I feel your pain. The guitar I really wanted to be my first EBMM guitar was an Albert Lee HH in Emerald City back in 2022. I was going to try to get it through a dealer, but then realized it could only be gotten through the Vault. I was ready to buy it but then the price of it went up a couple hundred bucks and that irked me. The other guitar that I was interested in was the Pine Green Valentine BFR-- and really it was mostly only because pine green is my all time favorite color. I went back and forth I figured if I could get a dealer to knock some off of a BFR and get a better deal on it than a standard AL at a set price-- and I did get a deal on the Valentine-- then that's the direction I would go in. Ended up loving the Valentine far more than I ever thought I would. (Yes, I chose the one with my favorite color over the model I liked better, haha)I really love the AL in the Firemist Silver but it says it would take about 4 months to deliver.
Still would like to get an Albert Lee in Emerald City- but it's like there are none floating around in the wild. Not even any photos of them posted by an owner-- just the pics sourced from the EBMM website. I found one on Reverb used for a nice price once-- after it had already sold. I'd rather get a used one, because with inflation I just can't drop 3K on a new one when I could get a nice deal on something else in a different color for closer to 2k. Going through a dealer you have a chance of getting a deal. The Vault not so much.
Also, if you want a Firemist Silver AL SSS right now there's one on Reverb for $2000 used in excellent condition. I checked the serial number and it was built in 2021. No mention of the weight but you could message the seller.

Ernie Ball Music Man Albert Lee Signature SSS Tremolo | Reverb
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