Though BFL's CEO's felonious past raised an eyebrow for me, I've already read plenty of substantiated reports of people receiving their BFL Jalapenos.  I don't think BFL is a scam, though taking preorders for a product 1+ year out, the funds of which were likely used to support ongoing R&D, is not something I would do, personally, as a businessperson. 

Overall though, regardless if BFL starts shipping the rest of their preorders out in a timely fashion - with other BTC ASIC companies coming on board and their products going online.....I see the BTC mining difficulty to rise exponentially by this Christmas, making ASIC purchases in 2013 a potentially risky proposition if one is seeking to recoup the value of their investment in less than a year.