I've been getting back to MTB over the last 6 months after a few years away for regular riding. I'm currently running a pair of 2005 Fox Vanillas at 130mm.
Browsing the usual online retails reveals new forks to be ridiculously expensive compared to what I paid back in the day [well, RRPs anyway]
Has fork performance moved on to match the price hike over the past few years, or it all just marketing blox?
it has improved and you will notice it whether enough to justify I dont know
My old ones are Bomber 03 vintage and some 06 fox. My 09 pikes are much better than both of these.
Certain forks, yes - others, no. I don't think fox have improved that much as they were pretty good back in the day. Manitou forks are better and the improvement in rockshox forks is very noticeable. Not really got enough experience with Marzocchi to know, but I suspect that they fall into the same category as Fox.
I would get them serviced and custom tuned.
Will be fine,Just hope there is no corrosion on the stanchions,where the sealsbushings have rested.
Not really.
I've got some 2001 Bombers. 130mm coil with 20mm thru axle.
Used many other forks and to be honest these are very hard to beat.
Have they technically improved? Yes.
Would you actually notice the difference (in a blind test)? Debatable.
Can you justify the cost based on the above? Up to you.
( Using 2004 Boxxers, and 2006 Fox's over here... )
I've got some PACE RC36's from 1996 ish and they are just as good as any modern fork.
My last bike had Fox 130mm forks from 2005 and they feel no different to my current 2011 bike which has Fox 100mm forks, maybe that is the difference though that I feel like I can ride the same stuff on the 100's and it feels no different to riding the same stuff with 130's...
It depends. My 2004 Pace RC40s had better damping than the 2006 Pikes I replaced them with. However, the Pikes won for stiffness, tunability and reliability. I still have them and they're great.
My 2010 Revelations don't feel that much different to my Pikes aside from being flexier and ligther.
FWIW, I'd check out the Rockshox deals on Merlin. Fox have long since priced themselves out of contention for me.
It depends if by 'better' you mean 'more fashionable.'
Generally yes. My own experience with 2004 & 2011 Fox Talas forks suggest the newer ones are plusher, have much better damping and are stiffer. However my old forks could just be knackered 
I swapped the damper cartridge in a pair of 2005 fox 36 r's for a 2011 RC2 damper cartridge, and there was a definate improvement in damping quality. the only thing that changed was the damping cartridge.
I also have a pair of 2011 36 Talas rlc forks and these feel pretty similar to the 2005 forks with the 2011 damper.
I still run a set of 2006 Fox F100X and can't really notice the difference between those and the latest model...
I've just changed from some 2005 revelations to some 2012 revelations; other than the fact that the newer ones don't pour oil about the place and have all the anodising intact, I'm not sure I can honestly tell the difference between the two when both freshly serviced...
An interesting range of responses there. I suspect my riding falls into the 'can't tell any difference category' I'm probably not good enough to notice any significant improvement.
They have never been serviced, so I might get them done. What sort of improvement would a custom tuning give? I already have a stiffer spring due to being, um large...I could do with a new preload topcap as I managed to round off a bit when installing the spring 
I find it's often to do with how deep your pockets are, not your riding experience, which separates people...
Some people will buy the latest tech, regardless of how much it *may* improve their riding, as they can afford to...
I think that you wont find much improvement if you got another vanilla but if you had a 2005 air fork and changed to a 2011 air fork you would as damping technology has made air folk more spring like (fir the first part of the travel at least).
The standard 2004 or 2005 vanilla with the basic R damping is a very plush and reliable fork. and much less prone to wear on the uppers from my experience of the 3 I've had.
More modern forks will have slightly more sophisticated damping, whether that is of any benefit to you is another matter.
I actually prefer the ride of some of my older forks to the newer ones. I did not get on with a FIT damped Fox at all...
So what tuning shops does everyone recommend? I hear there's one in Edinburgh now...
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