As much as I hate to because I love our pastels, I have to agree with you. We've had some pastels that were bottomless pits, but in general they do seem to be pickier eaters in my experience. They also seem to take a little longer to get the hang of breeding.
Spiders are the exact opposite in our experience. They are almost always great eaters and are usually great breeders. We've had similar luck with pinstripes. Our mojave female is an insane eater as well.