Wow. This is not the first time I've recently heard of this frustration of various forums either. I'm glad that I obtained my 009 when I did back in October of 2015. It took me a little while to warm up to it, but nothing that a Hirsch Robby sailcloth strap couldn't fix. Now I'm wearing it all of the time.
I was recently wishing that I had held out for a turtle reissue, but now am thinking that this was the better route, as the turtle case appears substantially larger. The skx007/007 has a nice, subtle, classic design that isn't too small, and isn't too large. I do wish however, that it would keep as good time as my 10 year old, and beat to death, Black Monster. But the timekeeping is adequate enough for the value proposition.
If seiko is indeed discontinuing, or going limited production on the skx, perhaps that will give them the flexibility to start introducing some special editions based on the case......I would rather spend for a skx with a domed sapphire crystal, raised and framed indices/lume plots, improved lume, diashield or a fully brushed case, etc..... I'm not too interested in modding, and would gladly pay the premium that is applied to similar Seiko special editions of regular production models. Honestly, I really like how the watch is presented now, but a flat crystal with zero AR coating applied to either side on a diver, is something only a Submariner owner could rationalize.