The assumption that the cards are ready to release once they are filmed is not valid.
There are lots more animations filmed than there are processed.
The bottle neck, or the backlog, depending on how you look at it, is that it takes considerable effort to edit the film into shows.
Each week, based on popularity of the models (at least partially) some shows are selected to be processed.
Now do you want to wait until next year for the shows just filmed in America? And focus on the 'gaps'?