I am on my third AK and looking to get at least one more. My favorite was my first, a Hungarian SA85M with the blond wood and beautifully finished, $367 NIB w/3 mags, sling, cleaning kit, oiler, inst manual ----in 1987! I really regret letting that one go, now that they go for ~$1500!:banghead:
I also went through the Valmet phase and now have an Egyptian AKM. It seems I always have an AK variant on hand. To me they are historical and representative of an era. A serious student of military small arms will have at least one in their collection.