You make a fair point, not all cordovans are made equal. Over the years I have found a 1.8mm or more cordovan face from AAE (Elite or KSL) lasts pretty much forever with no breakdown. I think AAE are all Horween. Black Mamba Venom, W&W and Axcel also seem very high quality.
I didn’t much like the FIVICS cordovan - my saker was stiff and thin but I think it varies a lot- as can be witnessed by the number of people who love Sakers! Maybe I just got a duff - in medium and large
Japanese Cordovan (Shibuya) must come with a free massage and a pint at that price.
Cheap cordovan loses the surface and often cracks (SF and other Chinese made tabs) - but sometimes shoots well.
Some coloured cordovan, even Horween, seems to lose the surface finish when used for a tab - so shoots inconsistently. Avoid blue it sucks big time.
My original Roo faces are now quite thin. The face surface is still fine but the cushioning is gone. So I’ve had them quite a while and they maybe have 1 year of high volume shooting so say 500 per week/25,000 per year. So it is not expensive to replace and two (or 3) new faces will take about a day to shoot in. The cordovan will take weeks.
If you don’t need cushioning (so probably hook clear of the joints) then they are fine. BUT I doubt they will last as long as a 2mm cordovan.
Stretch