Same with me with the Black Seas Barracuda (the huge pirate ship from the nineties) – they kept it generally available for a long time, far longer than most sets, but right as I was making enough in my first job to be able to really spare the money (and was actually toying with the idea of buying it) they discontinued the set for good and prices rose into the sky pretty much overnight.

Both your comments make me want to dive into the storage space where I have all the bricks from the sorter project to see if I can come up with those sets. Bookmarked for when I have more time.