I have 2 of those cards, didn't pay much for either of them. I would guess that either a collector paid a premium because they have the original box, manuals, and software; or somebody in the music/video business has a setup that uses that card and it broke.

The early AVID systems used that card for audio input, and it was used for DAT quality music as well (protools).

I would not worry about it (nor the Q950 that went for $375 recently) unless they all start to sell at crazy prices every time they are offered.