Update: alright guys, long story short, the manufacturer and I found out last night that we were scammed and the payment I sent for the merchandise was rerouted to the scammers bank account. The manufacturer is reviewing exactly what happened, but it seems like a Chinese hacker intercepted our email thread, inserted themselves in the conversation, and was communicating with both manufacturer and myself. The merchandise IS at port and the manufacturer will most probably release the BOL that I've been waiting for release of the merchandise. This is a first for me, as I've been dealing with China for many years without incident. I will update the thread as soon as I get confirmation from the manufacturer. Lesson learned, I suppose.
Thanks for understanding and I will update asap