Yep, this has turned into a really good thread. This addresses a very common question that every woodworker has at some point. Even if you have every power tool known to man, it won't always do the best job, or may not be as efficient as a good hand tool. Heck, even Norm is spotted using a hand tool from time to time!
Now, Brandon -- you can't back out on us! After all this helpful information, you've got to let us know how your HT habit is going!
As an aside: I used to monitor eBay plane auctions pretty closely, and when I found a "shady" item I would sometimes post it in the HT forums on Woodnet. The reason I did that is that I think it's very informative to learn from some of these auctions, and to see how they turn out. Maybe we can post a couple here sometimes -- sort of a "what's wrong with this picture?" kind of game.