You get to assemble and paint your own stuff (wish X-wing had this as an option.)
After 20 years of Warhammer/et al the assembled and painted aspect of X-wing was a big draw for me (and my immediate group).
If I had to paint and assemble 1/270 scale space fighters I'd never have gotten into the game. Or worse I'd have unpainted unnfinished models sitting next to my 40k models unpainted and unassembled.