Heath is still in business but they don't make kits anymore. As you discovered, they often just repackaged certain kits (old guts, new paint job). Often they were ahead of the curve technincally, and quite often were a good value for the money (or at least had features not available elsewhere at any price).

Here's a great site with lots more detail:
http://www.heathkit-museum.com/history.shtml
http://www.heathkit-museum.com/featu...article1.shtml
Anthony