BUT, if I were typist of any kind and was typing day and night the Topre would be my first choice.
EDIT: The question "are they worth it?" is entirely subjective. Right now for myself I'd say no but like I said above I don't like it for gaming. For typing I'd say that yes a Realforce would be worth it but a HHKB is over-priced for what it is in my opinion.
Why would you say RF is better than Topre for non-gaming activities?
I'd almost argue the opposite, the Sun Type-3 layout, IMO, is perfect. Well... almost.
My only complaints about the HHKB (my most used keyboard at home)
1. I would really like right handed "WASD" arrows instead
If I could change the function layer without doing a Teensy mod an have hardware colemak, I'd be a happy guy. Also 55g would be nice (see EKW808s mod)
While these complaints can be remedied with mods I want it to have these functionalities out of the box.
EDIT: I also agree with Davkol about the staggering but that just isn't going to happen. uTron would be awesome but just not for $700 >_<
Topre switches are great for gaming as long as it isn't a variable force version. Albeit you won't have as much control over actuation as say, an MX black or green.
All this being said, you should just see if you can try one locally. We can talk about it till we're blue in the face but you won't really know if it is going to work for you till you try it out for a while.