Randall's 75th Anniversary was in 2013, and the lottery was announced in June of 2020. Approx when did the design of this beautiful knife begin, and when did they actually go into production?
This came up in the RKCC meeting where they were announced -- June 2021. There was no RKCC meeting in 2020 as there was no Blade Show, thanks to the fallout from COVID.
Anyway, back to the question: The design was underway/completed by 2013. There were assorted delays in bringing them to market, including (but not limited to) retirement of two senior knifemakers and a COVID pandemic.
(Edited to add) My understanding is that 17s are a little more difficult to produce, largely due to the stainless hilt. This is why dealers have a limit on how many 17s they can order each month. I suspect it took some time to make 200 of them during a period where they're trying to catch up on their schedule.