^^ right. 8)
There are many different crosses out there now which has an autoflowering gene in it.
For a simpel example-
New York City Diesel X Lowryder.
Alot of breeders will only try to include the autoflowering genes when crossing a few different strains.
Example- Blueberry X Northern Lights X Lowryder.
Hell there are so many possibliltys.
Just these crosses I named now, no doubt they would be stronger then some 'normal' strains.
Also, for these genetics they dont come to cheap. And people who grow them arnt 'cheap' as you refered to. Some prefer to be running a large space(sog style) running HPS/MH for 24/7 over growing a couple 'normal' plants, to maximize space and you'se up all sq metres once they start growing.
I just noticed that you said some guys from a seed bank, I thought I read seed/cannabis forum. Mate go read some forums like Planet Skunk, and ICMAG and you'll see what the majority of folks believe about the auto's