Well, the counterpoint to HeavyInk's argument is that a local shop, Great Escape here in suburban Atlanta, couldn't be happier with the packs! I talked to the owner the day the "September" pack shipped - the day before Thanksgiving - and since, for the last twelve months, Diamond has just been shipping whatever issues it felt like in whatever order, having a block of four or five at a time has made his life a lot easier.
I think that's nutty, but even my "local" up in Athens has had an easier time of it, since they're not receiving random progs from last December just show up.
The counterpoint to that, of course, is that this problem of willy-nilly weekly progs is entirely one of Diamond's own, recent, making. Up until, say, October '08, they didn't have a serious problem getting issues out, two at a time, every other week. There'd be an annual hiccup and something would be delayed a shipment or two, and you'd get four at a time, but just once a year. Then last fall, things went completely awful, and the prog packs, intended to "fix" that (I guess?), haven't worked for toffee (as you say) since they don't SHIP the damn things.
I still never got the August pack. September came in November. Some stores in the Chicago area have received the October pack. Nobody's reported seeing the November or December packs yet.
