Thanks for all the replies! I read each one with interest!
It seems strange to me that Nikon would limit supplies. I say that because, from my understanding, the 60D came out
roughly the same time and it has been available everywhere for a long time, even at Costco. My logic (if any) was it (D7000) had to have issues or it would also be everywhere since release. So, holding it back would have cost them a customer as, if I didn't already have Nikon glass, I would have picked up the 60D already. Yes, maybe they couldn't just keep up with demand, and yes, maybe they just wanted to "create" demand. Either way, it does boil down to not being able to get one, when a person wants one.
It's good to hear that folks here haven't been having any issues with them, and from what little I read, the problems were fairly isolated (but Murphy's law would dictate the one I got would have issues, LOL).
As to why this thread exists, it has several reasons. One, they were not available the last time I checked, and I've been checking every week or two since last year, but haven't checked lately. It good to see it in stock, and at one of my favorite places:
Adorama. It's still a valid thread as even if I looked first, immediately before posting, I still would have posted as I wanted to know the *reason* why it took so long to be in stock other than at places that wanted $400-500 more than retail.
And that is if the first "release" of the camera did in fact have issues, then I, and other readers, would know to avoid the early releases. It is very common for the first "rev" of an electronic item to have problems that need fixed. I use to build computers for a long time and everyone knows that the first release of an OS (Operating System) normally gets "fixed" in service pack releases. Rev 1 of motherboards almost always have issues until Rev 1.x or Rev 2 comes out. And so on. A lot of folks won't build until somethings been out for a while.
Again, thanks everyone for taking time to post!
TwoRails