we live in a market economy, which means information exchanged within it is imperfect, because markets are highly inefficient as a way to set prices - they're really the worst conceivable way to set prices. these were essentially custom-built guitars made by a famous composer/guitarist in japan in the 70s to emulate famous american guitars from the 60s. they were expertly crafted guitars made of good wood and custom-built to meet high-end specs - much like the lawsuit guitars of the era. so, in a real sense, these are the japanese equivalents of a jimmy page signature les paul, or an srv signature stratocaster - and japanese guitarists will recognize this name very quickly, even if north americans have never heard of him. you could not have a reversed scenario, because america is the hegemon, and there would be no famous american guitarists that the japanese are unaware of.
so, if americans had the information that the japanese have, they would price these guitars very high, as they would be seen as high end replicas of the american models they're emulating. they are copies, but they're good copies. unfortunately, because very few were made, americans do not have that information, and are left to rely on stereotypes about "japanese guitars", instead.
to put it tersely, these guitars are frequently absurdly underpriced, because americans harbour a peculiar sort of racism about japanese instruments.
you'll see that here - they come in at very high numbers, by people that understand what they have. it seems like they seem to come down, though, as the market doesn't recognize the quality.
so, they're frequently underpriced....but you can see what people think they ought to be worth.
