JeffT: What did he need an initial print of 100 copies for?
I was thinking the same. If he wanted to offer some for sale through the crowdfunding campaign, I guess I can understand that. But he spoke of "what I need." Not a tier where you get a limited-edition first-printing, just a request to cover the print costs. He should be embarrassed that he tried to justify asking for gas money and for people to cover the cut that Indiegogo and PayPal would take.
Especially when -as you noted- Amazon already provides everything he would need to get the book printed and sold, at a minimal upfront cost to him. But if he had chosen that option, he probably would have started a crowdfunding campaign to ask people to donate to cover his internet connection costs.