Indeed, stripped IIfxs started at almost ten grand and could easily go up to $20,000! They were targeted to people and organizations that probably recouped their investment pretty quickly, though... About ten or twelve years ago, I found a IIfx at my local university surplus store for $40 -- still worked! Later, with some parts gleaned from another one I got for around $25, I was able to make a computer that I always wanted and which would have cost me close to $20,000 less than a decade earlier... It was quite a rush.
People often criticize Apple for pricing, but there were no really cheap computers twenty years ago, at least not any that were pleasant to use. Plus, they did alter their pricing as time went by: A IIci started at nearly $7,000 in 1989, but by 1993 you could get one, brand new, for under a thousand. One doesn't see a lot of other vendors going to those lengths to ease consumer burden, that's for sure!
http://www.lowendmac.com/profiles.htm
The above website has a nice collection of machine profiles, many of which feature the original prices.
A.