I wouldn't be so sure that it didn't happen at all in the GH1. The codec in the GH2 is much more sophisticated. Also, in order to get some GH13 patches to not crash we had to set a value that slowed the start-up (equivalent to creating lower resolution frames for the first several frames).
Ultimately, I think the blip is a necessary trade-off. We'll just have to learn how to live with it.
Why didn't the blip happen on the hacked GH1? No b-frames? Would turning off b-frames help with the blip? I don't mind the blip it is more that the thumbnail in playback mode is generated from the blip and so it makes reviewing clips quickly a bit of a pain.