outside of the mobile space it was the 700 series that last had low end cards.
Not the best series of cards for gaming. They where also losing from AMD cards. Especially R7 260 was a better value and performer than the GTX 750 and just a better value card than the 750Ti. But 750 and 750Ti where and probably for some still are great cards for the HTPC. In 1050Ti's case we don't just have a nice HTPC card, but also a nice and inexpensive gaming card that for now, doesn't have any competition from AMD(I am expecting it much faster compared to the RX 460).
Tha's a XX6 chip comparable with gtx 1060. Price however isn't.
Things have changed from back then. When the 500 series was out, the GTX 580 and GTX 570 where based on the big chip, now GTX 1080 and GTX 1070 are based on the midrange chip. I was saying it for years that Nvidia created the Titan series of cards because it needed to create higher price points. APUs and integrated GPUs where killing the low end market, so Nvidia have to move higher, not so much in performance, as much in price.
The last great boon was what was the GTX 650 Ti Boost ~$170-180. It was a nice card against a less less expensive 7850, though not like a 7870 @ $200.
The problem was the GTX 650 Ti Boost just withered on the vine quickly. Nvidia just had it disappear after the GTX 760 came along 3 months latter (June '13) for $250, Basically conceding the $130-200 space to AMD till the 960 came along Jan '15.
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/2059/geforce-gtx-650-ti-boost
Yes, the Ti Boost was the only card that have come up in my mind also, but it was more expensive than that $139 price point. Also it didn't died because of GTX 760, GTX 760 was much more expensive. It died because in many occasions it was faster not just compared to the GTX 750, but also compared to the GTX 750Ti. The two 750 cards replace three models back then. GTX 650, 650Ti and 650Ti boost. I remember 750Ti in the Greek market being 10-15 euros more expensive compared to the Ti Boost.