You don't need any of that crap to actually play or even be good. Blue dungeon gear/heirlooms/BG crate gear will make you 99% as good as anybody else. BFA has been set up to be extremely lenient on "twinking"... just get engineering/alchemy and make sure your items are the max level and enchanted... done.
Is a hillborne axe BiS? Sure it is... is an heirloom sword 99% as good... yes.
And if you want to go even more full nerd you just get all your Darkmoon/end game Draughts and drink up before all BGs to really crap on those pugs... again none of which requires you to spend 500k on some sword a greedy kid is trying to sell.
There is only really 1 item/enchant set in the 29s that can't be replicated and that is the parachute cloak with the super agility enchant on it... that is a HUGE advantage... and it is noticeable on glass cannon builds... everything else tho.. meh... even items like Cloak of Rot/Black Widow Band... they are easily replaced with items with primary stat and versatility.