Steve D, CT
I also have an abundance of block planes including a MF that is very close to it's Stanley equivalent.

Your point about the unique blades was a concern. Since I don't tend to pile up blades for swapping that probably wouldn't be an issue with me. I tend to keep a separate plane with it's own camber setup since they were relatively inexpensive. New models are another story.

I see the Veritas low angle jack and shooting plane as superior to the LN due to their adjustment mechanism (LAJ) and blade material (O1 or V11 > A2). I picked up a LN 62 this year and don't care for the adjustment on that.

I have two 80's new style Stanleys with Hock blades that were my point of enlightenment on hand planes. Not very graceful but they do the job. Since then a vintage Stanley another vintage MF and a fixed mouth Stanley I picked up to chamfer trim boards when I paint. That is a cheapo in case it decided to leave my hand from the ladder.

I'm open to the MF planes but as I posted earlier, I do in fact have a smooth bottom #4 that was hiding. It actually works nicely but I've been out of the shop for a while. I grabbed two smoothers in a row with corrugated soles and was scratching my head why.