there's always this misconception that the Highway1 is a dud guitar- it's not. (lousier materials? hmm... where did you read that from?) the H1 guitars are american with non-american hardware & electronics. in fact, the neck of the H1 guitars are actually initial left-overs of the now superseded American Standard models.
the finish is a love/ hate affair as it lacks the final 'gloss' lacquer, Fender calls it a 'satin' coating (thin acrylic lacquer actually), very thin material, dings easily. the idea came off the original Rory Gallagher/ SRV guitars (among others) which sounded very resonant because the bodies were virtually worn down to the bare wood. many people dismiss the H1 series because of the quirky finish, sadly they also equate this as being 'lousy'...
the philosophy behind the H1 series is summed up aptly as: Everything you need, nothing you don't. while the H1 series are good guitars per se, they're still a notch below what the American Series has to offer.
coming back to the Mex models- there's no doubt that these are proving their worth today. i'm not too keen on the Standard, i'm more into the Classic series which are fantastic replica of the bygone-era Fenders (the '70s reissue gets my thumbs up, way up!!)
at the end of the day, you choose, we are here merely to recommend 8)
US tele: American Series $1,600+ (approx)
)... isnt it more worthwhile to get a mex tele std rather than a highway 1 US which is made of lousier materials? i dun think the mex quality is far off from the US versions.. how bout a US tele list price?? 
