I live in a desert and "our" lake is Elephant Butte in south-central New Mexico. There are many there with MVs specifically for the sand, used to pull 5th wheel trailers. Most are 5 tons. Some deuces. I have not seen a single LMTV for that out there. You also do not see bobbed trucks pulling trailers.
The 6x6 trucks do great out in the sugar sand pulling trailers. However, most of these trucks are stored close to the lake eliminating the need to highway drive very far.
I use our Deuce the same place VPed does, elephant butte. There are TONS of deuces, 5 tons, an M1070, etc down there to haul 5th wheels thru the sand, load boats on the beach, etc. There is ONE LMTV down there, but it is the crane/wrecker version and I have only seen it on the beach one time, using the crane portion to lift the front of a 5th wheel up that fell off the jacks after a big rain/wind storm.
The deuce/5ton's do work good when dragging a lot of weight, BUT...if you are just wanting to run around on a beach empty, they aren't that impressive. I have a few normal lake trucks and running around empty they work better. I have an 04 dodge cummins with beadlocks and 37" toyos, and aired down to ~14/10 f/r psi, it will go places my deuce will not go (empty, of course). I also leave 2 70's power wagons there one on 39's the other on 31's...and they work just fine aired down as well. I honestly leave my deuce in storage unless I need it. I do not use it as my normal lake truck, because its rough, pain to drive, expensive to fix, a PAIN to get unstuck when you get it stuck, etc.
But, when I hook it to my motorhome, boat, 5th wheel...etc, the deuce will pull it all better thru the sand. The 5 tons work even better. The M1070 is impressive with anything hooked behind it.
I guess it really depends on what you want to use it for. Empty beach cruising, its an expensive novelty. Dragging stuff thru the sand it becomes more useful.