They weren't even in the bookstore yet when I was in college.

Same here. I think I rented from a store that sold typewriters and the like.

One of my classmates had an HP-45. Think he paid around $400. He could do 3x3 matrix calculations faster than the physics departments programmable calculator (a beast with a nixie tube display).

I bought an HP-41C a few years later for about the same price. I didn't have to wait because I knew someone who worked at the calculator division and he set me up with a card reader and a half dozen modules. My co-workers were envious because the wait was 9 months. I let some of them play with it for awhile. Sadly, it didn't work the last time I tried to use it...

 

I trashed my SR-51 years ago. They were terrible on battery packs longevity and replacements were not cheap. My dad paid $250 for his, I got mine for $180 a few months later and about a year after dad bought his my brother paid $100. It did have a wallwart but it was only for charging the battery and if the battery was dead it was of no use.