Well, because of this thread I decided to head to my local GC and play my way through a bunch all over again... perhaps I'm just an idiot, but I've been playing for 15 years now and frankly I can't tell any real difference between the MIA and MIM strats. Obviously there are tonal differences in the various blends of pickups as well as differences in neck woods, etc. But, where as one MIA would sound okay, the next MIM would sound awesome, and then the next MIM would sound okay but the next MIA would sound awesome. My conclusion, there is really no difference and in fact I dare say the only differences to be found are between the guitars themselves and not at all where they're made or who makes them. Thanks for the opinions and points of view, this thread really is helpful!