...Of Gradius Ultimate Collection:

http://www.yesasia.com/us/gradius-ultim … /info.html

This seems to be significantly cheaper than the $250 (aka auto insurance payment) that I remember. I'm not sure what the difference is between this and the original "ultimate" collection released awhile back, but if someone could enlighten me on it, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

It's a straight reprint.  The original release was very hard to come by outside Japane because you needed to order from Konami style within Japan.  I bought mine from Otaku.com and paid a hefty markup for it.  Both the original and reprint only cost 12600Y, which is about 160, so the linked price is correct.  I don't think the original was available outside of middleman services or special shops.

Description: GRADIUS ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Category: G MCD
Quantity: 1
Price each: 224.95
Status: Dispatched
---------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------
Complete order
Sub-total: 224.95
Shipping: 9.00
Total: 233.95

Just for the info: The LC-xyz releases are the KonamiStyle-exclusive ones. When popular enough (or Konami has a good day) we get a non-exclusive (GFCA-xyz catalog number) release. VGMdb is full with these examples:
http://vgmdb.net/org/366

Yeah, Otaku marked up the price really high, to the point where it was nowhere close to warranting a purchase unless you had NONE of the soundtracks or was just an avid fan. But it seems that this version (as mentioned) is more accessible to the common folk, and the markup isn't as bad.

The coding system makes more sense now that I take a closer look at it. Thanks a lot for the insight everyone!

PS: What do the initials stand for?

Otaku prices for these items are more or less based on what you would pay when purchasing the same item through one of the various japanese middleman services. Plus some "convenience" fee...