IMO, the term "elite genetics" means just about zero on a practical level.
"Elite strains" by definition are desirable strains held by a small number of growers.
The "problem" is that these aren't necessarily truly better than any number of other strains that are commercially available in ceed form, or select phenos of same. Just because a strain is not widely held, doesn't necessarily make it "better" that more readily available ones. In many cases, this is more about a perception of scarcity. . .like rare Beanie babies. . .than truly superior genetics.
In this day and age there is more of a variety of world-class commercially available strains then ever before. Some old school commercial strains are probably still as good as most of the "clone only" stuff (eg Serious AK47), and with the advent of the internet and international seedbanks, anyone with $100 in their pockets can have these ceeds shipped right to their door.
Some of the formerly "elite" clone-only strains are available in excellent ceed version now (eg Williams Wonder, Herijuana, etc). Other strains in ceed form are S1s, direct crosses, and/or backcrosses of the so-called "elite genetics" (eg see Cali Connection, etc), and some of these can be highly similar to the originals, with a bit of pheno hunting.
In addition, any number of formerly "elite" clone-only strains (for example, OG kush, Green Crack, Blue Dream, etc) are not only readily available in many "medical" states, but in some of these you can literally walk into a store and walk out with one for only a few bucks.
Although everyone wants to believe that their "s@$t" is better than everyone elses, I think even with most of these "elite strains" (or more appropriately "elite cuts") its probably not true.
