I thought I'd post the latest update from Arthur Powers on the status of the V281 LE, since no one else did yet:
"The owner of Violectric (Christof Mallmann) just informed me the
new tool for the cases was made successfully and the production of the
cases is underway. The anodized coating will be applied tomorrow and
they should be shipped out to Violectric on Saturday. It may take a week
or more though before the cases arrive at Violectric's factory. Once the
V281 are fully assembled and boxed up they will ship right out to the US
since all of the testing will already have been completed. I think
realistically they will not leave Germany until the middle of March. I
know this is longer again then anticipated. I think I can safely say
though that everyone will have their new V281 in their hands before the
end of March. Hopefully well before the end of March if all goes well.
This has been a nerve wreaking experience! If I start a project like
this again in the future I will have to add 3 months onto the projected
ship date to be safe! lol
Thank you again to everyone for your extreme patience. If you wish to
cancel your order just let me know and I will gladly refund you. There
are a lot customers waiting for these now so I am sure they will sell
out quickly. I know everyone is looking forward to owning this unique
updated reissue of the most popular amp Violectric every created.
Thank you very much, Arthur
Power Holdings Inc"
Also, Arthur shared a couple pictures of the upgraded packaging they'll be using for the V281 LE. Oversized, laser cut foam and large box. It's a step above their normal packaging. Should actually survive shipping intact, even if DHL/UPS decides to play soccer with it.
We're getting close and I know the wait is going to be well worth it.