You just got the Bold today? You have 30 days to return so you could always do so when Merge shows up where you are.
I totally agree with Verizon's annoying slab focus. It's so played out, and yes it's annoying that the "Droid" branded QWERTY's get pushed while devices like Merge are just left to rot.
As for the X and Droid 3 being 3G only: Some folks wont get 4G for a while yet. Add in the many, like myself, who don't want to have to worry about horrible battery life due to LTE and having a few powerful 3G only handsets isn't such a bad idea.