You cannot beat an analog multimeter for checking small DC motors. Using the ohm Rx1 scale, you can immediately see if the motor has dead spots (shorts and opens) at various angles by how much the meter jumps around. Shoot, you don't even need to turn the motor shaft by hand to check it too as most analog VOMs will spin the motor. It will even tell you if the bearings are binding. To a less extent, peaking or adjusting for a null is a little better on an analog meter. But yes, for every thing else, you cannot beat modern DVM.?
And yes I am a gray beard -- that is if I didn't shave everyday.
there was a thread somewhere in the forum regarding analog (gauge) vs digital (numeric) meters
i also was born long after the digital meters revolution, however in high school we only used analog meters for measurements labs.
it gave us a better understanding on how to perform measurements, where are the errors, how to take account for them.
plus, as you say an analog meter WILL give you an indication of the ""scability"" of the parameter to be measured. That's why we still use analog pressure gauges at work, it's immediate to see if there is oscillation due to pressure too high, not so easy with only a readout.