Quoted from RTR:Why? LE's are now exactly the same as premiums minus some cosmetic differences. That certainly hasn't caused the LE market to wither.
This is exactly right. Stern's stated business practice is to sell LE and Pro models then come out with a Premium if demand is high enough... and the availability of a Premium doesn't devalues the LEs. Tron Premium fits both the VE and Premium business model... just as IMVE was the most perfect Pro VE, Tron VE Premium is the most perfect Premium VE, will outsell SMVE.
ACDC Premium didn't devalue LTBR and BIBLE (aka LE). SMVE is a Premium game which didn't devalue SM Black (aka: LE). If you still have doubts, remember the ability to put LE quality ramp lighting on a Tron Pro has been around for years, and it has not affected Tron LE pricing, nor LE sales (GBLE sold out).
In fact I'm not sure I can think of a single case where pricing pricing of one model impacts pricing of other models... and certainly not LEs which have a hard limit. A Tron VE Premium would be different than Tron LE, by at least armor, translite, and maybe cabinet art (the difference between SM and SMLE). Remember Stern released a second MET Premium model, JJP introduced a second WOZLE... and surprise, no adverse impact on owners or market pricing in either case. IMVE did kill the Pro market but it was an identical Pro model and Stern doubled the original manufacturing run.