I think when the interview says they have sold out, they mean they the manufacturer AE/TT have sold all stocks to the shops. This happens in other parts of the model industry where manufacturers announce a new model, be it a model train or a diecast model, the manufacturer has sold all there stock of that model to shops before they have even been released. They don't lose money on the tooling, as they can carry on releasing the same model in different liveries for many years to come, giving them a return on the initial and future costs.
You then find the shops have stocks of said items and dependant on their popularity, some items sell out very quickly, while others can sit on the shelf for a while. Usually something that is completely new will sell a lot quicker. I imagine most shops that have ordered their stocks will still have plenty for us to pre order. It has only been just over a week since its announcement, a lot of people in the know will have put their pre orders in, whilst others will do the same as they get to hear about it. Obviously the shop stock levels will reduce as we get nearer the release date and may well be mostly sold, I'm hoping not, it would be good to see the re-re on shop shelves for a few months, so it gives everyone a chance to buy one.
As to AE doing the first model as a limited run its makes perfect sense. In China all manufacturing of parts is fitted into a slot of that calender year and possibly only gets that one slot throughout the year. So if their was suddenly a shortage of say front wishbones, AE cant go to TT and say can you run us off another 500 sets. It doesn't work that way, to change over to another process just isn't cost effective for China, I'm sure their has been instances where a TT spare has been unavailable, then several months later an abundance of them hits the shops.
I imagine how ever many cars AE are releasing that they will have as many spares produced as well, perhaps more and if they are thinking ahead they may of had some different parts made for a future release of a slightly different version. AE have tested the water on the cars popularity by producing an amount that is cost effective to manufacture and to sell in a reasonably short period. AE have sold all that they have had produced and got their expected investment back for this batch, if the shops sell out of the available batch quickly then it was a sound investment by AE, if say 20% of the batch is sat on shop shelves for two years, then it would be a longer period before AE produced another batch.
As to the re-re been a limited release, AE can release as many models as they want from the same tooling. The initial limited model would be ex amount, of which they may put a sticker on the box, perhaps have artwork on the box or instruction manual cover to commemorate the anniversary, or may even stamp the set number of chassis's with individual numbers on the limited run, but I doubt this on the last one. AE/TT may well of planned towards the future on this and have had enough parts produced, which they sit on should demand nesitate a second run of the model but not as a limited edition. If sales of the Limited run sells out quickly in the shops and their is demand for more, what is to stop them putting together more kits from the available parts, they only have to do subtle changes, like change the artwork/no sticker on box, change a few parts, like wheels & tyres, no roll bar, plastic shock caps as examples and they have a different model to sell that isn't the same as the limited model, who knows they could even sell it with ballraces!! At the end of the day we all know we could make a copy of the limited re-re, but if you don't have the correct box then it is only a copy.
As to future releases I expect if sales warrant it, then we would probably get a CE, Team Car, Worlds, possibly a graphite and maybe a truck. I imagine AE/TT have a programme for say three to five years, where they will produce all the models they have planned and then it would come to an end, where I imagine after that initial period people will of had enough of them. Hopefully this time around though AE will keep the tooling, so the possible occasional release of more of the same could be produced should it be warranted.
As I say I think AE have got it right with this first model, they are producing enough to keep people happy without over supplying. If they produced 10,000 and they were sat on shop shelves for the next 10 years, then they would be sold at give away prices and shops wouldn't want to take the risk of stocking up on future versions of the models. If demand see's them fly off the shelves then retailers will be happy to purchase future versions. I also imagine any future releases will be done to the same numbers, as you can only sell so many RC10's whatever the model. Keep supply low, demand is high and you have a successful product, try it the other way around and people won't buy.
These are only my thoughts and others may have different ideas. So on to 2014 and AE's 50th anniversary, ideal time for a Stealth version
.......They should fill the orders first come ...first served...if you waited...you lose..........
And yes, pics from AE by now would be nice.