I thought black alps were awful. Am I missing something?
Yes. You are hearing something similar to "Unicomps are awful compared to IBM-built Model Ms"
Black Alps, particularly new ones, can be very nice. They belong to the same family as orange and salmon.
That said, they tend to age poorly, but I have an original Dell AT101W that I got with a Dell system in 1997 and used for several years that still feels good, while I have bought a new-in-box AT101W that was scratchy and bad.
Springs and leafs don't really age or get particularly dirty, and can also be easily cleaned. Thus a "modified" switch can be considered "almost-new" for all practical purposes.
I got a new-in-box Northgate 101 with white Alps and transplanted near-new leaves and springs from an Apple M0115 with splendid results. Although it still has the original white sliders, for all practical purposes it is now an orange Alps keyboard.
Also, the Dell chassis is excellent and makes a great base for other projects.