Value for the money

I'd question the "nearly as good" - I've used these lenses and the quality control is dreadful, the construction stinks of machine oil and they are basically pretty rough.

Russian cameras are about as dismal - my Kiev 60 shutter lasted about 10 exposures before totally unravelling. The prism didn't fit properly either...

My Zenit B had a viewfinder that was a miserable 24mm across, showing only part if the frame, and had barrel distortion worthy of a fisheye lens...

My Kiev 4 self timer failed to work after one use. It also had a viewfinder that scratched my glasses and was impossible to compose with, although to be fair that was only a copy of the Contax design...

They are all solid though!

Quality Control is notoriously variable, but the ones I mentioned tend to be better made the the usual Russian fare, which as you say is rather poor

If I compare my J-9 with my K85/1.8 there's not a huge difference, although the Pentax lens is definitely a bit better both in image quality and build. The J-9 also seems somewhat superior to the M85/2 I used to have years ago...

R