Haha, If only I had even known about bitcoin back then.
Had you known about Bitcoin back then, you would have thought (like everyone else) that it wasn't worth bidding $50 for smoketoomuch's 10000 BTC.
In 2012, people have exactly the same opportunity as they had back then. If they have $100 to invest, they can buy $100 worth of Bitcoins if they think Bitcoin's value will increase in the future. If the price goes up 500%, the 2012 investor makes exactly the same on their $100 investment as the previous investors would have made if the price went up by the same amount. The number of coins involved is irrelevant - the only thing that counts is the % increase in value.