Apparently the good people at FFG do have plans to reprint the expansions but have not decided on a timeframe yet. But I agree $180 is a horrendously high price. Even higher than the base game retail, right? Some people'll do anything to turn a buck...

Hey! I wrote a short story based on some of the lore on the back the race sheets. I won't reveal which ones as that would spoil the story!
You can read the story here!

In my experience, the better all players know as many rules as possible the faster it goes. Doing away with constant pageflipping through the rulebooks cuts out a significant amount of downtime.
The rulebooks are available on FFGs site in pdf format so all players could read through those at their own leisure before it's time to play. Also: the following link provides a really good way of polishing up on at least the basics: http://www.preeminent.org/steve/games/ti3/ti3demo/

https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/Twilight Imperium 3/ti3faq.pdf
 
page 12.  Says it plain and clear.  Movement only.
Again I'll reiterate (Even though the FAQ makes it black and white).  You don't get to assume you have an ability just because they left out whether you do or not.  If not otherwise specified, go to the default rule.
 

Probably not. The first expansion (Shattered Empire) has a good set of new SCs and additional figs for 7-8 players, if those are things you're looking for. Otherwise, the content in the base game alone is pretty massive.
 

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ha ha ha ha ha, ha.
4-5 hours might be what it says on the box, but that's what we in the real world like to call "blind optimism." Maybe if everyone involved knew the rules backwards and forwards and played with peak efficiency, you'd get done in that time frame.
The last time I played TI3, it took 13 hours, including time for a quick pizza break. Granted that was an 8 player game, but still, we knew what we were doing. MOST games, we play for as long as we can manage and then call it on points when we're worn out.
That being said, you'd be hard pressed to find a more epic 4X experience in board game form.
 

The game is incredibly deep, and has enough different stuff going on that there's always room for new strategies to be developed.
The base game's SC set can be somewhat predictable, and for that reason many people prefer the expansion set I mentioned above, but you should be able to get a few games in with the original set before you get tired of them.

I for one would rather take a TI: Star TREK edition over a Star WARS one. Trek has more distinct sides...

A good suggestion. However, most of these forums are unvisited by FFG officials so it is unlikely that they'll read this. I'd recommend contacting them directly via e-mail instead.

Sounds line you have played axis and allies before. The way I generally approach describing TI to a new play is this
"If you have ever played axis and allies and thought 'gee, I really like this game, but I wish it was BIGGER!!! More epic in scope, more tech options, more dynamic game play.... In space' Then yes, you will love TI. If you have played RISK and thought 'well, it's ok, but I wish it didn't take so long' then TI is probably not for you."
Short answer. Yes, TI is axis and allies in space, but much better.
Comment on the length. Yes, TI is a LONG game (not can be, IS), but I don't think it'll hit 16 hours. Even with all new players I think it would "only" run about 10 hours. The shortest game I've ever had was about 5, and 5-6 is probably a good rule of thumb for experienced players.
HOWEVER. It does not FEEL long. Unlike in axis and allies, where you take your turn and then go watch a movie while the other 4 players take theirs, TI has a very dynamic turn structure. You are constantly engaged with making (meaningful) decisions, managing resources, and planning strategy. The time can just fly by.

It's a Law BECAUSE it has effects that apply to War Suns for the rest of the game.  THOSE effects are still around on future turns.  The actual acquisition of the tech is a one-time deal that is resolved as soon as the vote is concluded.
 
Also, I agree that you miss out due to the AC played against you.  Vote against, and do everything in your power to leverage your opponents into voting against as well.  If you fail, use it as a bargaining chip to prevent hostilities against you.  "You want to attack me?  I don't even have War Suns!  He's got War Suns, and it far more likely to cause you serious damage if you spend your efforts hurting me!"

I'm gonna be honest and say that at first glance it seems kinda convoluted. But the more I mull it over (and the more I remember about thinking the combat system in Descent also seemed convoluted at first) the more I like the idea...

