Lee Valley / Veritas and Lie Nielsen have helped usher in a renaissance of well-made tools. Their planes and saws are arguably better than any produced during the 'golden age' before WWII. There are cheaper options from abroad available (WoodRiver, Quangsheng, etc) but I like spending the extra money knowing its supporting good, customer-focused companies who care about the craft.

(But I also like finding/restoring old Stanley planes when possible, which is cheap and ethically satisfying).

Wow, thanks for sharing! I have no idea how I've missed this for so many years. Lie-Nielsen (https://www.lie-nielsen.com) also makes beautiful (and expensive) hand tools, for anyone interested.