Thanks for the head's up, JKNO. I did take some time yesterday to check out the options but the main problem for me is I was just not prepared for the purchase. If I'd come across some of the eFX info a year ago or so, I'd have put the money aside, but as it is, I've $650.00 worth of preorders already with Sideshow, in addition to some other purchases coming up, so the TIE's just not in the cards at the moment (I live in Canada, also, so I'd have to throw an additional $350.00 onto the price with shipping, brokerage, duty and tax). Think I'll start putting some money away now for the inevitable Slave I announcement. Not as iconic to me as the TIE, but would be a nice piece to get in 2 - 3 years.
Out of the four places I checked that still have the TIE up for preorder, though, BBTS was the most tempting. $150.00 non-refundable deposit and the rest due once it's in stock. IIRC, all the rest didn't have an option for deposit that I saw and it looked like they wanted the full $1k upfront. Was also surprised to see that they had Luke's reveal saber and X-Wing helmet in stock. Every other website I checked was sold out on those two items, so hopefully someone here will be able to take advantage.