That was my thinking too, I just wanted to double check.
Now, if FFG would just produce a NEW TI RPG, I would be so all over that.

Good. Goood. Spread the craze to as many as possible and soon we WILL rule the world. ALL the worlds! Moahahahahahaaaaaa... Wait. Did I say that out loud?

I'd allow it, and applaud the audacity.

You are not right.
Pre-combat is part of the Space Battles Phase, it's just that it happens before anything else in that Phase. The only reason pre-combat abilities exist as a concept in the rules is because these are things that only happen ONCE per Space Battle, whereas the rest of the combat rules are executed in a loop until one side or the other is entirely defeated, or retreats. Without having made this separation, players might mistakenly think pre-combat abilities are supposed to happen at the start of each round of combat (which they are not.)
But ultimately, pre-comat is still a part of combat, therefore fighters are safe from capacity limit checks and are NOT destroyed if their CV is taken out during this sub-step of the overall Space Battles Phase.

Personally, I'd be all over a Star Trek version of TI...

I can see how this monster becomes a cornerstone of gaming groups. With a smattering of many different types of playstyles and mechanics, it appeals to quite a wide spectrum of gamers (albeit gamers who would initially accept the long play time).

Hopefully we will crack our 41st game, and beyond, in reasonable time.

Welcome! That's awesome man! My game group picked it up in August 2014. We used to play a lot of other games but ever since we got this it's basically the only thing anyone ever wants to play, which I'm totally fine with. This weekend will be our 41st game.

I'm not super-familiar with Shards as I don't own that expansion, but I don't believe the D-wormhole is ever connected to other wormholes, nor does it need to be controlled for the Master of the Gates SO.  Check the FAQ on this subject.

Where did you get the idea that yellow tech is "not really a colour"?  Yellow is certainly a colour.  There aren't many Yellow tech discount icons, but that only means you have to pay full price.

If you want a good copy of strategy cards (or any components for the game for that matter) to work from to create your own you should download the Vassel module for TI3.  .VMOD files can be opened using winzip, inside you will find all the art assets for the game.
 
Like Steve already mentioned, than its a matter of splitting it up into layers spending as much time as you like on getting the quality you desire.  I spend about 2.5 minutes on one just to see how hard it was using Paint.Net and it was pretty simple even for a clumsy fool like me. Example of 8 Strategy Card
 
Good Luck

The card, called "Intel Report", lets you choose any number from 0 to 10 and move the Dreadnaught Fleet that many spaces. You are allowed to choose both 10 and 0. Useful if you, for example, have a big group of units that have grabbed a huge pile of influence situated one zone ahead of the fleet, allowing you to move the troops out of the way of the fleet.

I would build a template in layers.
1) Start by finding an SC with little text, select a box of the background pattern, as much as you can without including any text.
2) copy/paste that pattern on the bottom layer of your photoshop image, large enough to cover an entire SC
3) use magic wand to select the border of any particular SC (leaving holes in the text boxes)
4) paste the border onto the top layer
5) fiddle with hue/saturation to make the border layer match whichever SC colour you're making a homebrew of.
6) Use a third layer for text, so you can easily re-position/edit it as you go.
7) when ready, flatten the image and print it out.  Save the layered image in case you want to fix anything.

There is no separate install step - just unzip the archive and you should be good to go - just run the .exe and it should work

There are a couple of ways around this conundrum, assuming that simple improvisation is not an acceptable answer:
1) assuming you play once a week, the GM can come up with 5 or 10 "generic" ideas for such things in between sessions, and draw on those (modifying as necessary for planet details) during game. Only come up with as many answers as you're likely to need for the next session.
2) random charts. 80's RPG systems had these for a reason

Credit where credit's due, Steve-O. It was Forgottenlore who pointed out the perennial problems of space-opera, not me. We just happen to have the same avatar.