Love the "base XC "/ "Race XC" plans. Nambotin pricing is stratospheric, and despite his incredible riding skills for the majority of American riders Nambotin is just some foreign dude they've never seen race - drop it but keep the parts available.
Here's the golden nugget - an electric start 200 with a heavy flywheel, 9-10 inches of travel and shorter brake pedal and shifter, along with either adjustable levers or levers sized for smaller hands. The e-start could be removed to save weight and reduce flywheel effect, the suspension could be opened up to full travel, and the controls could be swapped out for "full size" if the need arose (or the rider grew).
It can cost as much (or nearly so) as a base XC but will open up the brand to kids/wives/girlfriends/gentlemen of smaller stature that are not being served with honest-to-goodness dirt bikes. There are lots of potential riders who are forced onto a) bikes too big, b) bikes too small, or c) lousy, overweight, old-tech bikes (eg. TTR250, CRF230) due to the lack of legitimate alternatives.
My 0.03 - it's Christmas after all