The only reason I even put money down on BFL was because for nearly a year they were the only bitcoin ASIC manufacturer with anything public you could put money down on.
BFL's ASIC was announced summer 2012. Avalon's ASIC September 2012.
Am i wrong?
But as far as the put money down thing, Avalon didn't take 1st batch orders until Jan 2013. Which filled up damn quick as did batch 2 in Feb (?) and then the full crazy happened by the third.