I used to be more of a believer in HM oils (with personal success at slowing leaks) before the bulk of them switched over to SN/GF-5. To make matters worse, HM oils specials are a lot less common than they were in the past. So, you'll usually see a conventional on special, and a synthetic on special, and then the HM version being more than the synthetic because it got left out.
I can't remember the last time I saw MaxLife on special. It's to the point up here that it's really not affordable. It's over $30 a jug, and SynPower goes cheaper every once in a while, and Valvoline conventional goes much, much, much cheaper on occasion.