I found it a struggle to get all the items, but who said it was supposed to be easy? I traded hard and ended up with everything I wanted - and that is satisfying to me. Yes, after several years of playing I have amassed a number of resources that I could trade - but isn't that the reward for hard work, and something to aim for at a lower level? I know for many events I was only able to purchase a minimal number of items, and yes, I was jealous of those that got everything, but I knew that one day I would be able to do that too.
I was greatly disappointed with the amount of balls in adventure loot. I purchased a month of premium for the event, as I have done on other events, but with the drop rate as low as it was, it didn't make much difference, and eventwise, premium was a waste of time. Would make me reconsider doing it again.
The collectible achievement was seemingly impossible, but again, who said we had to achieve every achievement? A mixture of stubbornness and pride had me searching for collectibles at odd hours, using fairy dust towards the end as the 1000 seemed less and less likely to get - and what do you know, I got there with a day to spare. I guess it depended on how much you wanted to work for it?