I don't think we have to worry about mail-order robots.
Consider the kit-bot.
If you build it the exact same way IFI gives it to you there is no advantage. If you want to use the kit-bot successfully you have to add something: smaller wheels, waffle tread, shifting transmissions...
The same is true for these treads. Once they begin being sold it will be foolish to rely on them to win a match. Teams will have to focus on the scoring part of their robot. As a result, teams will be able to develop better manipulators. This will lead to more competitive robots.
I think companies like Outback and Andy Mark are moving FIRST in the right direction. In the global world companies rely on each other for parts. There isn't ONE big company that builds PC's. There are a lot of little companies that sell their products to larger companies that assemble the final product. One company makes the chips, another makes wires, another cases, disk-drives, keyboards, speakers, monitors... Its ridiculous for one company to design and manufacture
every part.
If we really want to build our robots from scratch, its time we got outside and started digging for aluminum
As for vendor status. I don't think we can settle this until we see next year's official rules. Until then, its just our opinions.