I also had a Cabelas retriever, I had the ring type and that one worked pretty good but again lacking in the weight department, so I doubled them up for a while.
The cost of lead today vs 2 years ago has more than doubled but it's not necessarily the cost of a individual retriever but if I order $1000 of marker buoys or I'm looking into labels for the boxes and they want a min. of a couple hundred ect it all adds up quickly.
If you were to build one for yourself:
Marker buoys at Bass Pro are min $3ea, powder coating is another $3ea, I usually run through min. 25 at a time, then you have the pipe, the wire, the chains, splitring, the hook, the rope, and boxes to ship them well you don't need a box, but I do, also propane, saw blades, drill bits etc. plus your time is worth something, So this is why I get $40 ea.
At this point (10+yrs) every single person who has purchased one says they have been worth it! And I know I shouldn't say it but I have never received a single negative comment from anyone who has one.
thanks again for the interest