I bought 75 BTC @ ~6$ to buy my first set of video cards to mine. I've been mining ever since and have withdrawn BTC in the 4 digit range from mining pools. My cost of entry would send you into a jealous fit. I actually provide a service to support the network and spend BTC in the BTC economy. I'm not here looking for dumb or fresh money to line my own pockets with. It's people like you that are the problem with the world; right up there with those on Wallstreet who think: Fuck em' I got mine!
I call BS!
There is no way you mined 1000+ BTC with $450 of GPU's starting in 2012 (I was there, and I know what it took to mine a coin). I see only two possible contradictions to my statement:
1) You spent nearly every BTC you mined (as the difficulty rose), on more GPU's to stay productive. In this scenario, you now have very few BTC and a LOT of dusty, wore out cards. Not the best approach.
-OR-
2) You got one of the first ~10 ASIC's off the line. In which case you would have been better off solo mining. We know this isn't the case since you aren't Mr. Gornick or that douche-bag gigaVPS.