Verizon’s first LTE-capable handset from HTC, the Thunderbolt, has just shown up at Walmart Wireless, which is usually indicative of an impending release — usually; we saw the Palm Pre 2 at the big box retailer over three weeks ago, and it still hasn’t started shipping from VZW.

The Thunderbolt is a much more important device for the carrier, though, so we suspect that it’s trying to push out the 1GHz-powered Android 2.2 Froyo piece as soon as possible. At one point we’d heard that January 20th was a possibility — obviously come and gone — as well as early- to mid-February, which is starting to look more realistic. Put another way: we wouldn’t be surprised if Valentine’s Day dates across the country are getting ignored en masse as their significant others continue to play with their brand new $250 phones.