"Best" is always a tough call. It implies better than all others; doubt you can substantiate that. I'll agree that Ithaca made a good value product that sold well. I'll agree that NID's are tough as nails. I'm amazed that it is possible to decorate a NID frame in such a way as to make it aesthetically pleasing other than in the blocky, robust, easy to make way of the basic NID. For whatever reason, the market doesn't value Ithacas as highly as some others - good for buyers and bad for sellers (the market always has two sides).
I'd go for "as good as was ever practically needed."
