That $129 price is a clearance of discontinued stock. The regular price on that model was something like $299 when they were getting produced. So from that standpoint, it's a fantastic deal. Actually a better deal than I got on mine, I bought mine at $149, the $129 price was for the 3-9x versions.
I bought 2 of the Nikon Buckmaster 4-12x40mm BDC's, plus 2 of the 3-9x40's.
I have multiple other Buckmaster models also.
The difference I can see - my other Buckmaster models are finger-click turrets and side focus parallax, the 4-12x40 & 3-9x40 BDC models are fixed parallax and have the "coin click" adjustments. I think the sale prices are fair value on the Buckmaster BDC models, as the enhanced turrets and side focus upgrades on my "standard" buckmasters would typically account for the difference in price that I paid for them ($300-400 each, vs. $150).
I just checked, all of my Buckmasters are Philippine made. That doesn't hurt my feelings at all - put it beside a Leupy VX-2, 1, or Rifleman, and I've gone with the Nikon Buckmasters more often than not (and I do own Leupy VX2's to compare against).
EDIT: I'll give a bit of feedback on my experience with light transmission, since I saw that noted above as a marketed benefit. I frequently shoot at a local 100yrd indoor range that is VERY dark. The Nikon Buckmasters 4-12x40mm BDC isn't any brighter on that range than my other Buckmaster models, and I can't say that it's much brighter than any other brand that I've shot there. I shot it side by side on Saturday with a cheap $150 Bushnell AR 3-9x40mm (Chinese, vs. Japanese on the upper end Bushnells) in this dark range, and I can't say that it was hugely brighter - giving the caveat here that I've always found Bushnell products to be quite good for light transmission. I also shot two 50mm objective, 30mm tube scopes beside the Nikon 4-12x40mm, the transmission on the larger scopes was obviously much better.