About the domestics, the point is that they were readily available, maybe not in optimal form, but readily availbe nevertheless.
As for the Japan/German items, they were first issued somewhere in the mid-70s as I recall. It's not like if you got into Miles in, say, 1971, you had access to them. They weren't there! Plugged Nickel didn't come out until, when, 76? 77? Granted, I was in an "unusual" environment", but there were a few people who had the connections & the money to get that stuff. Plugged Nickel was the shit that freaked everybody out. Jazz Record Mart was where most people that I know went for them (this was before the internet & free long distance, so there was, uh....investment involved in the whole process). At one point, there was a waiting list!
I'll tell you what domestic Columbia got kinda hard to find as time went by - the original Carnegie Hall album. Never understood that, as I much preferred it over the Blackhawk sides. Still do.