Okay, speaking as someone who managed to get a Blue Clone bust at Chcicago, here's my take. I'm not going to gloat, because it's just not cool.
Was I happy with the way this was handled? No. There should've been an even split between San Diego and Chicago, or a bigger production run. The lottery in Chicago left a lot of people unhappy, including several friends of mine who were also in attendance at the show. Add on top of that the people who were unable to attend AND wanted this mini-bust, and you've got plenty of people who were unhappy.
If anything, I hope Gentle Giant learned something from this summer's conventions. I think they learned that there are people out there who want their products. Also, I think they learned that they need to consider higher production runs. Next, I think they learned that they need to distribute their convention exclusives in a fair manner. And, as a final caveat, this summer was the FIRST time that Gentle Giant has offered show exclusives. So they were learning the process.
Do I like the fact that Gentle Giant was effectively using the summer convention-goers as guinea pigs? No. In fact, I think the way they handled things sucks. Peronally, I wanted to see everyone who wanted this Blue Clone Trooper min-bust be able to get one. I was happy to win my bust, but I was also lucky. One guy went so far as to offer the winners of Sunday's lottery $150 for their Blue Clone Trooper bust. everybody declined. And all in all, I was still extremely frustrated with the process. Hopefully Gentle Giant does better the next time.