Scott - I have always enjoyed meeting you and trading with you for the Reno strikes I need and I know you don't play games with your auctions. Everything you point out in your post is true and some collectors will pay what it takes to get the limited mintage strikes.
The online catalog shows a mintage of 500 for the orange version and I would thing that might be the mintage for the blue version. It would seem Sams Town figures colorized clads will still get collectors to play and they don't have to pay for a .999 red cap. Perhaps they will come out with more Red Cap .999 strikes and another $300, only time will tell.
Walt