While they would be far less exciting without either one of the life gain or the persist (but still having a 4 life gain) the Finks would still be a cube worthy powerful monster
By effectively doubling the black mana output of your swamps, Cabal Coffers allows you to surge ahead of opponents, bringing a significant level of power to decks that invest heavily in this color
So, we are ideally using the ability on artifacts other than our thopters
You can force your opponent to lose up to three life - it may sound super-corner-case, but it really hasn't been
It gathers pricing, recognizes different printings, and has a simple scanner to make budget deckbuilding fun and accessible
Over the years, Magics design philosophy evolved, and creatures came into fashion, including even, eventually, in Vintage