One of the reasons I prefered so far to obtain a cat from a breeding line from one owner is because I can ask this breeder questions of what might be hidden in the kitty as the breeder knows this line very well and bred the kitties over a longer period of time and knows the eventual surprises.
I'm not sure if that is elitish because, and I take a recent example, I wanted to obtain the Tapestry Organica eye but I didn't need an ody belini hidden because I owned that eye already.
If I obtain the Tapestry Organica eye by the initial breeder he/ she can tell me if something more recessive was hidden etc. etc.
A lot of money can go around in kitty traits and I just don't like surprises so much certainly not if it was a costy trait.
It isn't to say I will never obtain a cute kitty with more than one owner in the pedigree but when it comes to spending more than say 1000L I start to be wary because I want to make sure I obtain what I think I obtain.
An open pedigree visable for everyone would make that so much easier because we can just know what is hidden in a cat and ask the breeder of a cat questions.