I do think that the items could have been passed out to more people and, perhaps, people could have been informed that there might be an item given out. Would have gave the event and the contest threads more activity.

The Captain's Hooch might be released in stores one day. I guess it depends on how popular the item is. As for the other two, my understanding is that only 300 Squid hats and 500 ship hats were made. And I think people are expecting 1000 to 2000 for them.