Thanks for mentioning the usblog, I was checking earlier with the enum utility, but this confirms the same thing which I have been seeing - my device always enters the fastboot and never 9008 EDL with all different versions of holding Power + Vol buttons, or individual buttons.
USBLog snapshot
I have ordered an EDL cable off Amazon, hoping that will force the device. I'm assuming any of these EDL/9008 cables work but let me know if I'm mistaken.