"Just not right" according to whom? Whether a shape is right or wrong is usually determined by the eye of the beholder.
You're correct that many freebie and cheap fonts lack hints. That doesn't mean that all cheap(er) fonts lack hints, or that the glyphs in all expensive fonts fit together in the way you would like. In some cases, a heavily-hinted, top-of-the-line typeface is absolutely the way to go. In others, that level of quality is serious overkill and a waste of money.
And being a market leader doesn't automatically mean you're "the best". It just means you're the market leader. I frequently find that lesser known apps are superior to the market leaders (Xara, for example :D) — at least for my purposes.
BTW, if Megafont is too cheap for you, SoftMaker also has its Infinitype collection. www.infinitype.com
[Side note: It seems your perfectionism doesn't extend to grammar. See above quote.;)]