Generally pre-order implies priorty on shipping and reciept of the product. I believe that was the intent here. It appears several things happened (to me who is looking in through the frosted window), I think the pre-orders were much larger than anticipated (Matthew Sprange indicated this in an ealier post). But, I believe there is too much emphasis on mailing out mini's and not enough on getting the rules out.
I cannot get them for Christmas at this point, since I'm away working over the holiday weekend. Last night was my last day at home until Monday evening. But we have not even recieved a shipping confirmation e-mail on the rule book yet. So, after New Years looks realistic at this point. I'm sure the better half will inform me if they arrive on the doorstep or if we get our shipping confirmation. She gave me a substitute present that was almost as good (alright get your mind out of the gutter folks).