I wanted to add my experience as another piece of anecdotal evidence that game stores are not responsible for scalping. I got my PoT pack in 9/12 of this year from a Chicago shop, thegiftofgames.com, after looking for it for about a month. I was going through 10 or more pages of search results almost every other day finding nothing until I saw the pack in stock on their website for $14.50 + shipping. I assumed it was an error but went ahead and ordered it, and it turned out it was a legit offering as I got the pack 5 days after. After my order, the pack went out of stock again on their site. So this shop apparently found a single pack laying around in their warehouse and instead of listing it for an inflated price, which they certainly could’ve done at the time, they just offered it for MSRP.

Something tells me that by part 3 they mean the 3rd mythos pack, i.e. Phantom of Truth. Not sure why I got this idea though... 😅

If you don't want to wait until it's available, there are two options I can see: 1. Read the introduction from the pdf campaign guide in FFG's website, then pick a resolution either at random or whichever you prefer and pretend that you played the scenario and got that resolution. Resolve the chosen resolution's effects and move on with your campaign. 2. Proxy the encounter cards from arkhamDB and play the scenario using the proxies. Option 1 is faster and easier but it will spoil the scenario story for you. Option 2 is better but requires effort on your part to make the proxies. Or you can wait for the pack to get reprinted, which it will, but no one knows when.

Just to add one more data point, I preordered Devil Reef the same day it was announced on FFG’s website. I got charged on November 24 and got a shipping notification today (December 9). And given my prior experience with the shipping service, it may take another week for the package to arrive 😥

That's not my experience. Granted, I have only used Asmodee's preorder service twice so far (Innsmouth Conspiracy and In Too Deep), but both times they charged me at least a week before I got a shipping confirmation. Devil Reef is my third preorder through them and it looks like it's going to be the same.