Sales of the "P-P-Panda" on eBay are typically in the $200 to $300 range. Issue price was $85. Mintage was 208.
The statute you cite only applies to cases brought under 17 U.S.C. 1201 or 17 U.S.C. 1202 which are inapposite to this set of circumstances. More specifically, 17 U.S.C. 1201 applies to the circumvention of copyright protection systems and 17 U.S.C. 1202 addresses the integrity of copyright management information. This is neither. The relevant statutes are 17 U.S.C. 504 and 17 U.S.C. 505 that address statutory damages. The application of statutory damages under these sections is restricted by 17 U.S.C. 412: In any action under this title...no award of statutory damages or of attorney’s fees, as provided by sections 504 and 505, shall be made for— (1) any infringement of copyright in an unpublished work commenced before the effective date of its registration; or (2) any infringement of copyright commenced after first publication of the work and before the effective date of its registration, unless such registration is made within three months after the first publication of the work. As I said all along, statutory damages (as opposed to actual damages) are unavailable for any infringement of a distributed work commenced before the effective date of its registration except for when registered within a narrow window after initial distribution into commerce. As for your other points, he could still register and sue for actual damages. No one suggested otherwise. No one disputed that the copyright exists as of the time the work is made, but certain remedies for infringement are severely restricted if the copyright is not promptly registered prior to infringement.
Love them. I've always been partial to art deco design though. Clean lines and angles, slightly abstract. The Amero's are on my list once I get all the other stuff that's on the top of my list. Especially like the bolt thrower. Its like Hercules thowing his dad's bolt back at him