'The problem is that we're at the mercy of vendors' Nah.......not at all, not while you can just not buy the product. It's the desire to be among the first to own the latest and bestest thing in all the world that allows vendors to do the things they do. CL don't force anyone to pre-order. Nobody should forget that CL are a business not a community and they do it to make money. Mon ps: CL would make more friends by giving...say Poser 5 to..lets say for sake of argument, everyone who's name begins with mo...just a thought