Gentlemen, I genuinely appreciate each of your responses.
That is exactly what I wanted to know- that this is somewhat normal for this type of production guitar.
My feelings towards this guitar are funny/ironic, too, as the rest of my axes are player grade vintage stuff. My '64 Guild, '68 330, '71 335, and '71 SG have all had modifications and are all dinged, cracked, smashed, dented, etc, but play and sound like a dream so I've played them religiously without batting an eye.
With this being the only electric I've ever purchased new, I guess I went into it with wanting a 'perfect' guitar rather than subtle flaws (that I now know are normal).
In regards to selling, I would sell it, as the guitar doesn't really have a place in my heart compared to the rest of my crew (yet), but I don't feel that I could get what it'd be worth for me to sell it ($2800 or so), so I'll probably just keep it and try to think of it in a new light.
Thanks again for the responses. I'm going to polish the frets, oil the fretboard, set it up, and see where that gets me.
B)