Gibson is a master of perceived product exclusivity. They take very basic guitars and guitar-related products, add a certificate of authenticity and special packaging, then charge a premium for them. Great marketing scheme!
They aren't alone however. Throbak is similar, offering high prices due to their p'ups being wound on the old Leesona, Slug 101, KZLP and Meteor 101 pickup winding machines. Great pickups...but very pricey.
Also, PRS is notorious for producing high cost, exclusives on their products. Remember the 57/08 pickups? Great pickups, but they were offered at a premium price along with special packaging back in the day. At least they are still available at reasonable prices!
My only beef with Gibson is that they only offered a limited amount of these new "59 Humbucker Collector Edition" pickups.