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It is entirely possible that Mattel is no longer including Gentleman Ghost in future case assortments, but that in no way would explain why the retailers in my area don't have anything since wave 6-7 on the shelves for the last several months.

Whether you like it or not, the retailers are in complete control over what they sell and what appears on their shelves/pegs. That is fact and no amount of conspiracy theory will change it. Sure, Mattel can stop making the figure and that would keep it from appearing on the shelves in the future, but every toy manufacturer will stop production on a given toy eventually. Again, a fact of life.

Long story short: do what I'm doing and hope for a re-release some time in the future unless you willing to suck it up and go the online route.