Apologies for any lack of updates on my end, I've been just run down lately with work and irl stuff and it's been a little difficult being able to keep up with stuff. We should still be set for our November deadline since briano made sure to set our timeline that far ahead in case of potential delays. As far as samples go, it does take some time for GMK to get them to small buys unfortunately. Stuff run through MD seems to be able to get samples before the order is even placed but if you look at stuff like Taro and Camping it took them a good amount of time past the order submission to get their samples, but then production started very quickly after they were confirmed.
