If you had to rate:

1) Gourmet figs, why & how?
2) Common figs
3) Overrated figs 
4) Bad/poor figs

and 5) the holy grail figs (if you could only preserve 1-3)

Thanks

Let me try:
- There are overrated figs that are bad/poor figa:
- There are Common figs that are gourmet to me;
- I don't have any Holy Grail figs yet.

1) Almost any fig grown in proper conditions picked at peak ripeness.
2-4) Any variety under sub-optimal conditions picked before or after perfectly ripe.

Growing conditions is at least 40% of what makes a fig great, ripeness is at least another 40% and variety is at most 20%.

If you could only preserve a couple of varieties it would have to be some of the highly productive ones like Chicago Hardy, LSU purple or Celeste. I'd rather have 1000 figs that are 8/10 then a dozen that are 10/10. 

Common fig types (and a few san pedro) are the only figs that will ripen in my location Z6 so that is all I grow. 

To me gourmet figs are used in the kitchen and are selected according to many delicious recipes. 
I use frozen and dried figs during the winter and surplus fresh figs during harvest season.

In Niagara figs ripen during July to end of October.  If the figs are allowed to ripen fully with lots of sun and not subjected to adverse effects like heavy rain during harvest season.   They are all absolutely delicious. 
On occasion there is some fig that mostly due to location doesn't ripen properly so then I reduce.

If I had to reduce my collection to 2-3 then I would pick my best fig producers and since that is most of them I have no idea which to choose..lol

Most figs seem to have their own unique essence and qualities.  It really depends on what grows best in your location unless you are willing to provide the ideal growing environment then you have 1,000's of great figs to choose from.
.

Most common figs are Gourmet if they are ripened properly. You get to enjoy a delicious fruit that is not available in your local supermarket.
Overrated figs are the rare varieties. There are no bad/poor figs unless you are growing them in the wrong location or not taking care of them properly. Some varieties are very slow growing while some others are very fussy.
The question to ask, do I want to eat figs or do I want to grow a rare shrub that might produce one or two figs per season. I consider these figs the holy grail figs, since you might never get to eat them.
If I was in your location I would experiment growing one dark fig and one light colored fig in a pot. See what's available locally. 
If I was in Canada,  I would go for an early ripening variety. Remember that if fig trees are kept indoors all year long, they will not produce.

I would agree with all are saying. Even the most common fig can be gourmet. Many of the expensive figs don't work in my area, and they will be common anyway in a few years. Tulip bulbs used to go for thousands of dollars. All gardening is local. Grow what works in your area.

Hi,

1. all - ( except some and that would mainly be because they are not edible to start with and because they are (too) late ripening for your own locales.)
2. Locales dependent. What is common in my yard might be unavailable at your place.
3. I use others saying for selecting the next candidates. I'm my own judge. Anything not well adapted to my locales would be overrated ...
4. Bad selected unknown trees. Well selected strains are always worth the place they use - when adapted to my locales.
5. Holy grail was never found, so still looking forward to find that strain. It keeps my passion for figs at a high level !
So far my best is "healthy Longue d'aout". I have another one or two (unknown seen in gardens) that I'll have to get my hands on ... But some may call it a Brownturkey ... Because some (for marketing purposes) call anything (/any random fig tree) a Brownturkey.

There's loads of hype in figs. To me key the consideration is what works best in the growing zone. Certainly trialing
is fun.

Almost all of my fig trees are first year trees and I ate a number of well ripened mediocre figs last year. However, a few of my trees produced one or two figs that had a distinct sweetness and rich blend of subtle flavors that made them memorable. Since I’m the only one eating these figs (besides the usual army of critters), I would rather have a few remarkable figs spread out over the season than a messy glut of boring fruit all at once that no one wants to eat. Spending hours in the kitchen trying to make junky, fattening sweets like jams and preserves loaded with added sugar is not only a thankless chore and waste of time, it’s a caloric health and diet disaster.

I was thinking yogurt parfaits and home made oven baked pizza or something to accompany high end red wine. We grow regular stuff but for the special stuff. To share with a young love kind of stuff.