Well, turns out if you use the chat feature on Optics Planet and ask, they may be able to give you a pretty smoking deal.
Item was $974 marked down to $689 (discontinued I believe), and when I asked about any further discount... $614 and free shipping.
About $90 just for asking. I've always been a little skeptical of Optics Planet, but that was a damn fine surprise.
Cheers,
Jordan