I use to design for one of those Christmas and Halloween village companies, and the factory in HK was always falling behind, and sometimes (often) items scheduled for the current holiday season would end up being rescheduled for the next...
Would not be surprised if this is completely out of the hands of SSC and more a factory production issue. I went to the one of the factories in HK to oversee a production line (not SSC) and you all would be amazed.. the level of artisan-ship ranges from brilliance to sheer horror. I bet SSC has their hands full with QC. You really have to consistently stay up on it. So many things can go wrong.
Most of my pre-ordered items seldom ever show up when advertised... I just expect when they do for prices between $299-$1000 that they are defect free.