It sounds a bit like you want to have your first customers bear your entire initial costs (500 * 88 is over $40k). This is great if you can swing it seems very unlikely if you price yourself entirely beyond what people are used to paying for a monthly print magazine. I think it also cuts out any potential customers who might be willing to pay some non-excessive premium.
There are less blunt instruments than sticker-shocking your entire market - for instance you can offer cheaper print subs and a fancier, Super Platinum Premium Founder's Club version for those who feel like being generous - let's say, 3 years, maybe throw in some advertising space and a mention on a thank you page, etc.
I think this is a reasonable strategy. It's easier to lower prices than to raise them. This is a relatively novel experiment in publishing and as far as I can tell it's totally boot strapped. I'm happy to pay for this essentially "at cost" to participate in the experiment, but I wouldn't be likely to be taken in by a gold star to subsidize other. I think it's ok to try to grow something like this slowly, to buy time to learn without overexposure.
There are less blunt instruments than sticker-shocking your entire market - for instance you can offer cheaper print subs and a fancier, Super Platinum Premium Founder's Club version for those who feel like being generous - let's say, 3 years, maybe throw in some advertising space and a mention on a thank you page, etc.