responsible for saving the company.
A World with too much choice is a very wasteful one.