Question about [email protected] product statuses

Odindusk

On Lego's Atlantis theme shopping page, I see that there are items listed that are:

a) available; ready for ship
b) sold out; expected ship date is __/__ (you are able to purchase these)
c) sold out (you are unable to purchase these)

My question is, are the c) items retired? And if so, why not just take them off the page?

The_Brick_Builder

Statuses that are "c" are usually taken off the site very soon. I remember seeing 6754 Family Home having a "sold out" status, and then 1 or 2 weeks later it was gone.