Chase, to be fair, I won't mention other names here but do you think it could be a straight up distributor dropping the ball / being jerks here?
I'm not 100% sure. Every time I talk to them on the phone I ask them when they expect a PIP restock. They always give one of two answers. They say:
1) Well the plastic kits get restocked a lot faster than the metals. They sort of just roll in, a few different SKUs every couple weeks. (if this is the case it's never significant enough to make the "Recent Restocks" section of their daily emails)
2) I'm not exactly sure.
Since they are too lazy to ship it out from x warehouse even if it exists sounds like bad management on their part. If that's the case, it's more than just PP not producing enough to meet demand.
I hate that I know they have stuff I want and they won't send it to me. The required order amounts and minimums from each warehouse are in place to protect them against having to pay to ship 1 blister across the country, I guess. ACD is a lot better about this than Alliance, but it's still not great.
I have no idea what it costs them to ship things, but I'd love not to have to deal with the restrictions.
I am pretty certain that the models I have been waiting for (the lions share of a Rhulic faction) are available at online stores. I just find it distasteful to go that route. 
Oh definitely! Some of the online stores have things most of the time, which is frustrating for obvious reasons.
Recently there have been small discussions about taking our WM/H stuff online. It would take up a relatively small amount of space and allow an opportunity to safely order a lot of product as it's released in an effort to not run out of it right away, which is what you're seeing these other guys do. I'm betting they don't have stuff in stock because they reorder it from somewhere all the time, but because they ordered 50+ kits upon release and have 20 left over to get them through the 3+ months until they can order again.
Obviously we'd start "small time" and try to cater to the region (people that know about the stores) and try to become "the guys who always have what we want." Host more events, offer event pickup, buy add space online, etc. Who knows?
I do agree with the new releases being a problem but I wonder where the problem is. Is it producers in China for the plastics, is it PP not commissioning enough, is it the distributors thinking it's 5 years ago? I can tell you, it's not my local game store as they are the only ones who are straight up with me on the matter.
I think it's got to be a combination of all of these things. Maybe the plants in China are just super, super backed up, maybe it's because the PP release schedule is "too saturated", maybe it's PP not making enough stuff for release (or evaluating growth properly), maybe it's the distributors not demanding more and more each time in an effort to play it safe in a poor economy, who knows?
I do try to be as transparent as possible with everything. The late spring - early summer seems to come along with a boom in WM/H activity and interest. I've got people asking me for models on a daily basis right now, and it's SUPER frustrating to check if I can order it and almost always have to tell them "no."
