When it comes to unlicensed replica props, most makers "do it on the side".
This means that they already have a regular job (usually), possibly a family, and other responsibilities. So these side businesses and side projects are fit in wherever and whenever they can. Life can get in the way, job changes, moving, accidents, mishaps, court appearances, injuries, death, etc.
For instance, last year I spent nearly 2 months in Family Law court ( which is 2 counties over), trying to get a Court Order against my ex. This was a result of her disregarding rules and schedules and previous hearings for 7 years. I got the Court Order, then she disobeyed it. I spent another week in court trying to get a follow up order that was denied. I then spent several more days, and filed to have her brought up on criminal charges for disobeying a court order. That was accepted, after multiple attempts, and is scheduled for December. I've gone for more Court Orders, but they keep getting kicked back.
So here, I figure that I might have time to work on some projects, but my life gets pushed back months and months. That adds huge delays to anyone that wanted me to make something for them. It's not my fault, and I couldn't predict it. It's a woman that wanted to drag me through the court system, and in the process is wasting my money and months of my time.
So if someone had paid me to make something, and I quoted them 3-4 months, but then it turns into 6-8 months to get it to them, I then become the ******* that "doesn't deliver" and "can't get it done on time", and it doesn't matter what excuse I have, I'm wrong.
I previously worked in a utility company were start to finish, most work was out 4-6 months, and larger jobs could be out 9 months to over a year. This is because of "backlog". There's so much work that the engineers had 6 weeks to 8 weeks scheduled with jobs. So if you brought a new job and paid an engineering deposit, an engineer might not even see it or start working on it for 2 months. And then after it's approved, it goes to construction to get scheduled. Well, similarly, construction is scheduled out 5 or 6 weeks at least. So even if you're job is approved, it sits around in an inbox waiting for the crews. (but this also gives time for all of the materials to be ordered and show up). Any company that has work, and is busy, is going to have wait times or lead times. Any company that can work on your project the instant that you pay up, is in danger. That means they don't have the work to stay busy. Similarly, I'd be worried about any prop maker out there with fast turn around time. That means that they don't have other orders. They don't have other work. They're "working on the fly".
There's one prop maker that I've been buying stuff for nearly 20 years. And sometimes I've had to wait well over a year for him to get a set or armor. Waits of 6 months to over a year is not uncommon in the prop making world. I know what I want well ahead of time, I pay up, I shut up, and I'm patient to get my items. People that buy things "for a convention coming up" have hard set deadlines, and are often disappointed, or quite upset when they don't get their items in time.
I don't want to make excuses for Anovos, or advocate for them... I'm just putting things into context. Wait times of 1 to 2 years isn't unheard of.
They're going in the field of 3-4 years or more. They're way behind, sure. Did they take on too much work? Probably. Is the wait time too long? Probably. Should they have stopped taking orders until they're caught up? Probably. Are they in financial trouble, and would fold if they stopped taking new orders? Perhaps. They might have to keep taking new orders to fulfill older orders. Should they not operate a business like that?
Well, lots of businesses operate like that. And our government sure does.
