I would have a little problem believing this statement.
By the way, they invented the roller cam years ago. I am prettys sure they make their own cams.
I will agree and disagree that he Herbert name is a long time old name in racing cams. It is Chet Herbert, Not Doug Herbert was around and in business about as long as anyone in the industry. There were several that seems like almost sprung up into the cam business near the same time in racing history.
I did use a Chet Herbert cam years ago in a mild modified stick shift Mopar because the owner already had it and the specs were ok for what we were building. The car ran great for what it was, but no way to compare it to anything else.
I would not be scared to use a Herbert cam in a budget engine, but I would also be doing it, with awareness of that it would not be state of the art in design, or machining accuracy.
As far as saying they can sell for less because of lack of advertising expenese I would not pay much attention to. Herbert does advertise heavily in some pretty expensive publications with thier lines and sales adds. They are not advertisiong any of their single products like cams though.
Some of the strongest drag racing engines and even Pro Stock engines are being done by cam companies that do not advertise and are not well known by anyone except those involved in serious engines. Their costs are not advertisiong. It is all aspects of the material costs including all the heat treating, The unbelievable high cost of the cam grinding equipment now in use that can produce fully accurate cams in their completed state.
LOng and short is if you are budget challanged and do not need latest technology lobe designs, go for the Herbert, Howards, etc. and enjoy it.
Ed