I could have sworn the Ethiopians ranged from $900 up to $1200, but I may be mis-remembering. I do know they jacked up the price as they sold them and found out that they were in rather good condition. A lot of guys on the FB collectors pages started griping about paying RTI over $1k for a beat up carbine because they had gotten to the bottom of the barrel.
You are probably right. Might have been like $899 when they started. I just remember initially they were “eight hundred” range. I didn’t pay much attention after that because I assumed they were fairly rough and though I’d like another one, I’d rather pay some more and literally hand pick it myself. The family hand-me-down will just have to do for a few more years.