Hi Jake, correct, that was to be the deal with the anniversary set.
I agree with you, I find it irritating that Built to Order doesn't even mean you will actually receive a physical product that you ordered through any means.
It's one thing for phosphorescent orange to show up on Milwaukee Roads, misspelled road names that contain the name of a state in the Union, promised detailing to make items unique gets struck. I get it, things happen. But not being able to actually deliver a product to a known quantity of buyers seems to be a new level of loss in any resemblance of being a manufacturer. They weren't 'guessing' or 'forecasting' how many to make. They knew...
It really makes me question any commitment they will have when the dust settles once it is understood what will happen with MTH. (I'm going to miss their product if or when it goes away). I fear the lack of any competition will further erode the big one left standing. There just doesn't seem to be much attention to detail now as the BTO business model is showing signs of becoming haphazard in execution. I guess they are not happy, until we are not happy! 
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How about good faith to the customer base to deliver on commitments, even if later. Not just offer a cursory discount that is less than what they advertise as the retail price of the free bits. They should spend more time engineering their product requirements, QC, and the supply chain and less time engineering their message. A very good friend of mine from days gone by used to say, if we all keep telling the same lie, it will be truth. I guess if it works for politics and big businesses, it works for the nitch companies too. That's just sad. It was special order, limited quantity, never to be made again, order now! Oh, but it only applies to a few of you who order, we didn't really mean 'All' of you, sorry...
It doesn't help they are owned by an equity firm, and I get this too, they are about 'equity', not about instilling confidence into your customer base regardless of the size, or keeping promises, or to promote and grow any of the business. It's about money, not the product. It's just return on investment, which equates to death by a thousand cuts. Does an L in LLC stand for laughable? 
I keep thinking Hot Water may have the right idea, as painful and sad as that makes me feel. On a side note, my grandfather worked for "Missiouri Pacific" as a sheet metal worker in St. Louis. He bought a 700E in the late 30's, which my Dad now has. This hobby has been my thing too for a very long time.
