For anyone curious, Jason Lee has been one of the top pipe makers for many, many years now. According to his glasspipes.org page, he has been working borosilicate since 1994, and has been known as a perfectionist, and a cutting edge artist and technician for many of those years. Jason Lee is one of, if not the, most talented glass artists out there, hands down. His prices may seem extreme to those who don't appreciate truly high end glass, but the demand among collectors is there, as shown by his ability to sell a doubler for 5 grand. The techniques applied in that bubbler particularly are incredibly complex and time consuming, and achieved perfectly. Almost the entire piece is window'd sections, and constructed masterfully.
AK's work as well, while not for everyone, is EXTREMELY time consuming and technically complicated. His style is not always appreciated, but his abilities to layer sections upon sections with some of the finest millies made are certainly not common.
Like anything, you get what you pay for. With truly high end glass, the differences may not be immediately apparent, but the build quality and style will be truly superior.