My thanks to all here who counsel patience. I second your emotion. To those who are worried, please chill. Here's an idea: if this is going to become a kit, perhaps we should busy ourselves with figuring out where to source discrete and readily available IC components from around the world so the project is not bound to a single source or a single nation of origin for anything. I've already mentioned an American board manufacturer. That manufacturer can produce boards from already completed Gerber files to a very high degree of precision. I'm sure there are others.
I'm also sure that such chips as 74-series logic, RAM, ROM, PIAs, PPIs, etc., and possibly even the 6502 CPU can be sourced from a number of different places around the world. There are even vendors that offer quantity discounts. Many of these same vendors also deal in the fiddly bits such as capacitors, resistors, inductors, switches, sockets, plugs, cables, etc. This ain't rocket science, folks (and I know from rocket science, trust me).
The dream is to bring this project to life, and, ultimately, to market. So...let's find ways to help this dream take shape. Where do I find the parts lists? Are the Gerbers available (I'll even sign an NDA)?
8-bit Guy, if you're reading, we're here, and we're with you. Let us help.