Yes it's awesome, but weirdly, ordering direct from JJP isn't often the fastest way to get it.

Research a little and look at what happened to JJP customers who ordered WoZ and Hobbit directly. You may be eating your words.

There is a reason for the distributor network. Even JJP has one. Also, distributors can sell at a lower price.

They ended up getting their machines well after people who just called up their distributor when they wanted one. I think JJP is getting better in this regard (no proof, just an observation), but those first two machines were really not good to have ordered direct.

I completely agree; I was one of those people who got shuffled continuously to the back of the line. I originally pre-ordered directly from JJP a WOZ and a Hobbit when they were first announced back in 2013. I paid in full for them and then sat back waiting for my new pins to arrive. After a year and a half of missed delivery and production commitments I became very impatient. At that same time, there were also a lot of rumors swirling about regarding JJP's viability. Given all of this, I opted to cancel my orders. To JJP's credit, I promptly received a full refund. But, I did not get the games that I hoped for. Perhaps, in retrospect maybe I was lucky to not have had my early orders filled because those early games had their share of problems. But, my desire for them remained strong and so in the last 2 months, I purchased NIB games but this time from authorized dealers. After my original order experience I did not think I would ever buy a JJP game but I'm glad that I took another chance and bought them. They are great!
Now, to be clear I am not impugning JJP's business practices nor am I shill for authorized dealers. But, I do believe that JJP does give preference to the guys who buy a lot; the little guys get their orders filled afterwards. I could be wrong but I don't think the order filling process is strictly a 'FIFO' event. As everyone knows, it is 'SOP' in business to care for the 'best customers' first. I think JJP has to operate that way too so that it does not see its' dealers steer their customers to other 'more readily available games' like those from Stern and other manufacturers. I believe my past experiences have given me a much better understanding of 'the way things work' in the industry. I also have a better appreciation of how difficult it had to be to start a business like JJP did from the ground floor up. That has led me to have a total admiration for JJP's success and its' operations. Having said this though, I chose not to repeat my past mistakes (or naiveté). I too recently ordered a POTC LE but, again, from an authorized dealer. I just did not want to risk having my single order having to compete with the 'big guys'. Best of luck to you!