i don't think it's fair to point to the Ripper II or the Novoselic RD; the pickups aren't the reason those haven't sold well.
WRT the RD, yeah, kinda IMO. Though he did have a Standard, both he (and later Grohl, though it was a 6 banger he was rocking) used the Artist versions a lot of the time. In that light, it is actually a bad product, and not even close to being as advertised since Novoselic doesn't use it (and currently isn't playing in a band.... at that that gig with McCartney he was using a vintage Standard not the Sig bass for chrissakes!!!). Anyway, they already reissued (modern interpretations of) the pups for the G3, why couldn't they have put those in the RD - the only difference with the vintage ones was the cover colour anyway - vs the same/similar J pups you find on any non-bottom-of-the-barrel Fender copy?
The RD, especially the Artist, has a very religious following (even despite Nirvana's mild help). A local band that just got signed to Geffen uses them, for example, and demand for vintage RD Artists has been constant on ebay since before I bought mine (they now sell consistently for over 1.5K vs closer to 1K when I bought mine a few years ago; the bound CMT ones going for even more than that; the demand is undeniably there).
The Ripper has a following, but not as dedicated (i.e. the RD Artist is a main / exclusive player for many of it's fans, kinda like TBirds, vs the Ripper which tends to just be another horse in the stable). But with the Ripper (even more so than with the RD, Standard or Artist) the pups are one of the things that fans of the vintage instrument really love; a standout feature.