The Japanese dealer I get most of my Japanese stuff from has them listed as arrived and already sold out so American dealers should be getting their's soon.
They're like girl scout cookies or pringles....you can't stop with just one. don't worry though...there's more...
I have mine (FEF, water tenders and excursion train) on order from a favorite train dealer. Thank you, Kato for this wonderful self Xmas present!
Everything that was preordered for base units is shipping to distributors and dealers who ordered from Kato directly today...just waiting for Fedex Freight to show up with an empty trailer. Usually it takes a week or so for the dealer orders through distributors to get through. That really depends on who ordered what from where. The -1 DCC and light kit equipped sets should start trickling out in the next week, since all of those modifications are done in the US and those are being shipped out as built in order of orders. The Kato staff has been cracking today. Enjoy!
I will be setting back with you and watching the feeding frenzy since I have no use for either the FEF or the Berk. I am saving my $$ for the Shay. Meanwhile I will be watching for the next big thread with the first complaints like the decoder doesn't decode in French, the black ain't black enough, or the wheels aren't round enough, and the tender is a scale inch too short.