This fig was first shown three years ago - it's nice to see people remember it and still want it so much.
It also calls into question this whole idea that HT previews figs to gauge fan interest. This fig got a ton of love right from the get go, and reappears on here frequently, and when it does, it gets a lot of posts. And there aren't many places globally where a company can evaluate fan interest in a possible 1/6 figure - this site would certainly be in the top 5 places for a company like HT to do that. So if HT is interested in gauging interest, you'd think they'd see it here.
My guess is the figure was associated with Solo in HT's eyes and was seen as a second-tier release after the Han and new troopers, but when they cut the scene where the DSTs were prominently seen, and the movie then underperformed, they got rid of the planned second tier and DST in particular. Yet... you'd think if Howard was the SW superfan everyone seems to think he is, he'd know this figure is very much an iconic OT figure that's much in demand.
Not much about HT's decisions make a whole lot of sense - they never produce stuff that everyone knows would be strong sellers (even big items like the Falcon cockpit) and yet produce bizarre protos like the power droid that you'd think would be so obviously niche as to be barely worthy of making a proto for. It's super frustrating that in an era where companies have lovefests with their customers via social media, that both SSC and HT remain total mysteries.