While the name might be Gentle Giant Limited, don't let that name fool you, Josh. The edition sizes that GG produces are completely based on the number of pre-orders they get. Witness the ROTS Vader and TESB Yoda. A lot of people were hot to get those since the original editions were scarce and/or pricey. As a result GG wound up producing some 20,000 Vaders and about 15,000 Yodas. Not very limited in the least. And bear in mind that GG will collect these pre-orders from their major accounts, Diamond distribution and their own website. There are bound to be quite a few. And I highly doubt that the entire run is pre-sold out. The April edition of Diamond Previews came out either this past Wednesday or it will next week. And those orders are open for the next month. Nobody has missed the boat on this one yet.
As for limited edition sizes? The only time the edition sizes are determined by means other than preorders is when Gentle Giant is doing a convention or some other exclusive. That's when they want to generate buzz. Witness the Blackhole Stormtrooper. THAT is a piece that they had a vested interest in keeping limited because of the buzz it generated. It got people talking about Gentle Giant again when Sideshow was starting to get a lot of collector attention.
Now with the scare tactic that seems to be getting employed here, I'm fairly certain that the pre-order numbers for the Royal Guard and Senate Guard are going to be pretty healthy. The only thing that seems certain in this instance is that GG is going to produce twice as many red guards as they will make of the blue guards. Then factor in the case pack. It's nothing like that of the AOTC Clone Troopers or the ROTS Clone Troopers. They're not doing a case ratio of 3, 2 and 1. It's going to be 4 and 2. That is a much more favorable ratio to collectors who want both pieces. I have no doubt that I'll be able to order the two pieces through my local comic shop at a discounted price of 20 - 25% off and no shipping costs.