The delay is not the Retailer by a large margin. Most knife MFG's use distributors that have to divy up the available stock while the MFG is cranking the knives out as fast as they can while making several other deadlines too. And if you preorder a retailer or distributor "exclusive" any delays are usually from the MFG because of priorities like in any business.
The best response is to try and stop thinking about them until they show up.
And as far as who to preorder from, I always use one of the premier knife dealers that I frequent. Those are BladeHQ, Knifeworks, Cutlery Shoppe, Spydercovt.com
There are other fine retailers out there as well such as Newgraham Knives, Grand Prairie Knives, Chestnutt Ridge, etc. but I have not preordered from any of them or others.
I suggest picking a fine retailer that you trust and stick with them. But remember that when it comes to "exclusives", you won't have many choices. With Sprint Runs, you might.
Good luck!