I'm honestly not surprised at all. They were a made in China release, no? Just goes to show the difference in quality...
I just recently started getting into NBs. Are there certain models that are better quality that you would recommend? Or does it have more to do with where it's manufactured, like the made in US/UK? Sorry if that's a silly question.
Could some of the more experienced NB connoisseurs shed some light on the quality and/or comfort of the different models.
It's a little hard to recommend specific models without knowing more about what you're looking for. Overall the quality and comfort level of all NBs is extremely high, but it varies from model to model depending on several factors. I'd say that the quality of made in USA pairs has been the consistently great over the past couple of years, but you can still get comfortable, high quality NBs which were made in the UK or Asia.
You're best bet is probably to follow this thread. People will be very helpful in sharing their thoughts on the quality of various recent releases. If there is a specific pair you're interested in, post it here to see if anyone can offer their input.
I hope that helps!