"ask the collector who paid $2700 for a Coquille or $5000 for a CH1"

fools, fools, fools

We are talking a $40 piece of painted resin here.

If they were that foolish , so be it. Some people have money to throw away. It's their choice, but that doesn't mean that the piece is really worth that much. Only a very few people would spend that much and that does not make for a market price.