The FS version, according to a Korg UK rep who got cornered over this issue, was not necessarily "intended" for us avg. peons to buy. They actually intended them to go to certain "influencers" and whatever was left over was slotted for retail. Two things immediately went horribly wrong, though. One of those was J-M. Jarre's mention of it around a month out from the proper release date at NAMM. The other was a wildly off-base estimation of the market interest in this 50 year old synth. So what happened was a PR catastrophe, made even worse by Korg's claims regarding the "road case" (cheap and flimsy...hardly something you'd want as a "premium" for your "limited edition" 2600), the constantly shifting numbers of the "limited" run, odd issues regarding unit QC, and a general inability by Korg to provide any retailers with ANY information that might clarify what in the hell was going on. So it's not just users who got honked off at Korg over this, you had their main retailers gnashing their teeth as well.
As for the "crippleware" issue, that has to do with the 3620's submodule complement. The FS uses a 3620 replica, so no problem there. And Uli's 2600 has those submodules down in the lower left corner of the front panel. But the Korg 2600M omits these in deference to just a basic MIDI I/O, which would be good if the 2600M's controls could be addressed in sysex...but they're not. Now, Korg wants to sell these for $1800, minus the 3620 circuits. Uli charges $650, WITH the 3620 submodules. Sounds like crippleware to me!