Bridgestone's exit from the USA market was for the same reason as the exit by Panasonic - who also built good bikes. It had everything to do with Yen shock.

If the majority of the parts you specify are built in Japan (because they're built better and work better) and the majority of your frames are also built in Japan, then when the Yen to Dollar exchange rate shifts (as it did during the Bubble Era) your bikes are going to sell at slim to negative margins.

The bikes that Grant stewarded were lauded for their approach to function, ride and fit. RB-1s and RB-2s were built from Ishiwata tubing, which rides better than Tange's oversized offerings of the time. Even Bridgestone's aluminum bikes (RADAC) rode a hell of a lot better than those by Cannondale or Trek. The one I have (3100) rides fantastically well (like a Vitus without the whip feel).

The mountain bikes were occasionally called out for their retro-grouch nature, but only by a few magazine editors. Most of the reviews at the time were astonished by what Bridgestone was able to accomplish - e.g. sub-twenty-four-pound bikes for well under two thousand dollars.

My old MB-1 with its old Mag 20 suspension fork hangs in the woods with anyone's modern carbon fiber wonder. In fact it rides circles around most of the twenty-niners I see on the single-track here in PA.

Bridgestones go for more on the vintage market because of what they brought to the table originally. The bikes were not for poseurs, but for people that rode and raced.