Same questions here. Would love to have someone's opinion. I love the look of the Platinum series BS but hate the hefty $$$ tag.

Is the BS 36" RCS worth the extra $$$? Or is the BS Platinum series
worth the extra $$$$? Might be. Might not be. Depends on your
preferences, interests and budget. There is no objective scale for these
things.

Basically, the NXR is the budget choice for a 36" pro-style range with all that "budget" implies. I've often said that the NXRs look to me like knock-offs of the old Wolf "A" model of all-gas residential range from the early 1980s. Search for older comparisons of Wolf to Blue Star from a decade or so ago. One might now say that the differences are between "very good" (Blue Star) and "good enough" (NXR). That probably sums up everything you need to know.

A few random additional comments.

You mention being attracted to pro-style open burners versus sealed dual-stack burners. That is an endless debate with tons of postings here going back a decade. If you have not already done so, do a search. You will find as much and probably more than you ever wanted to read about the views of those who are passionate about pro-style open burners, those who are indifferent, those who are fine with sealed burners, and those who won't have open burners regardless.

Cleaning? The BS has a mostly cast-iron top. Some like the look. Some do not. Some think it is easy to clean. Some think it never looks clean. Some think assembly and dissassembly is snap. Some find it onerous. One thing: you don't worry about scratching the cast iron top.

The top of the NXR is a series of stainless panels. With seams. The seams are mostly covered by the burner grates. Cleaning the top is mostly a matter of spray-on cleaner and a microfiber cloth. Sometimes you need Barkeeper's Friend. The panels can be dissassembled for more complicated cleaning but that requires dismounting the oven vent/backsplash. The stainless top will scratch. If you demand everything always look pristine, like nobody ever used it, the scratches will drive you crazy.

The Blue Star oven is much larger than the NXR's oven (taller, deeper, wider). It comes with three oven racks which seem to be heftier than the NXR's. You get three racks with the BS and two with the NXR. You can put a full size commercial sheet pan in the Blue Star oven and you can put two half-sheet pans side by side on its shelves. The projection of the NXR oven's convection fan housing is enough to keep you from doing either. (Whether or not this matters to you depends on whether you plan on making full-size sheet cakes or truly massive numbers of cookies, biscuits, etc. Judging by the postings I've seen here over the years, seems like numbers of people who buy 36" ranges also have separate wall ovens. So, the oven size may or may not matter to you, anyway.)

Blue Star is made in the US by Prizer-Painter in Pennsylvania. Blue Star has a bigger market share. As you will find from searching postings here, there have been problems with service and support. and some people still seem to encounter issues and difficulties. That said, Prizer Painter has a longer history and a bigger and better support systems with a better reputation for warranty, support and parts availability than NXR.

The NXR brand is owned by Duro, a California corporation which is just an importer. The actual manufacturer is Hyxion in China. Many of the NXR's replaceable or repairable components (oven ignitors, burner ignitors, gas valves, burner assemblies etc.) are readily available as generic or OEM parts. Warranty service and support have been uneven (and sometimes atrocious) as you will find from postings here.

You can get NXR ranges from Costco.com with the full refund satisfaction guarantee so you don't have to mess with restocking fees, warranty service issues, shipping damage or just plain not liking the stove. The catch is that you have to take it back to Costco yourself. Only Costco Canada offers the 30" and 36" Blue Stars.

If your fuel will be propane, you order Blue Stars set-up for propane. For NXRs, the dealers can sell you a conversion kit. Some will charge you a couple hundred dollars to do it for you.

The NXR comes with a backsplash/vent/rear guard. You pay extra for an "island trim" for installing in a kitchen island. Blue Star charges for both.

Friends of mine have had a 36" NXR since 2009 and had nary a problem. I've had my 30" for three years. The oven ignitor recently wore out on mine. I got an off-the-shelf generic replacement for about $38. Took about 15 minutes to install, mostly because I hadn't done it before. Now, it would be five minutes. Blue Stars look to be just as easy to work on.