Bobcat may have been king in terms of sales, but I don't see how they could every have possibly been the best.  Even comparing to a machine many years older, a New Holland would eat a Bobcat for lunch.   Much better hydraulic and hydrostat performance and you can actually load a truck with a NewHolland.   When we rented a bobcat, it seemed to me that the only place you could put dirt was in the cab....once you raised the boom you couldn't reach anything. 

Vertical path is the only way to go.