I've booked/confirmed my AONE4 as originally posted and wanted to thanks everyone who helped. But most importantly, my sample bookings revealed that QF A380 A inventory (SYD-LHR) was plentiful for all of the dates I looked at in early to mid September 2010. So for those of you wondering, there is hope after all!
Interestingly enough, of the 14 suites available in First on A380, and with 11 months until departure, there were already 6 seats taken! This far out, I have to assume they are award and discounted first (A) opportunists like myself.