Hey 
!
I totally get your point ! Indeed over-complicating things is one of the fun aspect of rigging ! I try to think simpler now and put the energy where it’s needed but it takes me a while to get there. That doesn’t prevent things to break but at least it break less often …
Here is a rig breakdown, I think I’ll do other breakdowns covering other aspects of the project and latter put them together in a shorter video.
There is also a props rig demo on my vimeo page :
Feel free to asks if you have any questions or suggestions, I’m happy with the result, but still I’m aware that there is room for improvements.