Did Yashica produce a great new SLR or did they miss the mark…

Yashica started making the Pentamatic in small numbers in December 1959 and appeared to have enough made to release into the marketplace by the May-June 1960 time period. I have proof (finally) that the Pentamatic model I and model II were available in the Japanese domestic market for around ¥34,800 for the model I and ¥37,300 for the model II. Not quite sure why the big change in price other than they made a price adjustment to cover the costs of manufacturing and marketing. Even the simple leather case went up in price by ¥200. The original list price was $159.95 in the US with another $12.95 for the leather case. By the January 1961 issue of Modern Photography, the Pentamatic was reduced quite drastically by some camera dealers in New York. Why the drastic sell off? 

By January 1961, some pretty strong discounts.