SpudTrooper,
You probably know this, but I'll share. Best thing I can say to do is watch the boards here, and at the evil place called Rebelscum. When you see it hit the So. Cal, Bay area, Sacratomato, Las Vegas areas, you know they are hitting. Being in Cal yourself, since they seem to hit the West Coast first a lot of the times, you may want to build a network with a couple of local guys who hunt hard. Also, find some Asian stores that sell online and watch when they get the figures. We get them 1 to 3 weeks after the Asian stores do. That's the best advice I can give you besides watching ebay like you are.
I have heard of release dates for then next 12 from end of Sept. to end of October. Having said that, many thought the Green Clone Commander, the Shock Trooper etc would not hit until now and they hit here in Utah and on the coast about a month ago. Thus I think we'll see the last 12 hit here sometime in the next 3 weeks.
However, for me, Walmart has been the best place for figures but I think that is going to change. Wally's pegs are filling up with the new cases of the Mustafar wave (the sentry is becoming a peg warmer here) and those figures including the Pilot Obi Wan are peg warming. Thus with fill pegs, I watch 3 out of 4 Walmarts take cases back from the pallets to the stock room because the floor is too fill. That might make it harder to find the newer figures for awhile also. Good hunting!