I buy Pente for my store directly from Decipher, so I may have a little more information, though now it is old news.
Pente stopped making the red tube for a while, in favor of the 20th Anniversary Edition boxed set. While they were running the 20th Anniversary Edition their rights to the game (through Parker Brothers? I think) were due to expire and for a brief period they decided to quit Pente altogether. However, a short time later they decided to renew (I don't know for what period) and are therefore still making and supporting Pente. The red tube version is once again available, and the 20th Anniversary edition will only be available while supplies last (they are not printing it any more).
-- Linda Blanchard Astral Castle
This message was originally posted at Yahoo's pente group.
