Tape drives are really picky compared to HDDs: they don't like it when the environment is too hot, or too cold, or too humid, or too dry, or too dusty, or with too many vibrations, etc. They're really only meant for datacenters with controlled environments. A prosumer version would need additional engineering for environmental tolerance that the enterprise ones don't have, and end up costing more, not less, especially with the tiny markets involved.

It kinda blows my mind that every tape drive I've seen disassembled seems to make no attempt to filter the air.

As a nerd that formerly had a DDS4 drive it's tempting to get an older LTO drive, but sadly I can't expect it to survive for long in a house full of cat hair.

And it's kinda maddening because it can't be all that hard to have some filters.

Maybe so but my consumer priced 3d printer has this for my filament.

Tape drives were a thing in an enormous number of companies and offices, all over the world, prior to the last decade. Even now, loads have them.

They're not only used in such controlled environments, but yes, they are pickier.