Got to admit I was thinking that. I'm fairly confident that if a retailer placed an order 3 months ago, then they'd be getting one tomorrow. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. However, if they tried to order one this morning, then maybe it's not a huge shock if there weren't any available.
It's a problem throughout the RC industry. Cars need testing, so they get seen by the public eventually. As soon as something has been seen, the public wants to know when they can have one - so the manufacture takes their best guess. It's not until lots of things have been signed off that you can place orders for manufacture. The vast majority of RC companies has at least some parts made in the Far East as customers demand their products as possible, and this ultimately gives potential for some delays. Remember it only needs one part to be delayed (no matter how small), and you can't sell kits to the general public.
The team sometimes get their kits early, and sometimes these kits aren't quite right / have something missing / not quite right. I've had a few kits over the years that have something that isn't good enough to sell to the general public, but is ok for a team driver than can "make do" until the correct parts arrive. I have no idea if this happened with the SX3, it's just a point that might be worth noting for anyone who is wondering why the team can sometimes have kits a few weeks in advance of general release.
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Matthew White
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