While not topping $300m like Iron Man, early reports indicate that Instinct sales numbers are the best ever for a Sprint handset. A select group of current Sprint customers were offered an early upgrade option, with rebates intact, and apparently a number of them were takers.

In addition, a group of individuals who signed up on the Instinct’s pre-release Web site received exclusive pre-release purchase emails to get the device early.  Somebody got a bit over-anxious and sold offered to sell their pass on eBay.

The numbers I’m hearing for Instinct sales are in the 10k-20k range, which is pretty good. This bodes well not only for Sprint in terms of device sales but because the Instinct requires a customer sign up for at least a $69.99/mo plan, means that these customers will be paying a higher-than-average monthly rate for at least 2 years.  Don’t get me wrong, $70 isn’t bad for what it gets you and is certainly comparable to AT&T’s requirement for the iPhone 3G.

As “official” or updated sales numbers are released I’ll update this post.  Needless to say it appears to be an early victory for the Instinct.