Should have discussed a price cap or communicated about the gift exchange! How were they supposed to know you were going all out? You can’t judge someone for getting you a gift when you got them something better. Like they really didn’t ask for all of that!

It was your decision to go all out on gifts. YDI

Unless your friend's "various" gifts included a hentai t-shirt, you came out way ahead!

(1) You should have had a better understanding of the expected costs for these gifts. That would probably have avoided the whole “problem”… (2) You cannot buy friends. Don’t go all out to impress your friends. If you really wanted something specific you could have spent a more reasonable amount on your friends and bought yourself what you really wanted… When we are children most of the things we want, we get from our parents and grandparents often as gifts. That makes birthday gifts seem really important. When we are adults we usually work to earn the money we need to buy the things we need. This is the way of the world, as far as I know. As we go through young adulthood, we have to readjust our expectations.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.