Without judging whether 9500 was too many to make, one of the reasons we see items selling below retail was rampant speculation. Collectors buying extras - even a dozen Thomas Points, expecting to make it big when the secondary market took hold.

But too many people held extras. My 1997 analysis of why Point Arena wasn't selling for more (too many sellers) holds for most of the other ones today. There's no 'scarcity' when there are lots of sellers.

ebay has made everyone with a PC a seller.