"But, then again, some were also being "dumped" right here in the US."

Boy oh boy...., have you got that right John. I'm sorry to say that most of the prices in my Puerto Rico catalog that was published in 1999 (sold out for the past year) was once thought to be fairly accurate are now overpriced. On the other hand, many of the price references published back in 1999 are way underpriced today. The trick is determining which are which. Many chips that several U.S. based collectors paid $35@ over three years ago, are now avaiable in bulk for a fraction of that price today. Many of the same issues turn up on Ebay fairly regularly.