The 500 vs. 1000 is an example of there being a smaller supply but if the demand is less than 500 it doesn't matter, in either case the chip is going to be readily available. In my opinion one of the problems with LEs, as far as hoping to get your money out of your collection, is there are a lot more people collecting current LEs than there are that are trying to go back and get the older LEs. The current LE collectors are the reason there are so many LE dealers but the lack of folks trying to collect every older LE is the reason it may be hard to get your money back out of a large LE collection. (your mileage may vary )