As I have said elsewhere, the release date is hinging on the plastic trays arriving by boat.
Wild speculation: this suggests the plastic tray is somehow different from that used by other Dominion sets/expansions?
It's the Dark Ages tray. There is incentive not to make new ones.
I love this game, and own all expansions, as well as gold subscription online, but the trays for recent sets have been my biggest complaint. I really hope the Nocturne tray is as well made and sturdy as the Dark Ages tray, since that was the last good tray before the production quality of trays deteriorated. Adventures, Empires, and Dominion Base 2nd Edition have all come with flimsy plastic trays that are just a little smaller than the original sturdier trays, and more importantly had card slots that were 1-2mm less wide than the original tray slots, and taper slightly at the bottom of the slot. I sleeve every card with Euro premium sleeves, and the new flimsy tray card slot widths bend the sleeves and makes it hard to fit the cards back in without creating a permanent bend in the sleeve and card. I gave the 1st edition base game away to family, but kept the old tray for myself for the 2nd edition box. I wish Rio Grande would take sleeving sizes into consideration when the specs for the plastic trays are designed - there is plenty of room to add a couple mm.